Holidays in Marsa Alam

Until very recently, Marsa Alam was just a small fishing village on the west coast of the Red Sea, but since the opening of International Airport in 2001, it has become the rising star of Egypt holidays. Many believe Marsa Alam is destined to become even more popular than Sharm El-Sheikh or Hurghada within the next few years.

Wind surfers, scuba divers and sun worshippers have discovered this remote and as yet intimate paradise with its palm trees, mangroves and sea coasts fringed with coral reefs.   Its reputation amongst scuba divers is high because of the numerous unspoilt diving sites with frequent sightings of spinner dolphins, dugongs and hammerhead sharks.

The modern hotel complexes that have been built stretch along the magnificent beaches from Port Ghalib to the Wadi El Gemal National Park and offer the ideal in Egypt holiday packages.  Marsa Alam also has some inland attractions, such as the gold and emerald mines of Ptolemy II, who built a road linking Marsa Alam and Edfu that is still in use today, and the Temple of Seti at Khananis.

Marsa Alam Hotels

Sol Y Mar Abu Dabbab overlook glorious white sand beaches on the beautiful Red Sea coastline. This luxurious and comfortable four star hotel has everything you could want for a perfect family beach holiday with excellent accommodation, food and services. The facilities in the hotel are extensive with superb buffet restaurants, bars, discos, freshwater heated swimming pools, daily animation programmes, supervised Kids Club and live music and cabaret entertainment in the evenings.

Sol Y Mar Abu Dabbab also has its own exclusive beach with sheltered bays and fringing reefs that are ideal for novice and experienced divers alike. You can choose an easy shore dive or take a boat out to the famous Elphinstone Reef.   Whatever you want to do and whatever pace you prefer, this Marsa Alam hotel is ideal for escaping the crowds and allowing your family to discover the unspoilt beauty of the Red Sea with a touch of luxury.

Diving in Marsa Alam

Marsa Alam has some of the most beautiful diving sites and the most astonishing variety of marine life in all the southern Red Sea. As well as the huge pods of spinner dolphins, dozens of large turtles can often be seen and dugongs also frequent these calm and serene waters. Marsa Alam has everything that Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh has, but without the crowds.  It is possible to dive at Marsa Alam all year round and sites such as the famous Elphinstone reef, with its sheer walls plunging down to a depth of around 70 metres,  are definitely for the more experienced Scuba diver.  The reefs in Marsa Alam are mostly free from the environmental damage suffered by some further north and being further from the larger resorts, they can be enjoyed without having to constantly bump into other divers.
Marsa Alam Dive Sites
It’s generally accepted that the following are probably the best dive sites in the area, if not the entire southern Red Sea.
 Marsa Abu Dabbab: despite a lack of coral, this is one of the most popular of all Marsa Alam's dive sites and probably the best place to get close to sea turtles and the dugong.   The bay has recently been closed to boats making both snorkelling and scuba diving easier and more relaxing. It is also a dive site suitable to all skill levels. 

Elphinstone Reef:  suitable for more experienced divers, Elphinstone is an excellent choice if you are looking for sharks, particularly the large and usually solitary oceanic white tip.  Divers have reported up to four sightings on a single dive.  The reef attracts an enormous variety of sea life including jacks, tuna, blue lunar fusiliers, black snapper and lone barracuda.  Legend also has it that a large arch at the southern end of the reef, about sixty metres below the surface, contains the sarcophagus of an unknown Pharaoh and divers have reported a coral encrusted rectangular shape in the area.

Samadai Reef : Suitable for all diving levels, this reef is one of the most popular dives in the Red Sea and is also one of the world's most important dolphin habitats. A large family of around one hundred spinner dolphins have made it their permanent home. In the summer of 2003, a sudden increase in the number of site visitors led to an equally sudden decline in the dolphin population, so access to the reef has been limited to protect the dolphins with buoys in the water to mark separate zones, with an area for dolphins only, another for divers only, another for snorkellers only and another for mooring boats. Visiting times are also restricted between 10am and 2pm and the number of ticket permits sold is also restricted to 100 snorkellers and 100 divers daily.   The reef itself is crescent shaped with a small lagoon of sand and sea-grass which is rich in marine life including sea horses. 
Abu Dabbab Reefs:  six reefs in total that lie a few miles out to sea from Marsa Alam.  You can dive down to the wreckage of a small ship which sunk after a fire in 2004.  Dolphins frequent the area and although you won't always see them, they have been known to spend up to 10 minutes at a time with divers.  You can also explore the beautiful coral garden and an underwater cave system.
 

