The ruined town of Takwa lies across the channel and up a narrow mangrove creek on Manda Island. It can be approached only by boat and only on a rising tide.

You can hear the ocean over the dunes in this lovely place as you wander among fabled baobab trees and the remains of a 16th century Swahili town. Visitors who do not wish to spend the night will have to take a quick (approx. 45 minutes) tour so as not to miss the outgoing tide. Be sure to see the Mosque with a pillar over its fine qibla which is relatively well preserved, and also the pillar tomb which has an inscription with the date of 1681-1682. Takwa is a national monument administred by the National Museums of Kenya. A camping site is provided.

It is reported that when Takwa was abandoned, its inhabitants settled just across the bay at Shela on Lamu Island. Twice a year the people of Shela come to the Pillar Tomb in Takwa to pray for rain. The Takwa Ruins were designated a Kenyan National Monument in 1982.

Takwa Ruins are the ruins of a Muslim town which was abandoned around the 18th century. The ruins were first excavated by James Kirkman in 1951. In 1972 the site was cleared again under the supervision of James de Vere Allen, the Curator of the Lamu Museum. Takwa was never a large place.

It was founded around year 1500, and probably abandoned around 1700. Kirkman thought that it was perhaps a place were holy men or religious people retreated. It is reported that when Takwa was abandoned, its inhabitants settled just across the bay at Shela on Lamu Island.