Beaches in Kenya

Five hundred kilometres of Indian Ocean coast with a fringing reef along most of it, which produces calm lagoons and a tidal range large enough to empty them. At low water the reef flat is exposed and coral heads stand clear; at high water the same bay is a swimming pool, and the tide table is the thing to check before planning a day. The Watamu Marine National Park, declared in 1968, is among the oldest in Africa, and turtle nest protection programmes have run on this coast since the 1990s. The tide is the thing to plan around. On a reef-flat coast, low water can leave the lagoon at ankle depth with coral heads exposed, and high water narrows the beach; the same bay is two different places six hours apart. Beach vendors work the sand and a licensing scheme exists to regulate them. The long rains fall around April and May, and the coast is otherwise warm and usable year-round.

Each is a different kind: three shores across three beach worlds. The sand is coral sand throughout. Together they account for 36 km of shore. · computed from the 3 records below