Marsa Alam Beaches & Water Sports

Marsa Alam hotels have their own private beaches exclusively available to hotel guests.  Long stretches of natural white sand beaches and a year-round dry and temperate climate make this area an ideal destination for sun seekers and water sports enthusiasts.  The waters of the Red Sea are clear and calm for most of the year and are popular for watersports such as scuba-diving and snorkelling, windsurfing, sailing and deep-sea fishing. 

Other water sports including water skiing, pedalo hire are available on the doorstep and you can also learn to surf and windsurf.  Marsa Alam is reasonably close to the popular Red Sea destinations of Hurghada and Dahab where many international wind and kite surfing competitions are held.  Marsa Alam’s hotels can also offer a large choice of other more relaxed and fun water sports, from banana rides to parasailing. 

Ancient Egyptian and Roman Sites in Marsa Alam

Temple of Seti  I
Marsa Alam is close to some stunning ancient Egyptian and Roman archaeological sites.  The Temple of Seti I is situated in Kanais to the east of Edfu along the desert road which leads to Marsa Alam.  This gorgeous temple was cut into the living rock around 1305-1290 B.C.  The temple chambers feature scenes from Seti’s life. Tourists are only allowed to view the entrance of the Temple.  The chambers  within are closed off to preserve them,  but visitors can see the ancient well close to the Temple of Seti I and  examples of unique rock art from pre-dynastic times  that are about 6000 years old.
Cleopatra’s Emerald Mines
The Emerald Mines in Marsa Alam are located in the desert between Marsa Alam and the Nile Valley. Emeralds were highly valued by the ancient Egyptians as a symbol of eternity and power and these mines were used during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.   The mines have been confirmed as the legendary Cleopatra Mines or Mons Smaragdus (Emerald Mountains) that produced some of the best emeralds in the world and were still being mined up to the 14th century. You can still see a number of ruins near around the Emerald Mines, Marsa Alam. The structures are well preserved and still have mine shafts as well as some temple structures.
Mons Claudianus
Mons Claudianus is one of the best preserved sites of Roman civilization in Egypt.   It’s located at the base of Jebel Fatira and was a Roman penal colony and quarry worked from around  68 AD to 282 AD,  This stones quarried  by the prisoners here were used as building materials for the Roman Empire. The shiny black stones from Mons Claudianus, Marsa Alam are still visible in Hadrian's Villa, in the portico of the Pantheon, in public baths and in the columns and floor of the Temple of Venus in Rome.  The ancient remains at Mons Claudianus also show that there was a Roman camp with apartments, workshops and stables on the site as well as luxuries like steam baths (for the guards and garrison only) using  the hot springs that still exist there today.

 

Shopping, Entertainment & Leisure in Marsa Alam

Marsa Alam’s attraction for many people is that it’s not yet as developed or as commercialised as some Red Sea resorts.  Shopping therefore is largely restricted to the shops in hotels, boutiques and some mini-markets, but you can take the initiative to venture out and sample some local places. You’ll certainly find a variety of shops with a range of oriental perfumes and oils, Bedouin outfits, scarves and accessories. Marsa Alam is also the place to hit for spices and herbs with fantastic aromas and flavours and some acknowledged health benefits. Make sure you carry cash as traveller’s cheques are not generally accepted and ATM machines are pretty rare outside hotel complexes. 

Marsa Alam does boast a colourful nightlife with discos and bars in the hotels and resorts and some local clubs.  You can see belly dancing shows or try out typical Egyptian drinks. If loud music and parties are not your style, then chase crabs on a pleasant Marsa Alam night as you stroll along the beach and count the thousands of glittering stars.

About 40 km from Marsa Alam is Wadi el Gemal National Park, a protected area of almost incredible bio-diversity and home to a rare desert tribe, the Beja, as well as beautiful desert gazelle and other rare forms of wildlife. A desert trek will reward you with a fantastic experience.  Wadi el Gemal National Park also boasts Egypt's first eco-lodge designed to blend into the surrounding eco system.  Trekking in the mountains and deserts of Egypt's Eastern Desert around Marsa Alam can be done in a variety of ways, including Camel treks, rides on Arabian horses, or via quad bikes and beach buggies.