Marsa Alam Holidays

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 and 2027

• Wadi El Gemal National Park - 7,450 square kilometres of desert mountains, mangroves and coast, with Dorcas gazelles and Nubian ibex. Best by 4x4 between October and April.

• Sharm El Luli - A powder-white beach about an hour south of town inside the national park, with water so clear you can read the sand. Bedouin tents sell drinks; bring everything else.

• Abu Dabbab Bay - Green turtles graze the seagrass here most days, close enough to snorkel out to from the beach. A dugong turns up very occasionally, so count it as a bonus.

• Marsa Mubarak - Another turtle bay just south of Port Ghalib, reached from the shore or by boat.

• Samadai Reef, the Dolphin House - A horseshoe reef with a resident pod of spinner dolphins, run on a strict daily quota so the dolphins keep part of the lagoon to themselves.

• Elphinstone Reef - A reef over 400 metres long about 25km north of town, with walls dropping past 100 metres and oceanic whitetips in the autumn. A dive for people who already dive.

• Hamata Islands - A cluster of sandy islands and mangroves in the far south, for a whole day of snorkelling and birdwatching off a boat.

📌 Good to Know for your Marsa Alam holidays

• 🌡️ 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.

A holiday in 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 all-inclusive resort territory, with hotels strung along the coast either side of the airport and a cluster around the marina at Port Ghalib. Every one of our Marsa Alam holidays comes with flights from London Gatwick, so have a look at our picks below or browse all our Marsa Alam hotels for the full range.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What are the best family hotels for a Marsa Alam holiday?

• The Three Corners Sea Beach Resort - The Water World aquapark has a kids' zone and five bigger slides, and there's a kids' club for 4 to 12s, just 8km from the airport.

• The Three Corners Happy Life Beach Resort - Two kids' clubs split by age, a children's waterpark and a lazy river, with a house reef for snorkelling off the beach.

• PickAlbatros Sea World Marsa Alam - Right on the beach, with an aquapark that has separate areas for adults and little ones, plus a kids' club.

💑 What are the best hotels for couples on Marsa Alam holidays?

• Casa Mare Resort - A five-star with a 400-metre private beach and its own house reef, a spa with a Turkish bath, two à la carte restaurants and a kitesurf centre on the lagoon.

• The Three Corners Equinox Beach Resort - A beachfront hotel with a dive centre and a snorkelling lagoon, and its kids' club only opens in July and August, so winter is lovely and peaceful.

• Jaz Lamaya Resort - On Coraya Bay, about 7km from the airport, with a spa and three à la carte restaurants for nights off the buffet.

✨ What are the best luxury hotels for Marsa Alam holidays?

• Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian Resort - A five-star right on Abu Dabbab Bay, so the turtle reef is your house reef, with a Bedouin-style lounge for evenings. Sold with breakfast, so the dining is up to you.

• Pickalbatros Palace Port Ghalib - A five-star on the beach at Port Ghalib, with heated lagoon-style pools, padel courts and the marina a stroll away for dinner.

• Concorde Moreen Beach Resort & Spa - A five-star on a private beach near Abu Dabbab, with its own house reef and a dive centre on site.

🎉 What are the best hotels for groups on Marsa Alam holidays?

• Pickalbatros Oasis Port Ghalib - On the beach at Port Ghalib, with an aquapark and a lazy river by day and the marina bars a short walk away at night.

• Pickalbatros Sands Port Ghalib - A five-star with a huge saltwater lagoon, waterslides and a long pier out to the reef, and you can eat at its sister hotel, Oasis, too.

💰 What are the best value hotels for cheap Marsa Alam holidays?

• Marina Lodge at Port Ghalib - A four-star right on the marina, with a shuttle to its private beach 250 metres away, and usually one of our cheapest Marsa Alam holidays.

• SUNRISE Cardina - A four-star with five pools (one of them heated and adults only), a 150-metre private beach and a kids' club.

• Jaz Neo Reef Marsa - A four-star on Coraya Bay, with a wooden pier out to its house reef and access to the Aqua Coraya waterpark.

