<p>Marine ecosystem restoration, particularly coral reef restoration, has gained popularity as a conservation intervention in tropical areas. Traditionally driven by natural science, these efforts often overlooked social aspects, such as the inclusion of relevant stakeholders. In Kenya, the co-management approach involving Beach Management Units (BMUs) has been adopted for sustainable marine resource management, fostering active and long-term coastal community participation. This paper investigates the drivers of engagement of various stakeholders, particularly understanding their motivations, capacities, and the associated challenges in engaging in coral reef restoration efforts in Shimoni, on the southern coast of Kenya. We employed marine stewardship as a framework and utilized qualitative research methodologies to collected data; eighteen semi-structured interviews with key respondents, two focus group discussions, participant observations during BMU’s meeting, and a review of secondary sources. Our results identified six stakeholder categories: local community represented under BMUs, national and county governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), funding agencies, knowledge and research institutions, and tourism businesses. Notably, the BMU and government agencies are central nodes in an extensive stakeholder network. Key motivations include a collective call to stewardship, sustainable reef management, and coral reef resilience research, while capacities vary in sense of ownership, legislative mandate, technical knowledge, and financial or supportive resources. Underlying challenges revolve around limited awareness, leadership and governance issues, project implementation, community engagement, resource mobilisation, and external threats. Understanding stakeholders, motivations, capacities and challenges is crucial for designing effective and inclusive reef restoration strategies, embedded in local societies.</p>