Marsa Alam holidays are for people who want to discover Egypt's best-kept secret before everyone else catches on: turtles you can snorkel with from the beach, reefs almost nobody has dived, and a coastline where the loudest thing is the wind. Five and a half hours from home, and about as far from a crowded beach as Egypt gets.
✨ Highlights of your Holidays to Marsa Alam 2026 / 2027
Abu Dabbab Bay - Green sea turtles graze the seagrass here almost every day, in water shallow enough to snorkel out to from the sand. Dugongs turn up too, which is rarer and worth waiting for.
Elphinstone Reef - A reef over 400 metres long, 25km offshore, with walls that drop away past 100 metres. Strong currents, so it is a dive for people who already dive.
Samadai Reef, the Dolphin House - A protected horseshoe reef with a resident pod of spinner dolphins, run on a strict daily quota so the animals get a core of the lagoon entirely to themselves.
Wadi El Gemal National Park - 7,450 square kilometres of mangrove, mountain and desert, with gazelles, Nubian ibex and the ruins of Sikait, the emerald mines that supplied the entire Roman Empire.
Port Ghalib - A marina town of tree-lined quays, swimming lagoons, bars and restaurants, and the one place here where an evening happens outside a hotel.
📌 Good to Know
🌡️ Properly hot tropical desert climate, summer (June to September) sizzles at 33-35°C with guaranteed sunshine, winter (November to March) is 22-26°C and perfect for diving when Sharm and Hurghada are cooler. Water temp stays 22-28°C year-round
💷 The Egyptian Pound has lost about 70% of its value against sterling since 2022, so Marsa Alam is one of the best-value long-ish-haul beach destinations in the world right now. All-inclusive package prices were already strong, the on-the-ground extras are proper bargains
🐄 The dugong (a marine mammal related to the manatee, basically an underwater cow) is one of the rarest sightings on Earth, and Marsa Alam is one of the last places you can still see them in the wild, usually at Abu Dabbab and Marsa Mubarak
🗓 Season - Marsa Alam chiefly runs as a winter destination. The one direct flight from the UK & Ireland goes Gatwick to Marsa Alam and runs November to April, and those are the months the weather is at its best here: 23°C to 24°C and dry - hot but not TOO hot. Outside that window, fly into Hurghada and transfer about three hours down the coast.
Marsa Alam is perfect for you if...
You want to snorkel with a turtle on the second morning, from the beach, without booking anything
You have done Sharm or Hurghada and found them busier than you wanted
You dive, or you want to learn somewhere the reefs have not been worn out by twenty years of traffic
You want winter sun that is 23°C in January
You like the idea of desert one day and coral the next, with Roman emerald mines somewhere in between
🏨 Top Hotels in Marsa Alam
Marsa Alam is almost entirely all-inclusive resort territory, with properties strung along the coast north and south of the airport plus the upmarket Port Ghalib marina and the ancient town of El Quseir 70km north. Have a look at our picks below, browse all our Marsa Alam hotels for the full range.
👨👩👧👦 What are the best family hotels in Marsa Alam?
Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian Resort is a five-star beachfront in Nubian style with its own sandy beach, a playground, babysitting and a dive centre on site.
The Three Corners Sea Beach Resort has the Water World aquapark with a junior section and a set of slides for anyone braver, eight minutes from the airport.
PickAlbatros Sea World Marsa Alam is a modern beachfront resort with its own aquapark, a kids' club and several restaurants.
Jaz Lamaya Resort sits at Coraya Bay, one of the gentlest snorkelling bays on this coast and about seven minutes from the airport.
💑 What are the best hotels in Marsa Alam for couples?
Steigenberger Coraya Beach is adults only, five-star, on Coraya Bay, with a balcony or terrace on every room.
Casa Mare Resort is a five-star with a private beach and generous rooms, about twenty minutes from the airport.
Novotel Marsa Alam looks straight out over the Red Sea, with a wellness centre, a sandy beach and suites with sea-view balconies.
Pickalbatros Palace Port Ghalib has a lagoon-style pool and a private beach, with the marina walkable for dinner off-resort.
