Go Diving or Snorkeling near Marsa Alam
Go Diving or Snorkeling near Marsa Alam
–
Egypt is not only famous for its temples, pyramids and the city Cairo: There is this incredible clear blue Red Sea, perfect for snorkeling and diving. If you are lucky you might even see some spinner dolphins, but keep in mind to only do a trip to a protected place where dolphins aren’t chased! Marsa Shagra Village is the perfect place to explore all the different reefs. You can fly directly to Marsa Alam or you get a driver from Hurghada or Cairo.
1. Stay at Marsa Shagra Village
Stay in a tent or hut in Marsa Shagra Village directly in front of the big house reef, if you want to concentrate on diving or snorkeling. Away from the touristic Marsa Alam city center, you will find peace and a special connection to the ocean. Fall asleep with the sounds of the sea in your ears, wake up, step out of your tent and look at the sun rising up behind the ocean. Is there something better?
Whether you are a diver or a snorkeler, the house reef contains a variety of coral & fishes, reef sharks, turtles, and sometimes even dolphins! It is located 3 hours away from Hurghada and 30 minutes from Marsa Alam. Marsa Shagra is the perfect starting point to explore all the different reefs in the Red Sea, like Shaab Samadai or Shaab Sataya. They offer all kinds of scuba and free diving lessons and you can join all trips to the different reefs, or you just rent some snorkel gear and explore the house reef. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is included in the total room price.
Marsa Shagra is collaborating with HEPCA, The Red Sea Protectorate, the Egyptian Chamber of Diving and Watersports, and many other organizations and individuals. They organize clean-ups and eco-diving workshops for raising awareness, applying environmentally responsible practices and supporting environmental projects. They pursuit a minimum-impact policy which ensure that the house-reef will not be negatively impacted by diving and other watersport activities. Also they developed waste and water recycling practices.
2. The House Reef at Marsa Shagra Village
If you stay at Marsa Shagra Village you can snorkel on the house reef free of charge directly in front of your tent or hut. It is one of the best house reefs in Marsa Alam with a huge diversity of marine life and is accessible to all levels of divers. The house reef extends for over 2km from north to south meeting in a protected bay in the middle with access directly at the beach. You might see green and hawksbill turtles, black tip and white tip reef sharks, rays, many Red Sea reef fish and sometimes passing whale sharks and manta rays. It is not uncommon to encounter spinner dolphins visiting the bay for protection, particularly in the early morning. I came here to go free diving, if you don’t have free diving experience, you should book an introductory lesson first!
3. Shaab Satayah Reef – dolphin reef
Shaab Satayah, known as the dolphin reef, is a large reef located in mid ocean 1.5 hours away from the coast, which makes up part of the Fury Shoals reef system. The lagoon is a resting place for spinner dolphins and your chance is really high to see some. There are a lot of dolphin houses especially near Hurghada where dolphins are chased by boats, causing high stress levels for these dolphins. Shaab Satayah is a protected zone. You can be sure, by going out with a boat with the Marsa Shagra crew, you will not support any of these bad practices! If you choose another company just read the reviews to be sure they have equal standards for protecting these animals. Unfortunately we hadn’t luck with dolphins while diving, but on our way back we saw a big family directly next to our boat.
4. Shaab Samadai Reef – the one protected dolphin house
Shaab Samadai is a popular dolphin house, it is a designated marine park and has been protected by law in order to protect the spinner dolphins that come to rest there during the day. While snorkeling you can see a big variety of fish and coral gardens. The lagoon is divided in different zones, snorkelers are only allowed in the first zone, where spinner dolphins swim through to get in the protected area. There are certain areas which are ‘off-limits’ to snorkelers in order to give the dolphins space to rest alone. Please go to this reef to see the spinner dolphins, don’t support the bad companies in Hurghada!
Why not to go to “dolphin houses” in Hurghada
When we stayed in El Gouna, near to Hurghada, we were asked all the time if we want to do a trip to THE dolphin house. We were a little bit confused back then, because we knew about the protected dolphin house in Marsa Alam, but we didn’t knew that there are a lot of unprotected just so called “dolphin houses” in Hurghada. These other so called dolphin houses, where spinner dolphins try to get some rest in shallow lagoons, are not protected areas at all! Just read the reviews of these companies who go there: Hundreds of boats chasing dolphins, dolphins facing a high stress level by all these boats and tourists. If someone sees a dolphin in the distance, they are shouting very loud, clapping hands, all boats race there, all tourists jump all together in the water. This is not the experience you want to have!!! These people and organizations scare dolphins to death! So many people wrote in the reviews, that they didn’t know about how these companies act, and they wanted to leave immediately when they realized what happened there. But once you are on the reef you have to participate at this dolphin torture. You don’t want to support something like this!
It’s a shame that these companies aren’t forbidden and that there aren’t regulations for all dolphin meeting points. I totally understand the desire to see spinner dolphins, it’s a big dream for me too, but please go to a protected reef like Shaab Samadai with a good company like the team of Marsa Shagra Village. The dolphins will thank you a thousand times!
Anzeige/ad We didn’t collaborate with the companies and accommodations we recommend to you in this articel. Our recommendations are based on our true and unaffected opinion.
Follow our journey on Instagram