Watamu is popular due to the snorkeling in the marine national park and is 25 km south of Malindi. Easy to snorkel off the beach, but do make sure that you have purchased a marine park ticket, normally available from your hotel. Nearby is the Arabuko Sokoke Forest with bird life enjoyed from walking trails. The Kipepeo Butterfly project where
150 community butterfly farmers collect butterflies from the Arabuko Sokoke forest and then breed from them and export the pupae. The farm is open daily and butterflies can be seen and the work being undertaken. The Bio Ken Snake farm is a not for profit snake farm that also provides day safaris looking for snakes.
The Gedi ruins are just south of Watamu. A collection of palaces, houses and mosques that was a busy town in the 13th Century. The city was abandoned in the 1800's and the reasons are not entirely clear but probably due to attacks from the tribes in Somalia and Malawi. The site was only rediscovered in the 1920's as forest had hidden the city. The ruins cover an extensive area.