Marsa Alam sits at the southern end of Egypt’s mainland Red Sea coast, about 270 kilometres
south of Hurghada, with its own international airport a few kilometres north of the town. It is
the quietest of the big Egyptian beach destinations and the one chosen most often for the water
rather than the nightlife.
The areas, and how they differ
Hotels here are spread along the coast road rather than gathered in one town, and where you
stay decides what your week looks like.
- Port Ghalib — a marina development just north of the airport, with a
promenade of shops and restaurants. The one part of Marsa Alam where you can walk out of the
hotel in the evening and find somewhere to go. - Coraya Bay — a sheltered bay a little further south, with several large
resorts sharing one beach and a reef that is easy to reach. - Around Abu Dabbab — closest to
Abu Dabbab Bay, known for dugongs and green turtles in the seagrass. - South towards Hamata — the far end, bordering the Wadi El Gemal National Park.
Very few hotels, very little else, and the darkest night skies on the coast.
Why almost everything is all-inclusive
There is no resort town here in the way there is at Hurghada, so there are few independent
restaurants to walk to. Hotels answered that by going all-inclusive, and most of them still are.
If you like eating out, Port Ghalib is effectively the only area that allows it.
The question that matters most: reef or sand
Marsa Alam’s reefs come close inshore, which is the whole attraction — and it means many
beaches are coral rather than open sand. Hotels built in front of a reef usually have a jetty out
to the drop-off. Hotels on a sandy bay are easier for small children and weaker swimmers but often
have little to see from the beach itself.
10 Days Cairo, Alexandria and Beach Vacation
Want to see this for yourself? This trip covers it.
View This TripBefore booking, it is worth asking three things: whether the hotel has a house reef or a sandy
entry, whether there is a jetty, and how far the diving centre’s boats go — the best sites here,
Elphinstone and Samadai among them, are reached by boat rather than from the shore.
When to go
The far south is warm year-round and handles summer better than the northern bays, with less
wind in winter. October to May is the easiest stretch. Water temperatures stay swimmable through
the winter without a wetsuit for most people.
Getting there, and getting out
Marsa Alam International Airport takes direct charter flights from much of Europe in season.
Overland it is roughly four hours from Hurghada and three and a half from Luxor, which makes a
Nile valley trip followed by the coast a practical combination — the structure most of our
Egypt packages use.
Help choosing
We book across this coast and know which properties sit on reef and which on sand, which have
a working jetty, and which diving centres run the southern boats. Tell us how you want to spend
the week and we will shortlist against it — talk to us, or browse the
hotels we work with.
