Things to Do in Mombasa

Built by the Portuguese in the 1590s to guard the old harbour, Fort Jesus changed hands again and again between Portuguese and Omani rulers — every siege left a mark on its coral walls. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Mombasa's defining landmark.

Inside, the museum walks you through the coast's trading centuries, and the ramparts look out over the old harbour where dhows still moor. It pairs naturally with Old Town, which begins at its gate.

Old Town is Mombasa compressed into a few walkable blocks — narrow lanes, coral-stone houses with carved Swahili doors and hanging balconies, small mosques, antique shops and coffee sellers. It is a living neighbourhood, not a museum: everyday trade continues around you.

Go slowly, greet people, and ask before photographing residents. The lanes start at Fort Jesus's gate, so most visitors do both in one outing.

The reef off the city's northern beaches is a protected marine park — coral gardens, reef fish and seagrass beds a short boat ride from the sand. Glass-bottom boats serve non-swimmers, and snorkeling and diving trips run daily from the beach operators.

Be honest with your expectations: visibility changes with tide and season, and calm low-tide mornings are kindest to first-time snorkelers.

Haller Park is one of the coast's best stories — a worked-out cement quarry in Bamburi patiently rehabilitated into a green sanctuary. Shaded trails pass giraffes, hippos, buffalo, antelope and giant tortoises, with butterflies and birdlife everywhere the forest has returned.

It is an easy, flat outing that suits families and hot afternoons, minutes from the north coast hotels.

Tsavo East is the closest of Kenya's great parks to the coast, famous for elephants dusted red by its soil, the Galana River and huge, open horizons. Lions, buffalo and plains game are often seen — this is honest, big-space safari rather than a crowded circuit.

From Mombasa it works best with at least a night inside the park; our safaris from Mombasa range from two days in Tsavo East to pairing it with Tsavo West's springs and lava country.

Shimba Hills is coastal rainforest on the hills behind the south coast — cooler, greener and quieter than the plains parks, and home to Kenya's only wild population of the magnificent sable antelope. Elephants are often seen in the clearings.

The ranger-led walk to Sheldrick Falls is the highlight; on clear days the ridges look all the way out to the ocean.

South of the Likoni ferry lies Diani — repeatedly named among Africa's finest beaches, a long ribbon of white sand behind a reef-sheltered lagoon. The tide repaints it twice a day: low tide opens huge flats of rippled sand, high tide brings the swimming in close.

Beach cafés, camel rides and watersports cluster around the resorts, with quieter stretches between them for those who walk.

From Shimoni, deep on the south coast, wooden dhows sail for Kisite-Mpunguti — Kenya's southernmost marine park and one of its best snorkeling grounds. Dolphins are often seen along the way, though never guaranteed; the coral gardens do not disappoint.

Days here traditionally end on car-free Wasini Island with a slow Swahili seafood lunch before the sail home.

The north coast beaches are the city's closest — no ferry crossing, just a bridge from the island to reef-protected lagoons at Nyali, Bamburi and Shanzu. Low tide opens sandbars and warm pools; watersports operators line the busier stretches.

If your time in Mombasa is short, this is the easiest way to put your feet in the Indian Ocean.

Near Mtwapa, the ruins of Jumba la Mtwana keep the outline of a Swahili settlement abandoned centuries ago — mosques, houses and tombs in coral stone, shaded by baobabs a few steps from the beach.

It is a national monument and one of the coast's quietest, most atmospheric sites; guides at the gate bring the stones to life.