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The calm bay of Marsa Shagra, seen from a beach shelter

Egypt

Marsa Alam

A quiet coast for diving: house reefs, a boat to Elphinstone and Wadi el Gemal.

  • Typical stay: 5–7 days

Why ⁨Marsa Alam⁩?

  1. Quiet reefs

    Reefs that see a fraction of the northern sites' traffic.

  2. Elphinstone Reef

    Elphinstone Reef, the dive this coast is best known for.

  3. Wadi el Gemal

    Wadi el Gemal, where desert and shoreline are protected together.

Before you go

  • Currency

    Egyptian Pound

  • Language

    Arabic

  • Time difference

    GMT+3

  • Plugs

    Type C, F

  • Getting around

    Car

  • Driving

    On the right

Best time to visit ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

March to May and October to November

  • January

    Average high: 23°C

    Average low 15°C

    Coldest month

    0 days of rain

  • February

    Average high: 23°C

    Average low 16°C

    0 days of rain

    Good time to go

  • March

    Average high: 25°C

    Average low 18°C

    0 days of rain

    Best time to go

  • April

    Average high: 29°C

    Average low 22°C

    0 days of rain

    Best time to go

  • May

    Average high: 32°C

    Average low 25°C

    0 days of rain

    Best time to go

  • June

    Average high: 35°C

    Average low 29°C

    0 days of rain

  • July

    Average high: 36°C

    Average low 29°C

    0 days of rain

  • August

    Average high: 36°C

    Average low 30°C

    Warmest month

    0 days of rain

  • September

    Average high: 35°C

    Average low 29°C

    0 days of rain

  • October

    Average high: 31°C

    Average low 25°C

    0 days of rain

    Best time to go

  • November

    Average high: 28°C

    Average low 21°C

    0 days of rain

    Best time to go

  • December

    Average high: 25°C

    Average low 18°C

    0 days of rain

    Wettest month

    Good time to go

Places in ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

Compare flight tickets to ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

Trip plans for ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

Local tips

  • Insider tips

    1. Pick one place and stay. Distances are long, the road empty, and moving hotels costs a day each time.

    2. Dive the house reef before booking boats; on much of this coast it rivals sites an hour away.

  • Money

    1. Shops are few and far apart outside Port Ghalib; bring any medicines or specific dive kit with you.

  • Customs and safety

    1. This coast is worth the journey because it is so little damaged. Nothing is stood on, touched or taken.

  • Food and prayer

    1. Halal is the ordinary case, outside the hotels there is almost nowhere to eat; most meals are where you stay.

    2. Each settlement has a mosque, Port Ghalib included, and hotels keep prayer rooms; between them there is nothing.

Getting around ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

  • Car

    The coast road is the only road, and a car or a hotel transfer is how the distances along it are covered.

    Recommended

  • Ferry

    Dive boats go out from Port Ghalib and from the hotels, which is how the offshore reefs are reached.

  • Bus

    Intercity coaches run up the coast towards Hurghada and inland towards the Nile Valley, slowly and not often.

eSIM plans in ⁨Egypt⁩

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Continue your ⁨Egypt⁩ trip

About ⁨Marsa Alam⁩

This is the southern end of Egypt's developed coast, and the distance is the point: fewer hotels, longer gaps between them, and reef that sees a fraction of the traffic the northern sites do. It is a diving destination first and a beach one second.

There is very little here that is not the sea or the desert. Days are organised around dives and the road, and a week suits it far better than a long weekend.

Photo credits

Photographs on this page, with their licences.

Data sources