The archipelago of Lamu is home to an old Swahili town of the same name.
Along the coast, the Mombasa Republican Council has been making inroads.
Kenya's minister for tourism, the Hon. Najib Balala, visits Lamu to reassure business owners following the kidnapping of a French national from the island of Manda in October 2011.
Tourism accounts for the vast majority of the archipelago's income, either directly through hoteliers and boat-owners, to fishermen who provide food to the thousands of tourists who visit annually.
The coast is home to many of Kenya's Muslims, and maintains a strong Islamic identity.
Lamu muslims sit outside the old mosque in the town.
Despite Lamu's idyllic setting, the archipelago is marred by poverty.
Mombasa is an important trading hub for East Africa, and the mixes development with tradition.
In late October 2012, police raided the house of Omar Faraj, who they claimed was a 'terror suspect' linked to radical islam. Neighbours described three hours of intermittent shooting by the police, against an un-armed Faraj who died in the raid.
Khelef Khalifa is the director of Muslims for Human Rights, "Muhuri", and campaigns against what he describes as extra-legal killings perpetrated by the Kenyan police.
Mr. Faraj's family began a period of mourning following the killing.
Ali Mohamed Musa (30), is the brother of the late Aboud Rogo. Mr. Rogo, a Kenyan radical Islamic cleric who was on United States' and United Nations' sanctions lists for alleged support of al-Shebab, the Somali al-Qaeda linked militants, was killed in a drive-by shooting which Mr. Musa says was orchestrated by the police.
Muslims enter the Mussa mosque in Mombasa, where the late Aboud Rogo, a Muslim cleric, delivered a weekly lecture, and is where his body was brought following his assassination on August 27, 2012.
A fire burns on the beach of one of Lamu's islands. Fear of terrorist attacks has had a significant impact on the coast's tourism industry.