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DIVING and DEEP SEA FISHING - IN KENYA
Hotels - Location: Bases at Turtle Bay Beach Club, Mnarani Club Sun N Sand, Serena Beach Hotel, Nyali Beach Hotel, Travellers Beach, Shelly Beach club, Travellers Tiwi and Papillion Lagoon Reef.
Features: A well respected
group of diving centre with PADI and CMAS instructors. The dive centres
stay open year round, but diving conditions can be variable from Apr- Aug
and diving is not recommended in May and June.
All centres are equipped with oxygen,VHF
radios and have a good range of equipment for hire.
Dives: Numerous dive sites
along Kenya's coastal barrier reef. All are boat dives with depth
varying from 6m (inside the reef) to 25m (outside the reef). It is
usually possible to do two dives per day (and a night dive is scheduled
every two weeks),
however this may be restricted
to one per day due to adverse weather or tides. Whale sharks and
mantas may be seen at any time of the year but especially between Nov-Jan.
Courses:
PADI Open Water
£200
Referral Padi OW
£140
Advanced Padi OW
£190
Courses include use of equipment,
course materials & certification
(except Referral, pay certification
& logbook locally approx. £30).
ARRIVING IN MOMBASA
You can arrive at Mombasa from Nairobi on the night train, by car or fly from city.
For getting to the coast, the train journey between Nairobi and Mombasa is one of the highlights of Kenyan travel: you should try and make at least one journey between the capital and the coast with Kenya Railways. The early (all stations) train allows more time to gaze out of the windows by daylight: from Nairobi you will see the Nairobi National Park and the game on the Athi Plains: from Mombasa, the steep climb from jungly coast to arid semi desert.
Arriving by car or bus, you will cover 500 kilometers of beautiful terrain. Buses to Mombasa are considerably cheaper than the train and services go by day as well as night.
By air, the flight is approximately an hour long, and you arrive some 12 kilometers from the city center at Moi International Airport on the mainland.
MOMBASA
Mombasa holds a sense of community that other major cities lack, and is physically tropical in a way that could hardly be more different from Nairobi ? the capital. Mombasa is the slightly indolent hub of the coast ? a faded, flaking, charming city that still, despite its gentle sprawl, feels like a small town that is also great. Mombasa, Kenyaís second largest city, is a tropical center par excellence: steamy, lazy but ready, at any moment to burst into colourful life. All around there are superb beaches.
Mombasa is actually an island and is connected to the mainland to the west by causeways, to the north by a bridge and to the south, by a ferry. It is intricate and its streets wriggle deceptively. At its most appealing heart is Old Town, a maze of lanes, mosques and cramped elderly houses sloping gently down to the once busy dhow harbour. Fort Jesus, an impressive reminder of Mombasaís complicated bloody past still overlooks the Old Town, from where it once guarded the harbour entrance. It is now a national monument and museum.
Within easy walking distance and cluttered all around the town, is the twentieth-century Mombasa: wide streets, refreshing lack of high ? risers, and a surprising number of open spaces. Even here, in the commercial center of one of Africaís busiest ports, the atmosphere is relaxed and congenial. Rush hours, urgency and paranoia seem to be the capitalís problems, not Mombasaís. And the gaping, marginal slums that one expects to find outside African cities hardly exist here.
Along Moi Avenue are the famous immortal double pair of elephant tusks: these adding great character to the main street of the town.
Ethnicaly, Mombasa is perhaps even more diverse than Nairobi. Asian and Arab influence is particularly persuasive, with fifty mosques and dozens of Hindu and Sikh temples lending a strongly oriental flavour. Still, the largest contigent speak Swahili as a first language and it is the Swahili civilization that, more than anything accounts for Mombasaís distinctive character. For up country settlers, Mombasa and the coast have long represented "sea level and sanity" ? a holiday break from grind of making a living in the Highlands.
As a tourist town, Mombasa doesnít go out of its way: indeed, its best quality is its lack of presentation. It is principally a port and increasingly an industrial city with a major oil refinery and a cement factory.
You may not be able to resist the lure of the beaches for long, but the seedily romantic port city deserves time unless you are in a big hurry: there are few places in the country with such a strong sense of identity.
Principal resort areas are Diani Beach, the stretch of coast north of Mombasa from Nyali to Mtwapa: Watamu and Malindi. The rest is virtually untouched. These areas of the coast represent little more than sun, sand and sea.
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Most obviously, the beaches are the backdrop for one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world, rated in the top three (with Australiaís Barrier Reef and the Red Sea) by experienced divers. With even the most limited equipment, easily hired almost anywhere, you can, corny as it sounds, enter another world. The most spectacular sections are far to the south of Wasini Island and, north, between Watamu and Malindi, each enclosed in marine national parks. |
A string of islands ? Wasini, Funzi, Chale, Mombasa itself, Lamu, Manda, Pate, Kiwaiyu runs up the coast, all of them worth visiting and some required destinations. The entire coast is littered with ruins of forts, mosques, tombs and even whole towns.
