Winam Gulf is a significant extension of northeastern Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

 into western 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...

.

Formerly known as Kavirondo

Kavirondo

Kavirondo is the former name of the region surrounding Kavirondo Gulf as well as of two native peoples living there under the regime of British East Africa...

 Gulf, Nyanza Gulf, and Lake Nyanza Gulf, it is a shallow inlet and is connected to the main lake by Rusinga Channel (3 mi wide), which is partly masked from the main body of the lake by islands. The port of Kisumu

Kisumu

Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...

, Kenya's third largest city, stands on its northeastern shore. It has an average width of 16 mi (25 km) & extends for 40 miles (64 km) from Kisumu to the channel. Significant bays in the gulf include Naya Bay, Asembo Bay, Nyakach Bay, Osodo Bay, Kendu Bay

Kendu Bay

Kendu Bay is a bay and town in Kenya. The area is the part of Rachuonyo District in Homa Bay County. It is located on the shore of Lake Victoria along Katito-Homa-Bay road. Kosele, the district capital is 25 kilometres southeast of Kendu Bay...

, Homa Bay

Homa Bay

Homa Bay is a bay and town on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa and Ruma National Park, the latter noted for Jackson's hartebeests and roan antelope .Homa Bay was once the District...

, Ruri Bay, Mirunda Bay, Asembo Bay

Asembo

Asembo is a village in Kenya's Nyanza Province. It lies on Lake Victoria, close to the Winam Gulf. A small road connects it to the C28 highway. The bay, Asembo Bay shares the name of the town and was once a significant port. The Asembo Bay Life Center is active in the area with humanitarian...

 and Olambwe Bay. Islands in the gulf include Maboko

Maboko Island

Maboko Island is a small island lying in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in Nyanza Province of western Kenya. It is about 1.8 km long by 1 km wide. It is an important Middle Miocene paleontological site with fossiliferous deposits that were discovered in the 1930s...

, Rusinga

Rusinga Island

Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approx. 10 miles from end to end and 3 miles at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf...

 and Ndere Island

Ndere Island

Ndere Island is a small island in Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria in Kenya. It was gazetted as the Ndere Island National Reserve in November 1986 and has since that time been uninhabited....

s.