👉 All hotels in Marsa Alam

All-Inclusive Marsa Alam Holidays

All-inclusive means your meals, snacks and drinks are taken care of, and on this coast that's the whole point. The resorts sit a long way apart along a quiet shore, so there's not a lot within walking distance, which makes Marsa Alam holidays all inclusive the easy choice: leave the wallet in the room and get on with the serious business of snorkelling.

Most of our Marsa Alam all inclusive holidays are right on the beach, and many have a house reef, so the Red Sea is a flipper's length from your sunbed. Worth checking what's in the package when you book: à la carte restaurants and branded spirits sometimes cost extra.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Which all-inclusive hotels in Marsa Alam are best for families?

• Jaz Solaya Resort - A waterpark, a kids' club and two pools heated in winter, on the beach about 5km from the airport.

• El Malikia Resort Abu Dabbab - On the beach at Abu Dabbab, home of the turtle bay, with a mini club for the little ones.

💑 Which all-inclusive hotels in Marsa Alam are best for couples?

• Utopia Beach Club - A beachfront four-star with its own house reef, a dive centre and a spa.

• Novotel Marsa Alam - A five-star on the beach south of the airport, with a beach bar and an Italian restaurant for a change from the buffet.

🏖️ 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. A dugong turns up very occasionally. No motorboats are allowed in the bay.

• Samadai Reef, the Dolphin House - A protected horseshoe reef about 11km out 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 - Strictly one for divers: a reef over 400 metres long, about 25km north of town, with walls dropping past 100 metres and oceanic whitetips in the autumn. 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. There are no restaurants or toilets, just Bedouin tents selling drinks, so take food and shade.

• Al Nayzak - A natural rock pool cut into the coast, about 20 minutes from Port Ghalib. 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 seagrass bay just south of Port Ghalib, with turtles most days, reached from the shore or by boat.

• 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 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.

👨‍👩‍👧 Where should families stay in Marsa Alam?

Coraya Bay is the family-first area, with a cluster of all-inclusive resorts on a sheltered bay with easy snorkelling, 8-10km from the airport. The Abu Dabbab area south of the airport puts the famous turtle bay on your doorstep. Port Ghalib suits families who want marina walks and restaurants off-resort alongside the beach.

💕 Where should couples stay in Marsa Alam?

Coraya Bay for quiet bays and easy reefs close to the airport. The quieter southern resorts near Sharm El Luli and Wadi El Gemal for a proper remote escape, properly far from anywhere, where the beaches are wilder. Port Ghalib for couples who want the marina in the evening, with restaurants and bars beyond the resort walls.

👯 Where should groups stay in Marsa Alam?

Port Ghalib is the obvious group choice, with bars, restaurants, shops and the marina promenade for an evening wander. The bigger resorts near the airport suit groups who want everything on site: several restaurants, entertainment and a waterpark.

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 and 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 turtles grazing close to the shore. Hands off and give them space.

• 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.

• Aqua Coraya - A waterpark on Coraya Bay, ten minutes north of the airport and open all year, for a day off from the sea. The Three Corners Sea Beach Resort and PickAlbatros Sea World Marsa Alam have slides of their own.

• The Dolphin House by boat - The trip out to Samadai Reef for spinner dolphins, with life jackets compulsory, which suits nervous swimmers.

💑 What are the best things to do for couples on a Marsa Alam holiday?

• A day at Sharm El Luli - White sand, turquoise water and almost nobody else. Pack lunch and plenty of water.

• Hamata Islands and the Qulan mangroves - A boat day in the far south, snorkelling off empty islands and drifting through mangroves full of birds.

• A dive at Elphinstone - The serious one. Walls dropping past 100 metres and oceanic whitetips in the autumn. Currents are strong so it wants proper experience, and it's worth checking your operator's safety record before you book anything on a Red Sea dive boat.

• Luxor overnight - Valley of the Kings, Karnak and a sunrise hot air balloon flight over the West Bank, about four to five hours' drive each way.

🎉 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 desert safari - Quads, jeeps or camels into the mountains behind the coast, and far more fun with a crowd. Most comfortable in winter.

• Kitesurfing on the lagoon - Lessons and kit hire on the lagoon at Casa Mare Resort, for beginners and show-offs alike.

• Wadi El Gemal by 4x4 - A full day through the national park, out to the Roman emerald mines at Sikait, best from October to April.

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.