Most people arrive in Marsa Alam with a week and a handful of ideas. The trouble is that the town is spread out, the drives are long, and a few of the best outings fill a whole day. A short plan saves both energy and disappointment.
Start with the sea
The reefs are the reason the area has a name among divers and snorkellers. If you only book one outing, make it a boat or beach trip. The quickest is a morning at a sandy bay, where you walk in from the shore. The longest takes you far south by road and then by boat, so it needs a real appetite for early starts.
- Five-hour mornings at Abu Dabbab or Marsa Mubarak suit families and first-timers.
- Samadai takes eight hours and puts you on a protected horseshoe reef.
- The Hamata and Qulaan islands are an eight-hour boat day with three reef stops.
- Sataya is the big one, at thirteen hours, because of the drive to Hamata harbour.
Add one day on land and a night in the desert
A day in Wadi El Gemal National Park gives you mangroves, a wide empty coast and a white beach at Sharm El Luli. It lasts about nine hours and takes you out of the water for a change. If you want something even lighter, a quad ride or a camel ride at dusk fills a few hours and you are back for dinner or a late meal at the camp.
Keep the Nile for later
Luxor, Aswan and the temples at Edfu and Kom Ombo are real day trips by road, with a private guide and a driver for your party. They are long, so they work best once you have settled in and know how you cope with early starts. Choose one, not three.
A sample week
- Day one: arrive, swim and do nothing.
- Day two: a short bay trip for turtles.
- Day three: rest or a dive lesson with an instructor.
- Day four: a boat day to a reef or islands.
- Day five: a quad ride at sunset.
- Day six: your one long road trip, if you want it.
- Day seven: a slow last morning on the beach.
Things that change the plan
Wind and swell can shift a boat departure, especially in winter, so the crew may switch the reef or the order of stops. Heat matters too. In summer the desert and the temples are best done at the cool ends of the day. Children, older relatives and anyone prone to sea sickness are all reasons to choose the shorter options.
Everything on this list is shared except the Nile days, which are private. Shared trips have a group size cap, so book ahead in the busy school-holiday weeks. Open the trip pages for current dates, what each one includes and how to book.
Plan with us
Choosing your Marsa Alam day trips: a simple way to pick
Reef boats, quad bikes, Wadi El Gemal and Nile temples all leave from Marsa Alam. See how long each takes and how to fit them around a beach holiday.