Arab architechture has a major influence on the coast and youíll especially feel it in the north around Lamu, an idyllic island setting which should definitely be visited.
Flights are also available to Malindi and Lamu.
With its long tropical beaches and dramatic wildlife parks, Kenya has an
exotic tourist image. Justifiably, for this is one of the most beautiful lands
in Africa and a satisfying exciting and relatively easy place to travel ? whether
on a short holiday or an extended stay.
Weather
The weather pattern is that January and February are hot and dry, while from
March to May it is hot and wet (the long rains). From June till October the
climate is warm and dry, while from November to December Mombasa experiences
the "short rains".
The main tourist seasons tie in with the rainfall patterns: the most popular periods are December and January and July and August.
July and August are probably the best months overall for game ? viewing. October to January are the months with the clearest seas for goggling ? especially November.
The rainy seasons should not deter travel unduly: the rains come only in
short afternoon or evening cloudbursts. The land is strikingly green and fresh,
even if the skies are cloudy. There are bonuses too: in the lack of tourists,
hotels and car hire prices are reduced.
Kenya's coast attracts a large number of international tourists who enter in Deep Sea Fishing contests, hosted by local and international organizations. Reef Hotels can make available the equipment and expertise for enthusiasts who are interested in this sport.
Diani is ideal for the fisherman who just wants to do one or two days of fishing for 4 hours each. Shimoni and Pemba are the places for big game fishing and are the proud owners of many world record catches. Marlin, sailfish, barracuda, and tuna (depending on the season) are just some of the fish to be caught.
45 minutes south of Diani you can find the Shimba Hills National Reserve, whereby you get a glimpse of some wildlife e.g. leopards, elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, birds and plain game. It is also the home of the almost extinct sable antelope; this species breeds only in this region.
Heading further south towards Shimoni lies a wonderful spot for dolphin spotting on an island that provides good vantage points overlooking the dolphins playgrounds: a place where dolphins meet people and dreams become reality!
Manta Reef Lodge, Pemba Island and Shimoni Reef Lodge have some of the finest
snorkeling possibilities along the East African Coast. All of this combined
with a possible safari make it an excellent combination - both outstanding and
unique.
Language
Kenyaís main languages are Kiswahili and English. English tends to be
predominant in the urban areas: higher education and Parliament get by almost
exclusively by it, and the media use it heavily.
One word you will probably hear everywhere is: "Jambo", meaning, Hello!!
Lodgings
Mombasa offers a variety of lodgings depending on the price bracket, and the hotels in the coast tend to be good value for money. Cheaper lodgings are usually located in the town center, whilst for a higher price bracket you will generally get a good hotel on the beachfront.
Eating, drinking, nightlife
Mombasa is well supplied with a variety of restaurants: ranging from very exclusive
to the more reasonable ones. The cityís chief delights are cuisine involving
fish, coconut, chicken, rice and beans, incorporating spicy Asian flavours.
There are also several restaurants that serve international cuisine.
As you stroll around the beautiful town, you will find several corner cafes, hole-in-wall juice bars and confectionery shops.
Also highly characteristic of Mombasa are the Indian pan shops, often doubling as tobacconists and corner shops. A "pan" is a mildly narcotic desert, chewed and sucked but not swallowed, consisting of your choice of sweet spices, chopped nuts and vegetable matter, syrup and white lime, all wrapped in a hot-sweet, dark green betel leaf. It tastes exotic!
Bars are located all over town: however, as the tourist hotels are outside the towns so are the flashiest discos. Several hotels have live bands playing with dance shows: this drawing a large crowd.
If you donít want to join the throngs at the clubs, walking with a local Person after dark is generally safe in the Old Town and along the main roads. Around the Old Town, you will still come across coffee sellers selling their thick black "kahawa" from traditional high spouted jugs.
Shopping
Mombasa is also a cheap place to buy the fabrics the coast is famous for. Check
out the latest "kanga" designs in Biashara Street. Some of the home-produced
patterns are so good they are beginning to make an impact worldwide!
Biashara street also houses shops selling household goods, bags, mats, baskets and several other locally made items.
Strolling on Moi Avenue, you will see the more expensive boutiques, electrical shops, shoe shops, bookshops and tour operator offices.
Old Town is devoted to gift and curio shops, and the emporiums are over-whelmingly luxuriant in their display.
Further along the north is Bombolulu: a visit to this cultural center is a must, where physically disabled people are employed to create exquisite works of African art and furniture.
More information on Mombasa can be obtained from:
The Mombasa Coast Tourist Association
P. O. BOX 995996, Mombasa, Kenya.
Tel: 254- 11- 225428
Located near the tusks on Moi Avenue.
Open Monday to Friday, 8am ? noon, 2-4.30pm: Sat 8am ?
noon.
E-mail: mcta@africaonline.co.ke
Click here for the SOUTH COAST HOTELS