It's a really interesting place, and quite haunting when you listen to the story of the ruins. A photo session at the entrance was quite interesting and awesome experience. There are different walks you can do in the ruins, We spent about 3hr or so here and walked around with one of the guides. This place is worth a visit rates are 500 KES entrance fee per person.

Close to watamu, easy walking and seeing hustory of the 12th century. Spend about 2 hours here,shady, and also some very impressive trees. The monkeys are super tame and jump on people's shoulders to feed. Not aggressive. All in all, a nice excursion.

Great visit to this ancient town with a very knowledgeable guide that made the 2 hours tour worth our time. Highly recommend. Take a fan with you as it's an open air walk 😀

This is a highly recommended tourist attraction in the Watamu area. We visited in the afternoon, and the shady forest made a nice change in scenery after a morning of beach and poolside activities. The community guides are well-informed and we enjoyed walking around the ruins of a once-significant settlement, and hearing stories of the cultural and economic history of the place. The very tame Sykes monkeys are a concern, as they are brave enough to accept food from tourists who do not comply with the request not to feed them. We were also hoping to see elephant shrews which can be found in these forests but it was not the right season for a sighting.

Very authentic place. We had a knowledgeable tour guide called Hudson who was patient and explained to us the set up of the Ruins with the different houses and potentially who lived there. The excavation we were told was only a fraction of what was still buried underground, which was fascinating to us. We also visited the snake park, which could use a bit of a revamp. The last stop was the butterfly house, which was a bit underwhelming to be honest. Worth the stop over as a morning activity on your way to Watamu though.

Was an amazing visit to the ruins and museum. There are guides from the local community available at the entrance. Our guide Badi was very knowledgeable and entertaining. The history according to the locals was well explained, the architecture and how Africans lived and had before influences from other parts of the world. Some food for thought. The charge for locals is 100ksh and 50ksh for the kids.The charges for the local guides are specified but from past reviews seems the going rate is 1000ksh. Badi also arranged for a brief monkey show which was a fun experience. The monkeys sat on our shoulders and head as we fed them peanuts and took pictures . They were friendly (and heavy) monkeys 😀. They have a butterfly and snake park also

A really nice place to come for a few hours for a relaxing walk. They'll give you a private guide to walk with you and explain the history of the place, ours was really nice polite and fun and spoke English throughout so I could understand everything. There's also a butterfly nursery and a snake rescue centre here and I advise you to combine all the 3 in one visit as the other two are minor things and will take half an hour each. In the snake rescue centre you can see some cool snakes even though it's not a big place, it has around 15 snakes on display but the entrance is really cheap. The butterfly nursery was a bit disappointing for the handler (there's a different person managing this section the ruins guide will wait for you outside and pick you back up when you finish) and the place itself is small and run down and we literally saw 2 butterflies 1 caterpillar and few eggs with the nurseries where the chrysalis hatch. Maybe when it's the right season you'll see more butterflies. It's really cheap too so you can give it a shot once here... And at the end you can buy some awesome honey made by the local community at 500 kes a jar. The guy when he understood I'm Italian kept trying to say a few words he knew in Italian and it was a bit embarrassing especially cause my wife, Kenyan, doesn't understand it. This happened quite a few times in malindi and we really hated it. Overall the place is worth a visit but it's far the transport will cost as much as the entrances if not more and it takes for all up to 3 hours no more. Remember to bring plenty of bananas cause there are many monkeys at the entrance and the guide will even call them for you and you can feed them. They're harmless and don't steal belongings and they'll even climb on you! They won't hurt you and there's nothing to be afraid of.

Only did the ruins but it was worth it. Budget about 1.5-2 hours. The guide we had was good - incredible to see the structures from this period of time along with their research and excavation efforts.

We were given the history of the place by a community guide Bokomo. It's great to see the ruins a 1000 year old still standing with the great homes of the time.

Worth the trip! Ruins are pretty cool and quite extensive - provide a fascinating glimpse into the Swahili coast history. Definitely worth getting one of the guides who work there, as there's not much in the way of information boards, so the ruins will just be ruins without explanation. Also snake house and butterfly farm are a cool bonus!

Very historic. We had the best and most informative tour guide

Interesting history lesson, but you have to pay a guide separately from the entrance fee minimum Kenya Shillings 500. The guides know how to get monkeys to climb on you for photos. You can do Gede ruins, museums, and butterfly farm. If you have to choose one, do the ruins. If you're to skip one, skip the butterfly farm.

Awesome archeological site in Watamu. The guides give you all the history of the ancient civilization. The ambiance is unmatched, the wildlife is vibrant and the air is so fresh.

Great place to learn about the rich Swahili culture that was in this early trading hub. Harry was a great tour guide. Remember to buy Bananas for the monkeys

The whole site is incredible. We didn’t take a guide but we still liked to hike on our own around the place between the different archaeological sites. We also went to the snake museum which is at the same place. It isn’t really worth it except if you like to see snakes in very small and dark cages. There is also the nice butterfly museum where you can walk around the butterflies and try to recognize all the species.

It's so beautiful there So this people had even bathtubs and eye pencil 😅 Y'all should go there😊 I recommend

An excellent site to visit if you are into historical sites, the guide was friendly and knowledgeable

Paid Ksh 200 entrance fee to the ruins and got our lovely tour guide to take us through the history of the ruins. We paid her Ksh 300.

Snake park is fascinating, in the cause of the man who gide us and allow us to embrace snakes. Gede ruins also so interesting if you have enough knowledge about the civilization or get a guide.

Can I start by highlighting the mischievous monkeys found at the ruins? Quite beautiful though. The place is situated adjacent to the town of Gedi also known as Gede in Kilifi District and lies within the Arabuko – Sokoke Forest.  not sure of the name, whether it's gedi or gede but from what I was told is that the name should be gedi but locals are used to call it gede. The place was really peaceful, serene and being a nature lover, there is a certain feeling of calmness that comes over you. A wonderful place to visit, alone, with family or with friends and you won't regret

Friendly and professional attendant at the snake Park, with a variety of snakes from totally harmless to the most deadly snakes on the planet. The ancient ruins is an ideal place for exploration, the thick natural forest around it, the dhow house, totally recommend for lovers of nature.

A nice place to visit ..having a snake park within made it even incredible.

We had a very good guide...though we didn't have much time to spend we enjoyed the history. From the ruins, snake Park and the butterfly House. It also perfect for pictures.

You have the 3 options to choose from. The ruins, snake park and butterfly Park. It takes about an hour. Guides are very informative and entertaining, especially with the trained monkeys.

Such rich history and culture, apparently the 900 year old ruins used better technology in building compared to the buildings there constructed in the year 2000 .... I had to mention that.... it stood out. A guide is provided.... made it more enjoyable, but they require a separate tip, like two hundred bob. Tickets are 100 for the separate places, thats the kipepeo, ruins and snake park, then with the 200 bob tip damage is 500... Also come with bananas to feed the cute monkeys there....

Take a guide! They are really good and for 1000 you get an inspired person who tells you the history. Cute monkeys is a bonus.