Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park and Reserve
Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park and Reserve
Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park and Reserve
4
About
The park with its magnificent coral reefs and colourful marine life, 6 km off the Kenyan coast, is managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service. Many private companies offer day trips by dhow for dolphin-spotting, snorkeling and diving. Some guests choose to remain in the boat or paddle off the sandbar at low tide. Most tours offer lunch on Wasini Island. Accommodation is available. Nature at its best!
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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- Fadhili S3 contributionsBest experience of My LifeDear Kisite. Thank you very much for the beautiful momentum we had yesterday on launching the Kisite new boat *MV.MSHALE* .This was the best experience ever had in my life. Surely hapa tumeweza. Seriously we are the best in wasini....big up Our Queen Pauline.. Thank you all for the big support. God bless us all.. Regards; Katana. 🙏Visited September 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 30 September 2024
- iviaggidiemaFermo, Italy5,188 contributionsDAILY EXCURSION IN DHOWExcursion that can be organized directly with the beach boys who meet on the beach (price to be treated between 40 and 50 usd per person). They picked us up at the hotel and took us to the pier in Shimoni. On board a Dhow (which we recommend over boats as it is a more local experience) we spotted dolphins, snorkeled (no big deal) and visited the island of Wasini (very interesting village). Here we also had lunch. Convivial experience, pleasant dayVisited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 16 October 2024
- Kiyimba Moses MugenyiSeeta, Uganda33 contributions🐬 Dolphins view & swimWe visited with friends on 4th January 2025. The Service was great. We booked tickets to sail from Mombasa to the South Eastern Coast of the Indian Ocean, view the Dolphins, Swim & have sea food at Wasini Island. We really enjoyed it. Visit this place and enjoy the experienceVisited January 2025Travelled with friendsWritten 22 January 2025
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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4.0
102 reviews
Excellent
53
Very good
27
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16
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Timothy K
Lavington, Kenya14 contributions
May 2022
Great swimming experience.
You gotta get a private boat tour, go snorkeling is possible.
Cons:
The guides will always tell you to book so you can see Dolphins.
However in most cases, Dolphins only come to the waters when
- its the right season
- and the tides are low.
Guide wont tell you that.
And when you have already paid and have driven 20mins to see dolphins they will say the tide is high, no dolphins
You gotta get a private boat tour, go snorkeling is possible.
Cons:
The guides will always tell you to book so you can see Dolphins.
However in most cases, Dolphins only come to the waters when
- its the right season
- and the tides are low.
Guide wont tell you that.
And when you have already paid and have driven 20mins to see dolphins they will say the tide is high, no dolphins
Written 7 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PGTips100
London73 contributions
Aug 2020
Kisite Marine Park has some of the best snorkelling I've ever seen and probably the best in Kenya. I highly recommened going! The reef is very healthy and has large schools of fish. At some points on the reefs you are just surrounded by so many varieties and sizes, it's quite wonderful! The coral is also very beautiful and there's lots of different types to see. Some reviews mentioned rubbish/plastic but we didn't see any. As well is the snorkelling you are almost guaranteed to see dolphins (even in August which is low season for Dolphins). We saw quite a few and it was magical!
We hired a private boat from a guy called Mohammed (+254 712 619 043) who we met around the museum area in Shimoni where many of the guides hang out. It cost us $70 (after some bargaining) for the day for my partner and I. The best thing about the private boat is you aren't rushing like they do on most tours with larger groups. You can spend longer snorkelling, bring your own food or request some for an extra cost. You can even stop at one of the islands (Mpunguti). We brought a picnic lunch and had the island to ourselves!
Most tours come from Diani where the money goes directly into the pockets of the tour companies and resorts so the local community in Shimoni/Wasini barely benefits at all. Therefore, if you want to contribute more to the local economy I suggest staying in Shimoni for a night or two and taking a private boat tour.
KWS needs to do more to protect this jewel in the sea as nobody checks if you wear sun screen or not ,and there didn't seem to be strong messages about avoiding to step on the coral. I do hope KWS and the local community do what they can to protect the marine park and the beautiful precious coral and fish!
Go see it before it disappears!
We hired a private boat from a guy called Mohammed (+254 712 619 043) who we met around the museum area in Shimoni where many of the guides hang out. It cost us $70 (after some bargaining) for the day for my partner and I. The best thing about the private boat is you aren't rushing like they do on most tours with larger groups. You can spend longer snorkelling, bring your own food or request some for an extra cost. You can even stop at one of the islands (Mpunguti). We brought a picnic lunch and had the island to ourselves!
Most tours come from Diani where the money goes directly into the pockets of the tour companies and resorts so the local community in Shimoni/Wasini barely benefits at all. Therefore, if you want to contribute more to the local economy I suggest staying in Shimoni for a night or two and taking a private boat tour.
KWS needs to do more to protect this jewel in the sea as nobody checks if you wear sun screen or not ,and there didn't seem to be strong messages about avoiding to step on the coral. I do hope KWS and the local community do what they can to protect the marine park and the beautiful precious coral and fish!
Go see it before it disappears!
Written 28 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simon O
Oslo, Norway5 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
Long time sailing to the area to see a brief glimpse of 4 dolphins. The equipment supplied for the snorkelling was poor quality. The guides more interested in flirting with the ladies.
Note we were not on an organised tour, just went and hired a local.
An organised tour might be better, paying for park entry was separate from the boat hire. Very inconvenient
Note we were not on an organised tour, just went and hired a local.
An organised tour might be better, paying for park entry was separate from the boat hire. Very inconvenient
Written 1 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OlivierD.
