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	MAKAKOKWE

Average depth : 8m-12m Average visibility: 10-30m A wonderful example of rejuvenating young corals. There are often many unicorn fish and schools of yellow snappers. Rating ***** .. more

Tito & Stuffy Lanyon, whose second best love other than each other was the coast, decided whilst upcountry on their passion fruit farm (the first and best bottled passion juice in Kenya, I'm told), to construct the viewer which you see in the photo.

Incidentally this photo was taken in 1955 at Kisite just before its maiden dip. It just shows what it is possible to achieve with a steel wine barrel, two oil drums with the top and bottoms removed, some rubber gasket material, two glass windows, and a rope ladder. To keep it at the correct depth and upright, a weight was attached to the bottom of the craft.

During the second world war, HMS Ramilles from the British Navy was using Kisite, which I am told is somewhat smaller than it was before the second world war, for target practice. In the fifties many of the shells used which were fired from the guns of HMS Ramilles were littered around Kisite. They were 15 inch shells, some of the largest ever fired, and just one of these produced the correct ballast for the viewer to lie at the correct depth to see the fish and coral clearly.

So the device was sent down by train to Benjy Horton, then in charge of the fishing station at Shimoni, who looked after it until Tito & Stuffy arrived to take it out to Kisite. Peter Hill & his wife Estella, other farmers from Sotik, he being an amateur photographer, was so keen to use the viewer that they also made the journey from Sotik to Shimoni to take what must have been the first underwater photos ever taken at Kisite.

Sadly the two eyed monster from Sotik was only used on that one day, just six hours after this photo was taken. But of course now it is much easier to see what is under the water out there at Kisite, but unfortunately for some of you, it will involve getting wet.

The Park was formed in 1973 but after heated debate with the local fishing community a section of the park in 1978 became a Reserve, allowing traditional limited fishing and for use by the community.

The Park and Reserve are both a paradise for marine life, water birds, boaters, snorkellers and divers alike. The water is refreshingly clean and extraordinarily clear. Part of the criteria for selection was:

* The pristine condition of the coral reef
* Scenic setting and beauty
* Capacity for the area to act as recruitment for surrounding fish areas
* Important as breeding habitats for birds and rare coconut crabs
* Unusual combination of terrestrial and undersea life.

The protected areas have a high diversity of marine life (flora and fauna). The Park and Reserve is a complex of fringing reef, channels, islands and off shore reefs. Hard and soft corals are a common feature.

Green and Hawksbill turtles and seven species of dolphins have been recorded in the Shimoni complex, and both turtles and dolphins are seen by visitors virtually on a daily basis. Humpback whales are sighted regularly on their yearly migration in October/November, sometimes as early as July. Whale Sharks have also become regular visitors to the area.

The fish that have been observed fall into the following families - Butterfly fish, Trigger fish, Large Wrasse, Puffer fish, Emperors, Snappers and Groupers. Common species include Parrot fish, Moray eels, Damsel fish, Cardinal fish, Wrasses, angel fish, scorpion fish and rays.

The main snorkelling site, accessible from either dhow or from the beach at low tide is a fringing reef near Kisite Island in the centre of the park. Many of the dive-sites fall within both the park & reserve. Behind Wasini Island there are 2 currently uninhabited islands Mpunguti Yaa Chini & Mpunguti ya Juu. Local fisherman visit to mend their nets and there can be found the rare land crabs & the bright pompom flowers in season.

The bird-life is interesting and includes the rarer palm-nut vulture & the more common fish eagle.

The Kisite Marine park covers 39 sq.km on the southernmost part of the Kenyan coastline and is managed and protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Before 1973 visitors used to snorkel off Kisite and this is what promoted the original restaurant owner, Aldo Soprani, to approach the Kenya Government to gazette the area as a park to ensure its protection.

The results of this protection request is obvious now, as Kisite & Mpunguti are the best example of what managed conservation can do - a pristine reef with protection for the marine life .... for the enjoyment of us all.

Some twenty or so years before the formation of Kisite Marine Park, in 1955 to be precise, 700 kilometres away in Sotik in the west of Kenya, two people were hard at work constructing the very first underwater device with which they could gaze at the fish and coral at four metres under the water without even getting their feet wet.

Diving conditions:
*****	first class
****	highly recommended
***	good
**	average

	NYULLI REEF

Average depth: Top of the reef at 20m down to 30m+. Average visibility: 15-40m. The coral formations are spectacular Rating ***** .. more

	SECRET POINT

Average depth: Top of the reef at 10m down to 20m+. Average visibility: 15-40m. Secret point is newly discovered. Rating **** .. more

	PINK REEF

( CORAL GARDENS ) Snorkelling also possible & very good at low tide. Average depth: 10-17m. Average visibility: 10-30m. Rating **** .. more

	HASSAN'S REEF

(CAPTAIN HASSAN'S REEF) Average depth: 10-16m Average visibility: 10-30m Very easy dive - comparable to a Sunday afternoon ramble. Rating **** .. more

	DOLPHIN POINT

Average depth: 10-12m Average visibility: 10-30m Playful dolphins often put in an appearance here. Rating *** .. more

	CHOP SUEY

Average depth: 8-12m Average visibility: 10-30m A great site for novice divers and also as a drift-dive. Rating *** .. more

"But what hardly anyone knows about Kisite is how some of the very first humans were able to glimpse this underwater world for the first time ..."