Snorkelling & Scuba Diving Holiday, Kenya: Dive Watamu + Indian Ocean Safari

Day 1

You will be met at Nairobi Airport and transferred to your hotel in this bustling city.

Check in and relax in your warm and friendly African surroundings.

Day 2

This morning we visit the Giraffe Centre. Founded by Betty & Jock Leslie-Melville to save the endangered Rothschild Giraffe from extinction, this centre plays an important role in educating Kenyan school children on the country's wildlife and environment. It also allows visitors to come into close contact with the world's tallest species, including the opportunity to feed a gorgeous giraffe.

We then visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage (open only from 11 to 12 noon). It took Daphne Sheldrick 28 years of trial and error to perfect the milk formula and complex husbandry required to rear orphaned African elephants, during the period that her husband was warden of Kenya's largest elephant sanctuary in Tsavo East National Park. Since then this sanctuary has gone on to save the lives of many orphaned elephant calves.

Afterwards enjoy a game drive in Nairobi National Park. This was the first national park created in Kenya and, despite its relatively small size and close proximity to the skyscrapers of the city, it boasts a large and varied wildlife population. Animals migrate to this park during the dry season, as it offers them a permanent source of water. You can hope to see lion, buffalo, leopard and rhino - but not elephant as the park is not large enough to sustain them. You can also see giraffe, zebra, eland, impala, Grant's gazelle, Thomson's gazelle, warthog and ostrich in the woodlands and open plains, and hippo in the Mbagathi Athi River which is lined with fever and acacia trees. The park also has a very successful rhino sanctuary. A picnic lunch is included today.

Note: Visits to Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage can only be booked 90 days in advance and are subject to availability (maximum 100 visitors per day).

Day 3

This morning transfer to Nairobi Railway Station in good time to board the Madaraka Express train (first class) departing at 08.20 towards Mombasa.

After 1.5-hours disembark at Emali Station where you will be met and transferred another 1.5-hours to Amboseli National Park. Situated in southern Kenya, if the weather is clear this national park offers magnificent views of Mount Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania.

Amboseli is best known for its great herds of elephant - you'll often find many of them standing knee deep in the water, spraying themselves to keep cool - but there is a lot of other game here including cheetah, buffalo, giraffe, many types of gazelle and other plains game. Check into your lodge and enjoy an afternoon game drive, returning for a bush barbeque dinner as the sun sets.

Note: Train tickets can only be booked 90 days in advance and will be handed to you on your arrival in Kenya. Luggage on the train is limited to 30 kg. Alcohol cannot be brought on the train or any potentially flammable aerosols (eg deodorants, hairspray or sunscreen).

Day 4

After an early breakfast we leave Amboseli and drive 4.5-hours to Tsavo National Park, game viewing along the way. The road passes the rugged Chyulu Hills with their striking landscapes of ancient volcanic craters and cones and 60-mile (100 km) Shetani lava tube - the longest in the world.

Tsavo National Park is divided into an eastern and western section by the railway line and road that bisect it and is one of the oldest and largest wildlife conservation areas in Kenya. As the park is unfenced, animals migrate freely across both sectors. We arrive at our safari lodge in time for lunch.

In the afternoon we depart on a game drive, including a visit to Mzima Springs with its underwater viewing holes, returning as the sun sets.

Day 5

This morning transfer to Mtito Andei Station in good time to board the Madaraka Express train (first class travelling 3-hours to Mombasa.

On arrival you will be met at Mombasa Railway Station and transferred 2-hours along this beautiful coast to Watamu.

Check in and relax in your warm tropical surroundings on the shores of the sparkling Indian Ocean.

Days 6 To 10

At leisure to relax and enjoy the white sands of extensive Watamu Beach on the warm east coast of Kenya, fringed with swaying coconut palm trees and the vibrant blooms of hibiscus, bougainvillea and frangipani.

The blue ocean waters of Watamu Marine Park host a wide variety of coral gardens, inhabited by multi-coloured fish such as angelfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish and surgeonfish - most easily seen snorkelling, scuba diving or by glass-bottomed boat. Humpback whales migrate from the Antarctic to breed in these warm waters between July and September.

Activities vary by resort but usually include a variety of water sports, snorkelling, deep sea game fishing and scuba diving, with 20 prime dive locations less than 35-minutes from town. Sightings can include sea turtles, dolphins, mantas, sharks and some of the ocean's huge fish, as well as invertebrates and numerous brilliantly coloured tropical fish swimming amongst the coral reefs.

You can also take optional tours to the ancient Gede Ruins and the historic Old Town in Malindi.

Note: Please be aware that there will be 'beach boys' on the beach, trying to sell you excursions and trinkets. Don't be taken in by them and simply say 'No' very firmly. They are not allowed in the grounds of your hotel.

Dive packages vary by hotel, so enquire when booking. The best time for both diving and deep sea fishing is from November to February. Most boats do not operate during May and June (the end of the rainy season, when the sea is very rough).

Day 11

Transfer 2-hours to Mombasa Airport for your flight home.

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