We spent day and night in Watamu, a small coastal town with a relaxed village atmosphere. It’s known for Watamu Marine National Park, which covers three bays: Watamu, Blue Lagoon, and Turtle – and they’re all white-sand, aquamarine, coconut palm-lined natural beauty. Seabirds and green and hawksbill turtles inhabit Mida Creek, which has sand flats and a mangrove forest. If you’re here between November and February, there’s a good chance of spotting whale sharks and manta rays, while July to October is the season for humpback whales.
While Watamu is still a relatively sleepy beach town, a growing number of hotels have put it on the map, including the popular Hemingways, named in tribute to the US author who spent a vacation here deep-sea fishing. Not many restaurants were open, so we chose Nadia’s Chinese Corner for our dinner. Not expecting anything special, we got excellent chicken fried noodles (550 KES) and fried rice (550 KES).
We loved sitting at Paradise Beach Bar at Watamu Beach, where the service was perfect. We had just drinks (Tusker Beer – 350 KES, Fresh coconut – 250 KES), and they also served us nice tomato bruschettas free of charge, quite unusual in Kenya. But you have to pay 300 KES for a sunbed. Plenty of “beach brothers” also try to guide you around the bay (1 hour / 500 KES) or sell a boat ride. For breakfast, we usually went to Isla Cafe (Cheesy omelet – 800 KES, Chicken Caesar salad – 1270 KES, Chicken steak with mashed potatoes – 1450 KES, Indian butter chicken – 1670 KES) at Watamu Mall, where we bought excellent croissants (250 KES) and bread and always came back for the best ice cream 🍨 (300 KES/scoop) in Africa. For lunch, we do recommend Hosteria Romana, which serves tasty pizza (Prosciutto e funghi pizza – 1500 KES and Gorgonzola Pizza – 1600 KES), and for dinner, Nadia’s Chinese Corner (Chicken noodles – 550 KES).
Watamu is quite a lively destination full of party animals. There are plenty of night options; we always loved to go to the most popular Paparemo Beach, which opens only on Saturdays. The best time to come is around 22:00 (🎟️ Male – 700 KES, Female – 300 KES, Beer – 500 KES). On the other days, you can go to the cheaper Carwash Club (no entrance, Beer – 300 KES) or the immensely popular Speedy’s Club (ex Comeback, no entrance), where there is a good crowd, good food (Pasta – 1350 KES, Chicken fingers with fries – 1200 KES, and affordable drinks (Beer – 400 KES, Soda – 250 KES).
Our second visit – We ❤️ Watamu
Parking location – Watamu: 3.355520S 40.022174E (🚻,🏊 Ascot Resort)