How to find a Hotel or Restaurant for Christmas in Watamu

Every year people flock in their thousands to spend Christmas in Watamu. As far as beach destinations for the festive season go, Watamu is hard to beat, but the rising popularity of my favourite place in Kenya means you need to book for your holiday at the earliest possible opportunity. 

If you are spending Christmas in Watamu, you need to book the best houses a year in advance. Leave it to July and you’ll have the runt’s choice. Leave it to November and you’ll be stringing a hammock between two palms. You should book restaurants for Christmas and New Year by November. It sounds nuts. This is a sleepy village on the edge of the Indian Ocean, but Watamu is booming, baby, and with more visitors than places to stay, you better get booking pronto.

Where to stay in Watamu for Christmas and New Year

Ever helpful, I’ve gone into huge detail about where to stay in Watamu on another blog, imaginatively titled Places to Stay in Watamu. The best of them are summarized below. I suggest you book through Booking.com or with the hotel directly. Scams and false websites advertising rooms that aren’t available are rife. You have been warned. 

Turtle Bay 

Medina Palms -5-star resort with a sophisticated, yet laid-back vibe.

Hemingway’s Watamu – the best five-star hotel in Watamu. Elegant, exclusive, unaffordable. 

Turtle Bay Beach Club – all-inclusive, family resort with great watersports, a dive school and a kids’ club.

Ocean Sports – this is where you will find all the bright young things at midnight on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Ocean Sports is the hub of Watamu. Good dive school and cottages that are located away from the madding crowd. Family and Couples/Singles.

Watamu Treehouse – amazing holistic retreat. Couples/Singles only. 

Garoda Beach and Mida Creek 

Kobe Suite Resort – private, couples-focused resort.

Gecko Resort – family resort with excellent beachfront day beds that are worth the price alone.  

Temple Point Resort – where Mida Creek meets the Indian Ocean. Suitable for families or couples/singles. Dive school. Has the excellent Lichthaus restaurant and bar within the resort. 

Papa Remo Beach 

Seven Islands Resort – all-inclusive, family/couples resort. A gate leads through to the divine Papa Remo Beach bar.

Visiwa – small boutique hotel with a fantastic restaurant, magnificent views over Papa Remo Beach.  

Mida Forest

Palm Garden Resort – anything that isn’t beachfront can get boiling at this time of year, so aircon is a good idea. 4-star immaculate resort is more suited for couples. 

Watamu Backpackers – Cheap and Cheerful

Houses and Villas in Watamu 

If you are reading this in November, you haven’t got a chance in hell of getting a decent house or villa for Christmas in Watamu. If you are reading this any other time of year, I suggest you start booking now. 

 There are three major ways to find a house in Watamu. 

1. Discover Watamu – company that rents and sells houses in Watamu. They have a monopoly on all the best houses, an should be your first port of call. 
2. Airbnb – you can find little gems on Airbnb. Some of the same gorgeous villas that are on Discover Watamu but also places that don’t quite make the cut and yet should. Be careful. I’ve been scammed and booked a hotel via Airbnb that the owner knew nothing about. Before you send your money over, speak to the owner and look on TripAdvisor. My no. 1 tip is not to book somewhere without a couple of reviews. 
3. East African Retreats have a couple of houses in Watamu.
4. Nairobi Expat Travel Facebook group. Look and you will find houses available. You can send a message to the group, but you’ll get a lot of travel agents messaging you back. 
5. Booking.com has a few villas and houses, although they mainly book hotels.

Best Restaurants for Christmas in Watamu.

Hemingways – They usually do a huge buffet lunch with everything you could ever want to eat. Jazz bands, endless champagne – go on, spoil yourself. 

Ocean Sports – do a more modest Christmas Dinner buffet lunch with all the trimmings. Eat lunch by the ocean waves, then drink too many cocktails and fall into the water. 

Papa Remo – does a Christmas menu, something gorgeous, seafoody and Italian most years. A restaurant on a white sand beach–nothing could be more laid back. 

Visiwa – you can book a table next to the pool at Visiwa and eat amazing Italian food, then lie replete on sunbeds that overlook Papa Remo bay. Last year they did a four-course menu with an apéritif.

Restaurants and bars in Watamu for New Year’s Eve

Ocean Sports – ok so it may help if you are under 20, otherwise you’re going to feel like a granny when you slope off to bed at 12.05, but this is the place for New Year’s Eve. A ticket also gives you access to the New Year’s Day party, which is just as boozy – shots at 11 am anyone? I have a ticket for both… see you there. 

Lichthaus – My favourite place in Watamu. Sadly, it’s everyone else’s place too and you definitely need to book. They only open spaces a month in advance, ou can book online. Incredible creek side restaurant with hammocks that stretch out over the waters. This place is pumping at night time. New Year Even will be fabulous. Wear something beautiful and a bikini.

Papa Remo – does a disco (jeez, disco, that’s showing my age) every Saturday, but they ramp it up every New Year’s Eve. Imagine dancing barefoot in the sand and gazing over the Isle d’Amore. It’s as magical as it sounds.

Further Reading for Christmas in Watamu

Watamu Beach Kenya: The Insiders Guide to Paradise

Discover Gecko Resort Watamu – Hotel Review

All you need to know about Turtle Bay Watamu

A beach holiday in Watamu Kenya

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