Staying Home Sucks, home
Coris formosa Kenya
Near Watamu Marine Park. Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Watamu Marine Park

Dive site · Kenya

Open Water divers and up

Scored for Advanced divers

Is it worth the trip?

77Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

4 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 77 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
29°C

Tue 3 · 77 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
14kn
Air
30°C

Wed 4 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
30°C

Thu 5 · 76 out of 100

Sea
1.0 m
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
30°C

Fri 6 · 76 out of 100

Sea
1.0 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
30°C

Sat 7 · 77 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
16kn
Air
30°C

Sun 8 · 77 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
30°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 178, good
  2. Mon 277, good
  3. Tue 377, good
  4. Wed 476, good
  5. Thu 576, good
  6. Fri 676, good
  7. Sat 777, good
  8. Sun 877, good
  9. Mon 977, good
  10. Tue 1078, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 24 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Open Waterand up
  • Water 28 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces SEswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Watamu Marine Park
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov78, good0.8 m3 kn10kn29°C
Mon 2Nov77, good0.8 m5 kn13kn29°C
Tue 3Nov77, good0.8 m6 kn14kn30°C
Wed 4Nov76, good0.9 m5 kn13kn30°C
Thu 5Nov76, good1.0 m7 kn19kn30°C
Fri 6Nov76, good1.0 m4 kn12kn30°C
Sat 7Nov77, good0.9 m6 kn16kn30°C
Sun 8Nov77, good0.9 m2 kn10kn30°C
Mon 9Nov77, good0.9 m1 kn9kn30°C
Tue 10Nov78, good0.8 m3 kn10kn30°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 01:18 −0.9 mHigh 07:46 +1.2 mLow 14:26 −0.9 mHigh 20:39 +0.6 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 02:30 −0.6 mHigh 09:02 +0.9 mLow 15:50 −0.8 mHigh 22:22 +0.5 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 04:22 −0.5 mHigh 10:49 +0.7 mLow 17:27 −0.7 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May4of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun2of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul2of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug4of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep5of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of Watamu Marine Park

Watamu - Malindi - panoramio (1)
Near Watamu Marine Park, 2 km away. Photo: Andrea Albini, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

1 place

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Watamu Marine Park

A reef dive. It goes down to 24 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SE: swell from the SE reaches it, and wind from the NW blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 19 km away. The sea is about 26°C in July, its coldest month (3 mm wetsuit), and 29°C in March, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Watamu. Within 5 km we also list 1 surf spot, 1 wind sports spot and 1 dive site.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 24 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 19 km away.

Water about 28°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 15 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov and Dec (about 15 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,360–US$2,650 each

about US$1,360–US$2,650 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to MBA, estimated from distance and season, changing at FRA, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$837–US$1,740
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$100–US$174
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$201–US$328
Food7 days eating outabout US$221–US$415
Totalabout US$1,360–US$2,650

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Watamu

Closest

Watamu

4 min by car · 72 places to stay

See 72 places to stay in Watamu · Booking.com

About Watamu its beds, food and every spot near it

Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 27h 10m

About 27h 10m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → MBA, changing at Frankfurt Main Airport (FRA), then 1h 50m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • Blue Fin Diving 19 km

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 15 m, about usual for the month (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.