Gede Ruins
Gede Ruins
4.5
07:00 - 19:00
Monday
07:00 - 19:00
Tuesday
07:00 - 19:00
Wednesday
07:00 - 19:00
Thursday
07:00 - 19:00
Friday
07:00 - 19:00
About
Gede National Monument is a historical and archaeological site found near Gede town about 120 km from Mombasa and 16km from Malindi in Kenya. Gede National Monument is open to the public seven days a week including public holidays from 7:30 am in the morning to 6:00pm in the evening.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Gede Ruins and nearby attractions
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
22 within 5 kms
Attractions
14 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
343 reviews
Excellent
161
Very good
140
Average
35
Poor
6
Terrible
1
Alan Newman
Norwich, UK75 contributions
Feb 2024 • Family
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a journey back in time that helps us see 'The Swahili Coast' in a new light. From the 15th century (and possibly earlier) The East African coast has seen traders and travellers come from India, Oman, Persia and Portugal. Many settled. Today's Kiswahil language has Bantu grammar and many 'borrowed' words from Arabic. Our guide - Badi - was excellent: knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and with good English. As a bonus, the Syke's monkeys near the Gede Ruins are used to people and provide good photo opportunities.
Written 27 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SDHopper
Seattle, WA191 contributions
Nov 2023 • Solo
Interesting history and site. They are on the e- ticket system, which is the same one you use for an e-visa. It's better to get your ticket online before going and just give them the name and number.* The 500 kes tour was worth it to have a better understanding of what you are seeing. It is open on weekends (I visited on a Saturday.) The information here is out of date. But it won't let me correct it. Overall, it was a worthwhile excursion.
*Unfortunately, I can't give you the official government website where you get the tickets because TripAdvisor blocks it as commercial information. I hope you can find it. It's a pain to find but ready to do with instructions in the comfort of your hotel.
*Unfortunately, I can't give you the official government website where you get the tickets because TripAdvisor blocks it as commercial information. I hope you can find it. It's a pain to find but ready to do with instructions in the comfort of your hotel.
Written 26 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katheryn C
11 contributions
Jul 2023
Cool ruins to explore. Freelance guides are available for a modest amount to explain the history. Very interesting. Beautiful big trees and monkeys as well. Worth a visit.
Written 3 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bella T
Brighton, UK13 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
Really interesting tour with our guide Dena. He was professional and knowledgeable. I'd definitely recommend a visit and having a guide to bring it all to life!
Written 15 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OBGTraveler
North Stonington, CT26 contributions
Jul 2022
This did not cost anything but was a big let down. We really did not appreciate it. There was no guide. The literature explains everything but really needs someone to help you understand the intracies of the ruins.
Written 10 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daisy N
17 contributions
Apr 2023 • Solo
It was a journey into the past. I experienced many firsts, such as spotting an owl couple and bonding with an anonymous monkey. Yet this was all thanks to the humorous, informative, kind, multi- talented (amazing photographing skills) and interesting tour guide of all time - Mr. Andrew Warra
Written 8 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ariel N
Tel Aviv, Israel18 contributions
Mar 2023
its a nice place to learn the historyit was good experience.there are guides from the community availsble at the entrance.the guides are very informative
Written 9 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
R Miller
15 contributions
Apr 2023 • Solo
Medieval Swahili coastal settlement, excavated by the colonialists in the 1920s mosques a place for the Salton and houses are made from stone rock and coral stone pillar tombs. The site was abandoned in the 17th century evidence of trade coins from China scissors from Spain and venetian beads, highly recommend visiting the ruins.
Written 2 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris Petitclerc
Calgary, Canada78 contributions
Feb 2023 • Family
A must see when in Watamu. Lots to see. The moneys will jump on you so just be prepared. They are friendly but got my shirt dirty. Our guide was amazing and taught us lots about the ruins. 1100 AD and still uncovering much more. Held a python snake. Saw a mamba snake. Lizards, butterflies, turtles. We paid 900 shillings by credit card or MPesa only. No cash.
Written 5 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kate L
21 contributions
Dec 2022 • Family
Very interesting and we also did the butterfly and snake farm whilst there. Sadly it was not the right season for the butterflies but was still interesting. Need to go in rainy season for the best experience. Gede ruins were very interesting, the mortar is made out of coral. However it was quite nerve-racking with small children as there were very deep, open wells dotted around. It was also very tiring with small children as it was a long walk in very hot weather. Our guide was good but charged 500ksh per exhibit. The snake farm was not worth it, visit East African Reptile Park for a good snake experience.
Written 16 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Little digital info availabl
Mbarak2012
Mombasa, Kenya
The snake park at the Gede ruins is a snake rescue centre where we keep snakes rescued from people homes found neat the monument We keep the snake also fie education purposes We use them to create awareness among among our visitors on the importance of snakes in our biodiversity.Athough snake are regarded as dangerius but the play an important role in our envirobment by reducing the number of rodents and other small animals which destroy our crops.
Mbarak2012
Mombasa, Kenya
Hi. Kindly to inform you that, Gedi Ruins is open to public from Monday to Sunday including all the holidays in Kenya from 6 am to 6 pm. Apart from the precious ruins we do also have a snake rescue center and a butterfly farm. You are all welcomed.
Mbarak2012
Mombasa, Kenya
We are open from 7:30am in the morning to 6:00pm in the evening every day including Sunday and public holidays
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listingGEDE RUINS: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Frequently Asked Questions about Gede Ruins
- Hotels near Gede Ruins:
- (4.10 km) Mimi Na Wewe
- (4.64 km) The Charming Lonno Lodge
- (5.62 km) iGV Club Blue Bay
- (8.39 km) Watamu Treehouse
- (5.90 km) Hemingways Watamu
- Restaurants near Gede Ruins:
- (0.73 km) JJC Bar And Restaurant Gede
- (4.91 km) The Liars Club
- (5.21 km) Non Solo Gelato Watamu
- (4.44 km) Papa Remo Beach
- (7.56 km) Safina Beach club