✨ What are the best luxury hotels in Marsa Alam?
Sentido Akassia Beach is five-star on a private beach and the one property here that runs a full all-inclusive programme, with an Ultra All-Inclusive tier above it.
Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian Resort earns a second mention on the luxury side for the suites, the spread of bars and restaurants and its own diving programme.
Steigenberger Coraya Beach brings Steigenberger service to an adults-only beachfront, eight minutes from the airport.
🎉 What are the best hotels in Marsa Alam for groups?
Akassia Swiss Resort is built for a crowd, with four restaurants, an amphitheatre, folkloric shows and the Scarabeo beach disco.
Pickalbatros Palace Port Ghalib has four bars, a lagoon pool and the marina bars a walk away when the resort has run its course.
Marina Lodge at Port Ghalib is a four-star with an animation programme, a beach shuttle and the marina on the doorstep.
💰 What are the best value hotels in Marsa Alam?
Coral Hills Resort Marsa Alam is a four-star with two pools, a spa and a dive centre, further down the coast at about 46km from the airport.
Elphistone Resort Marsa Alam is four-star beachfront with a private beach and a house reef that almost nobody swims, 48km south.
🏖️ Best Beaches in Marsa Alam
Marsa Alam's coastline is mostly accessed via the resorts, but these are the headline stretches and snorkel spots that make the destination:
Abu Dabbab Bay - About half an hour south of the airport, and the reason a lot of people book this coast. A shallow sandy bottom with seagrass meadows where green turtles graze most days, close enough in that you can snorkel out from the beach. Two metres' distance and no touching, by law, and no motorboats in the bay.
Samadai Reef, the Dolphin House - A protected horseshoe reef about 11km offshore with a resident pod of spinner dolphins. Access is by boat and strictly rationed: ten boats a day, snorkellers between 10am and 2pm, and the dolphins keep a core of the lagoon entirely to themselves.
Elphinstone Reef - Not a beach and not a snorkel. A reef over 400 metres long, 25km out, with walls dropping past 100 metres and oceanic whitetips through October to December. Strong currents make it an intermediate-to-advanced dive.
Sharm el Luli - 60km south of town, inside the national park, and about as good as Egyptian beaches get: powder sand, water you can read through, hawksbill turtles offshore. There is nothing there at all. No shop, no bar, no toilet. Take water, food and shade.
Al Nayzak - A natural rock pool in the coast a little further south, and a beautiful spot. Its name is the Arabic word for meteor, and the local story is that a meteorite made it, which is a better tale than the geology supports.
Marsa Mubarak - A quieter bay north of the resort strip with seagrass beds, turtles and the occasional bigger surprise.
Port Ghalib Lagoon - The marina's own swimming water. Calm, turquoise, shallow and easy, which makes it the one small children will actually stay in.
Coraya Bay - A sheltered horseshoe with the family resorts around it and a beginner-friendly reef, which is why the learn-to-dive crowd ends up here.
🌍 Where to Stay in Marsa Alam
The "Marsa Alam" resort strip runs roughly 50km north-south along the Red Sea coast, with the airport roughly central. Pick your base by what matters most.
👨👩👧 Families
Coraya Bay is the family-first area, with a cluster of all-inclusive resorts fronting onto a sheltered bay with easy snorkelling and properly close to the airport (8-10km). Abu Dabbab area south of the airport for families wanting the legendary turtle bay on their doorstep. Port Ghalib for families who want marina walks and restaurant options off-resort alongside the beach.
💕 Couples
Coraya Bay for adults-only stays (Steigenberger Coraya Beach is the headline adult pick). Quieter southern resorts near Sharm el Luli and Wadi El Gemal for the proper remote couples' escape, properly far from anywhere and the beaches are wilder. Port Ghalib for couples who want the marina evening vibe with restaurants and bars beyond the resort walls.
👯 Groups
Port Ghalib is the obvious group choice with bars, restaurants, shopping and the marina promenade for evening wandering beyond the all-inclusive confines. Larger resorts near the airport like Akassia Swiss Resort or The Three Corners for groups wanting big-resort amenities (multiple restaurants, disco, waterpark) on-site.
