Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve
Encyclopedia
Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve is a marine park
and national reserve
in Mombasa
, Kenya
. The park is 10 km² (2,500 acres) while the reserve is 200 km² (49,400 acres).
It is located on the coast near tourist areas and is a popular beach and snorkeling
and diving
location. It is the most heavily visited of Kenya's marine parks. It has coral reefs in its waters.
It was extablished as a Marine Park in 1986, and encloses part of the lagoon, back reef and reef crest habitats of the Bamburi-Nyali fringing reef.
The Marine park is characterized by warm tropical conditions varying at the surface between 25°C and 31°C during the year, stable salinity regimes and moderate nutrient levels.
Marine park
A marine park is a park consisting of an area of sea sometimes protected for recreational use, but more often set aside to preserve a specific habitat and ensure the ecosystem is sustained for the organisms that exist there...
and national reserve
National Reserve
A National Reserve is a land designation for protecting conservation values:-National Reserves by country:*National reserves of Chile*National Reserves of New Zealand*National Reserves of the United States...
in Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. The park is 10 km² (2,500 acres) while the reserve is 200 km² (49,400 acres).
It is located on the coast near tourist areas and is a popular beach and snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
and diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
location. It is the most heavily visited of Kenya's marine parks. It has coral reefs in its waters.
It was extablished as a Marine Park in 1986, and encloses part of the lagoon, back reef and reef crest habitats of the Bamburi-Nyali fringing reef.
The Marine park is characterized by warm tropical conditions varying at the surface between 25°C and 31°C during the year, stable salinity regimes and moderate nutrient levels.