Whale Sharks, Moucha Island, Khor Ambado and Red Sea Food

While the inland rift valley looks like another planet, the waters immediately north and west of Djibouti City hold some of the richest marine life in the Red Sea region. Protected from open-ocean swells by the Gulf of Tadjoura, coral islands, volcanic bays and seasonal plankton currents sit within a short boat or 4x4 ride of the capital, followed by smoky Yemeni-style seafood feasts back in town.

Whale Sharks of the Gulf of Tadjoura, Moucha Island and Khor Ambado

Every year from late October through January (often into February), monsoon winds push warm surface water into the western cul-de-sac of the Gulf of Tadjoura around Arta Plage and Ras Korali. The resulting bloom of copepods and crab larvae draws aggregations of juvenile whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) measuring three to seven metres long. Because these gentle filter-feeders cruise near the surface to feed in sheltered bays, you can encounter them with a mask, snorkel and fins on a half-day boat trip from Djibouti City or Doraleh. Always choose a responsible operator that enforces marine guidelines: enter the water quietly, stay at least three metres from the shark's head and four metres from its tail, and never touch or block its path.

Year-round, a thirty-minute boat ride fifteen kilometres north of the port of Djibouti reaches Moucha and Maskali Islands. Surrounded by fringing reefs of table and brain coral, turquoise sandbars and a quiet mangrove channel, the islands offer relaxed reef snorkelling and diving. Closer to town on the mainland coast, a 4x4 track winds down a volcanic escarpment to Khor Ambado, a sandy cove where locals swim over nearshore coral heads.

Poisson Yeménite (Mukbaza), Skoudehkaris and Djiboutian Cuisine

After a day in the salt air, return to central Djibouti City for dinner at one of the open-fronted fish ovens near Place Mahmoud Harbi or Avenue 13:

• Poisson Yeménite and Mukbaza: choose a fresh Red Sea red snapper, grouper or kingfish, which the baker splits open, rubs with spices and slaps straight onto the glowing wall of a beehive clay oven. Order mukbaza alongside it: warm flatbread mashed in a wooden bowl with ripe banana, dates, honey and clarified butter (subag).
• Fah-fah and Skoudehkaris: a fragrant broth of goat or beef with potatoes, cabbage, green chillies and coriander, followed by skoudehkaris, Djibouti's national rice dish cooked in lamb stock with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
• Lahoh and Sambusas: spongy, lacy fermented sorghum pancakes and crisp triangular pastry parcels stuffed with spiced beef or lentils.