Marsa Alam-Ghalib Egypt
Frequently Asked Questions
Inside the Port Ghalib marina, a purpose-built resort around a deep-water basin on the Marsa Alam coast. The seafront promenade is a few steps from the gangway.
Yes, in a few minutes. The seafront lines up cafés, shisha terraces, oil and spice shops and a covered souk selling copper lamps and Egyptian cotton. It is all recent and well kept.
A morning boat trip to a seagrass bay, back for lunch at the quay, then the souk and tea on the promenade at dusk. Distances are short: everything leaves from the pontoons or the excursion desks on the seafront.
They are reputed to be better preserved. Trips head for bays such as Marsa Mubarak, where dugongs sometimes graze in the seagrass, and the neighbouring coral gardens frequented by green turtles.
No. Mask and snorkel are enough to drift over clownfish, moray eels and shoals of fusiliers. Dive centres handle both try-dives and more advanced outings.
No, and the centres enforce it: touch nothing, take nothing, keep your distance from the animals. That is the best guarantee of finding these gardens alive from one year to the next.
Yes, the mineral hinterland. Four-wheel-drive or quad safaris through the valleys, a stop at a Bedouin camp over mint tea, and stargazing on evening departures.
The 'valley of the camels', south of Port Ghalib: granite desert, mangroves and beaches where turtles nest. Gazelles and seabirds can be watched with a guide. This outing needs an extended call.
Hot and dry, with mild evenings winter and summer alike. The desert wind is constant: high-factor sunscreen, a hat and a light windbreaker change the day.
Only moderately, and it is worth knowing. The call is built around reefs and desert; there is no pharaonic site and no old town here. The promenade, the souk and a 4x4 safari remain the dry options.
