Mida Creek is a 32 sq km tidal inlet that sits inside the Watamu Marine National Reserve and forms part of the UNESCO-designated Watamu Biosphere Reserve. Seven species of mangrove line the creek, creating dense green tunnels that shelter a rich food web of crabs, mudskippers, juvenile fish and one of Kenya’s most important shorebird populations. Between October and April, tens of thousands of migratory shorebirds arrive from Europe and Asia; crab plovers, curlew sandpipers, greenshanks, whimbrels, and Terek sandpipers are the celebrities. Local guides trained by A Rocha Kenya can name every bird on the mudflats. The creek is community-managed. Small ecotourism cooperatives run kayak trips, dhow charters, and the iconic 260-meter wooden boardwalk that snakes through mangroves out to an over-water treehouse restaurant famous for fresh-crab lunches at sunset. Every visitor fee helps fund local mangrove replanting and Ocean Sole plastic clean-up initiatives, making Mida Creek a rare place where a beautiful day out translates directly into ecological repair.