Ocean
Local guide and safari organiser · Watamu, Kilifi County
Languages: Italian, English, Swahili, Giriama
A sandbank off Watamu that surfaces only when the tide goes out, and disappears when it comes back in.
Love Island, or Isola dell'Amore as it is often called here, is not an island. It is a formation of sand off the coast of Watamu that comes up when the tide falls and goes back under when it rises. Only a few hours pass between the two, and the window does not fall at a convenient hour every day.
You go out by boat, step onto the sand, spend time in shallow water and head back before the water covers everything again. It is a short trip: two or three hours in all, and given what the place is, that is as it should be.
Stage 1
We meet on the beach in front of your accommodation, or at the nearest launching point. The time is never the same twice: it depends on the tide that day and it shifts by about fifty minutes a day.
Stage 2
The crossing is short. Before we set off I tell you how long we have before the water starts coming back, so you already know how the trip is organised and there are no surprises.
Stage 3
You get out into shallow water and walk onto the exposed bank. There is no shade, there are no toilets and there are no facilities at all: you bring what you need and you take everything back with you.
Stage 4
You are in it: walking in knee-deep water, swimming where it is deeper, sitting down. Anyone who wants to can use a mask and snorkel where the bottom allows it, although this is not the reef.
Stage 5
We head back when the water begins to cover the bank, not a minute later. That is the moment the sand disappears, and the boat has to be able to leave without trouble.
The tide sets the time of this trip, not the calendar: it changes every day, and on some dates the usable window falls at dawn or in the late afternoon. When you write to me we look together at which days of your stay work.
The trip is short, two or three hours counting the crossing both ways. It is meant to fit inside a day that already has other things in it, not to fill one.
If the sea is rough, or the tide window turns out to be too narrow, the trip moves or I offer an alternative. We do not go out anyway just because it is booked.
The sandbank exists only inside the low-tide window, and its shape changes over the year: the currents move it and reshape it. On some dates very little of it stays above water and the trip loses its point: when that happens I say so beforehand.
In windy spells the water around the bank turns cloudy and the crossing becomes uncomfortable. In rough seas we do not go out.
There are no sightings to promise: this is not a wildlife trip. You see crabs, small fish and seabirds when they happen to be there, and they often are, but nobody brings them along for the occasion.
To reach the bank you have to get off the boat into the water and walk a few dozen metres over an uneven sandy bottom, with the water up to your knees. It is not possible in a wheelchair, and there is nothing to hold on to and no shade. If you have difficulty with balance or with walking, write and tell me beforehand: we can look at arranging help getting ashore, or at whether a more comfortable alternative makes more sense.
5/5 across 1 verified reviews
The sandbank only emerges at certain hours and John had explained it clearly: we went on a different day from the one we'd asked for, and it was better that way. Very shallow, transparent water.
Il banco di sabbia emerge solo in certe ore e John lo aveva spiegato bene: siamo andati in un giorno diverso da quello che avevamo chiesto, ed è stato meglio così. Acqua bassissima e trasparente.
Safety comes before the programme. If the weather worsens, if the sea is not workable or if conditions in the park change, we talk it through and decide whether to alter the programme, postpone it or replace it with an alternative.
The conditions that apply in these cases are set out in the proposal you receive, so you know in advance how things are handled when the day is not the one we expected.
Many of them can be, but there is no single answer: the duration, the length of the transfers and the timings all have to be weighed against age. A dawn departure with hours on the road is not the same thing for a four-year-old and for a twelve-year-old.
In the form all I need is the number of children and their age ranges. Names, dates of birth and other personal details are not required: those, if they are needed at all, come only when a property or a park asks for them.
Every proposal states explicitly what it covers: transport, entry fees, guide, meals, accommodation and activities. And it states what is left out as well, because that is usually where misunderstandings begin.
Before confirming you always receive a written summary with these points, so you can read it through calmly and ask me about anything that doesn't add up.
A morning on the water between reef and lagoon, on a route adapted to the sea, the tide and what the group can manage.
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A couple of hours on a traditional sailing boat on the creek, in the slot when the light drops. You sit, you don't paddle, and you come back in the dark.
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A whole day on the boat from Mayungu, with a stop on the sandbank people call Sardegna 2: it only surfaces at certain stages of the tide, and the tide decides everything.
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Tell me how many of you there are and when: I'll tell you what's realistic and what isn't.
