Diani / Shimoni
Kenya · East Africa
Kenya's southern coast hides one of East Africa's most biodiverse marine parks in Kisite-Mpunguti, where whale sharks patrol October to February and humpback whales sing through the channel from June to September, all above pristine hard coral gardens that see a fraction of the tourist pressure of the north.
How this reef is doing
ⓘ How we measure thisReef state
Inside the fully protected park off Shimoni, reef fish biomass runs far higher than in the fished waters around it, from roughly 680 to 1,350 kilograms per hectare against 260 to 460 outside (McClanahan et al. 2006); the wider Diani reef sits outside that boundary.
Coral cover
Fish life
Heat
Fishing
Some fishing is allowed here, in marked zones.
Sources · MERMAID and the survey teams · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity
Coral cover over time
Live coral cover, by survey year
Across 10 survey years from 2017 to 2026, live coral cover here has fallen from 23% to 18%. Every point is a real survey reading, never a projection.
Live coral cover, percent by year
| Year | Coral cover |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 23% |
| 2018 | 37% |
| 2019 | 38% |
| 2020 | 32% |
| 2021 | 66% |
| 2022 | 33% |
| 2023 | 31% |
| 2024 | 32% |
| 2025 | 16% |
| 2026 | 18% |
What you will see
19 species across the dive sites here
Lionfish
Seen 22 days ago
at Kinondo Reef
Least concern
Green turtle
Seen 1 month ago
at Kinondo Reef
Least concern
Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill
Seen 3 months ago
at Kinondo Reef
Least concern
Spiny Seahorse
Seen 3 months ago
at Kisite Reef
Vulnerable
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Seen 4 months ago
at Kinondo Reef
Critically endangered
Red-Knobbed Sea Star
Seen 4 months ago
at Kinondo Reef
Day octopus
Seen 4 months ago
at Kinondo Reef
Least concern
Hawksbill turtle
Seen 4 months ago
at Kisite Reef
Critically endangered
Napoleon wrasse
Seen 5 months ago
at Wasini Channel
Endangered
Giant moray
Seen 5 months ago
at Kisite Reef
Least concern
Blacktip reef shark
Seen 7 months ago
at Wasini Channel
Vulnerable
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin
Seen 7 months ago
at Wasini Channel
Near threatened
Common Seahorse
Seen 8 months ago
at Kisite Reef
Vulnerable
Humpback whale
Seen Jul 2025
at Mpunguti ya Juu
Least concern
Bigeye trevally
Seen Sep 2024
at Mpunguti ya Juu
Least concern
Nurse shark
Seen year round
at Mpunguti ya Juu
Vulnerable
Potato grouper
Seen year round
at Mpunguti ya Juu
Least concern
Surgeonfish (mixed school)
Seen year round
at Kisite Reef
Whale shark
Seasonal visitor
at Kisite Reef
Endangered
Dive sites
Kisite Reef
whale shark · hawksbill turtle · surgeonfish (mixed school) · giant moray
Mpunguti ya Juu
humpback whale · potato grouper · nurse shark · bigeye trevally
Wasini Channel
indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin · napoleon wrasse · blacktip reef shark · spiny seahorse
Kinondo Reef
green turtle · lionfish · day octopus · red-knobbed sea star