Local Lingo
Egyptian Arabic is the main language here, although in the resorts English is spoken everywhere. Nobody expects a word of Arabic from you, but it's worth trying because even a few words get a great reaction.
As-salaam alaykum, as-sa-LAAM a-LAY-kum, Hello, and literally "peace be upon you"
Shukran, SHOOK-ran, Thank you
Min fadlak, min FAD-lak, Please, said to a man (min fadlik to a woman)
Aywa, AY-wa, Yes
La, laa, No
Yalla, YAL-la, Let's go, or come on, and the single most useful word in Egypt
Khalas, kha-LAAS, Enough, or that's that, and the polite way to close a haggle
Getting to Marsa Alam
Worth being straight about this, because Marsa Alam is not served the way Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada are, and it is the main thing that decides whether this holiday works for you.
Direct flights from the UK & Ireland are limited. TUI flies London Gatwick to Marsa Alam once a week through the winter season, roughly November to April, and that is currently the only non-stop service from either market. There is nothing direct in summer and nothing at all from Ireland.
The practical alternative, and what a lot of people do, is to fly into Hurghada, which has plenty of choice from across the UK & Ireland all year, and transfer down the coast road. It is about 280km and takes around three hours, most of it straight desert highway along the sea.
Holidays to Marsa Alam Travel Guide 2026/2027
👨👩👧👦 What are the best things to do on a Marsa Alam family holiday?
Snorkel with the turtles at Abu Dabbab - Shallow, sandy-bottomed and calm, with the turtles grazing close enough in that confident swimmers of nine or ten manage it easily. Two metres back, hands off.
Snorkel the house reef - Most resorts here have their own reef straight off the beach, which means no boat, no booking and no early start. It is the single biggest difference between this coast and a Mediterranean beach holiday.
The resort aquaparks - Water World at The Three Corners Sea Beach Resort and the aquapark at PickAlbatros Sea World both give you a day off from the sea.
A Bedouin desert safari - Half-day quad or jeep trips into the desert behind the coast, finishing with tea as the sun goes down. Helmets on for the quad bikes, which is worth insisting on.
A glass-bottom boat at Port Ghalib - For anyone who wants the reef without the snorkel, which is usually the grandparents.
💑 What are the best things to do for couples on a Marsa Alam holiday?
Dawn at Abu Dabbab - Go early, before the day trips arrive, and the bay is more or less yours.
A dive at Elphinstone - The serious one. Walls dropping past 100 metres and oceanic whitetips from October to December. Currents are strong so it wants proper experience, and it is worth checking your operator's safety record before you book anything on a Red Sea dive boat.
Dolphin House - The boat out to Samadai, where the pod keeps a protected core of the lagoon and you snorkel the zones outside it.
Sunset from a felucca - Out of Port Ghalib on a traditional sail, with dinner on board if you want it.
Dinner in the desert at Wadi El Gemal - Bedouin cooking, no light pollution worth speaking of, and the kind of sky you do not get at home.
🎉 What are the top things to do for groups on a Marsa Alam holiday?
Port Ghalib in the evening - The marina promenade is the one place on this coast with bars and restaurants clustered together outside a hotel.
A group desert safari - Quads, jeeps, camels and a Bedouin lunch, and it works far better with a crowd than it does with two.
A group dive trip - Elphinstone or Samadai with ten to fifteen on the boat, which is how the dive centres run them anyway.
Resort entertainment at Akassia Swiss - Amphitheatre shows, Egyptian folkloric nights and the beach disco.
Wadi El Gemal by 4x4 - Half a day or a full one through 7,450 square kilometres of park, out to the Roman emerald mines at Sikait.
More Destinations
Egypt - The whole country, from the Red Sea resorts to the Nile, the pyramids at Giza and the temples at Luxor and Aswan.
Hurghada - The Red Sea's biggest resort town, with flights from across the UK & Ireland all year, a long run of beaches and enough going on that nobody gets bored.