Paris, France54 contributions
Mar 2024 • Solo
Bad luck, pointless or both of them ? I paid 85$ for that trip that justified a stop in Diani. The result is really poor. Due to a bad land organization, we lost an hour in the boat full of people, with 6 people having to disembark before embarking again, in two times. A total non sense. Cruising by the dolphins is a nice experience but could be better if we were respecting approach distances (> 150 m). That was not the case. Swimming over a coral reef could have been good but was shortened due to our start. We could not even go to the sand bank. As the biodiversity is almost in a critical status, you won't see many fish. The lunch was allright and I did not have to pay extras for beverages. In conclusion, unless you want to see dolphins, such activity does not have a real interest and I am really sad to share that as I had high expectations on that.
Written 8 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Roland H
40 contributions
Oct 2022
I't's a long way from Mombasa. Price range is impressive. But at it the end everybody is in the same kind of local boat with a local guide. So if you don't care about a comfortable shuttle (unable to make the bumby roads more comfortable) you can really get a good price under 10.000 KS. But whatever the price you chose to pay and whatever the distance to your hotel ... it's worth it. Be prepared to snorkle sitting on the beach and just putting your head under the water. Low tide brings the rich and colourful underwater world of the corral reefs to your feet. And the tide schedule usually will probably give you a very early start in the day ... but again ... it's worth it.
Written 28 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Anne A
Stockholm County, Sweden2 contributions
Sept 2021 • Friends
Day trip from bamburi beach to the south coast.
The lunch prepared by lbe guides is very fantastic.the crab was super amazing. We were the first people and really enjoyed the snorkelling before the crowd came.
Its not 100% seeing dolphins but to us we were very lucky to swim with a group og dolphins. This is very worth and its a trip you should not miss when in mombasa
Just contact LBE TOURS +254710239939
The residents and non-residents prices arent the same
The lunch prepared by lbe guides is very fantastic.the crab was super amazing. We were the first people and really enjoyed the snorkelling before the crowd came.
Its not 100% seeing dolphins but to us we were very lucky to swim with a group og dolphins. This is very worth and its a trip you should not miss when in mombasa
Just contact LBE TOURS +254710239939
The residents and non-residents prices arent the same
Written 27 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tibo
Beaucaire, France56 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
We spent a day on the island of Wasini, a kisité reserve. We saw dolphins very close to the boat, and superb fish while snorkeling. We booked with Ali who came to pick us up from the hotel in Diani and planned our entire day, and for much cheaper than what we find in hotels.
Ali +254724473507
Ali +254724473507

Written 2 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeremiah Mutavi Simba
Dubai, United Arab Emirates4 contributions
Nov 2020 • Family
After visiting the marine park kwale county Kenya, as a family we were totally disappointed, one Kenya wildlife charged us kshs300 adult and kshs100 per child, we were promised to visit kisite island to see dolphins and marine life. After boarding a boat and travelled to the island we never saw any marine life only to be told water is alot, we were promised to swim which was not the case, we never even stepped on any island, we are wondering as family what was the need to pay kshs 1200 to Kenya wildlife. Second we were charged kshs 5000 for food at wasine island only to be served rice and a cold fish, but we had been promised full chicken, seafood, ugali, etc even water for washing hands was a problem. I regret the day I visited shimoni marine park
Written 24 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pinneydavid
Nottingham, UK328 contributions
Jan 2020
Vamos Tours took us from Mombasa over Likoni Ferry south to Shimoni. The Coral Spirit boat ride on mv Angel was excellent with caring and organised staff. We saw dolphins and snorkelled in deep water over the amazing reef. Poor swimmers were looked after well with buoyancy aids.
Lunch at the Coral Spirit Restaurant was good. I especially liked the carrot, potato and coconut soup. The White Snapper fish was very good but with hardly any crab meat.
The visit to the Shimoni Slave Caves was well worth it and our guide was excellent. However some of the information is harrowing.
Lunch at the Coral Spirit Restaurant was good. I especially liked the carrot, potato and coconut soup. The White Snapper fish was very good but with hardly any crab meat.
The visit to the Shimoni Slave Caves was well worth it and our guide was excellent. However some of the information is harrowing.
Written 27 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Victorine B
Nairobi, Kenya7 contributions
Feb 2020 • Solo
I would 100% recommend visiting wasini while in diani. I would recommend taking the boat trip especially if you like adventure, at first the waves scare you but once you start spotting the dolphins you forget about it. Try snorkeling as well in the clear blue ocean,so breathtaking. Loved the food served at wasini plus the people are so friendly. However, I didn't like the chicken, didn't feel fresh. Get to know the history of shimoni as well while at kisite mpunguti. This was my first solo trip and it was beyond amazing,I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Written 4 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is the water clarity good in May and is the water the same beautiful color in May during rainy season or is it not as good then due to mud being washed out into the sea during that time?
Written 21 April 2018
Has anyone seen ocyopus while snorkeling at Kisite? I know there are no guarantees in nature but are they difficult to spot while snorkeling there?
Written 20 April 2018
Bonjour, nous serons au Kenya la semaine prochaine. J'aimerais programmer l'excursion de Kisite. Comment trouver un guide ou une agence. Merci pour vos réponses.
Written 20 February 2018
what good affordable accommodation at Kisite mpunguti marine? OR does one have to come all the way back to Diani/Ukunda?
Written 14 January 2015
There are some hotels in Wasini Island but cannot comment on their quality or affordability. We did a one day trip and went back to North Coast.
Written 15 January 2015
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