Sharm el Sheikh - Sinai's headline resort, with Ras Mohammed National Park on the doorstep and some of the most famous diving in the world.
Luxor - The Valley of the Kings, Karnak and the temples on the west bank, and a stretch of the Nile you can sail on a felucca.
Cairo - The pyramids, the Egyptian Museum and a city that takes some getting used to and then gets under your skin.
El Quseir - An old Ottoman port up the coast with a fort, a working harbour and none of the resort-strip feel.
Popular Marsa Alam hotels
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Weather in Marsa Alam
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FEB
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Marsa Alam has close to the best winter weather in Egypt and close to the hottest summer, and the sea barely notices the difference.
December to February - Highs of 23°C to 24°C, sunshine every day and a sea that stays around 23°C. This is the winter-sun case for the whole coast: warm enough to swim in January without pretending.
March to May - Climbing from 26°C to 31°C, with the sea warming through the twenties. Comfortable for the desert trips as well as the water, which is not true later.
June to September - 34°C to 35°C, and August is the hottest month on land and in the water, with the sea up around 29°C. Beautiful for diving, hard work in the middle of the day, so plan around the shade.
October and November - Back to 27°C to 31°C, the sea still around 28°C, and the oceanic whitetip season at Elphinstone begins.
It rains less than 10mm in an average year, which in practice means it does not rain.
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FAQs
How long does it take to fly to Marsa Alam?
How long does it take to fly to Marsa Alam?
Around five and a half hours direct from the UK.
Availability is the thing: TUI flies London Gatwick once a week through the winter season and that is currently the only non-stop from the UK & Ireland, with nothing direct in summer and nothing from Irish airports.
The common alternative is to fly to Hurghada, which has choice from across both markets all year, and transfer about three hours down the coast.
What's the time difference between the UK and Marsa Alam?
What's the time difference between the UK and Marsa Alam?
The local time in Marsa Alam is two hours ahead of the UK.
What currency do they use in Marsa Alam?
What currency do they use in Marsa Alam?
The official currency used in Marsa Alam is the Egyptian Pound.
What language do they speak in Marsa Alam?
What language do they speak in Marsa Alam?
The official language spoken in Marsa Alam is Egyptian Arabic.
Is Marsa Alam safe?
Is Marsa Alam safe?
Yes, it's one of the safest areas to visit in Egypt and it sits outside every Foreign Office advisory area. The advisories for Egypt cover North Sinai, the Libyan and Sudanese border regions and the western desert, none of which is anywhere near this coast.
Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs goes a step further and names Marsa Alam directly as one of the Red Sea resorts it is content for travellers to fly into. On the ground it is a purpose-built resort coast with tourist police, no real street-selling and very little hassle.
Two practical points that matter more here than crime: book diving through a reputable operator with a verifiable safety record, and wear the helmet on a quad bike.
What's the diving and snorkelling like in Marsa Alam?
What's the diving and snorkelling like in Marsa Alam?
One of the top dive destinations in the world. The reefs here are in better nick than most of the Red Sea because of low diver traffic. Highlights: Elphinstone Reef (advanced dive, hammerheads in summer, drop-offs to 50m+), Samadai Reef/Dolphin House (spinner dolphins, easy snorkel), Abu Dabbab Bay (turtles and occasional dugongs from the shore, proper beginner-friendly), and endless house reefs at the resorts. Most hotels have PADI-certified dive centres on-site.
Is Marsa Alam good for an all-inclusive holiday?
Is Marsa Alam good for an all-inclusive holiday?
It suits it better than most places, because the resorts are spread along a quiet coast and there is not a great deal within walking distance of most of them. Sentido Akassia Beach runs a full all-inclusive programme with an Ultra tier above it, and several of the larger resorts operate on a similar basis. Two things to check when you book: whether the à la carte restaurants sit inside the package or carry a cover charge, which varies by property, and what the drinks list covers, because branded spirits are often a tier up. If you want to eat off-resort more than once or twice, Port Ghalib is the base that makes that easy.