Abu Dabbab Bay
Long the most famous place in Egypt to try to snorkel with a dugong — sightings have grown less reliable in recent years — and near-certain green turtles, in a shallow sandy bay you walk into from the beach.
Getting in
Walk in from the beach. Sandy, shallow and sheltered — one of the gentlest entries on the coast. It is a managed beach: expect an entrance fee, usually included on organised trips and waived for guests of the bay’s hotels.
Abu Dabbab is a wide, shallow bay about 30 minutes north of Marsa Alam town, with a seagrass meadow across its floor. That meadow is the entire point: it feeds the green turtles and the dugongs the bay is known for.
For a snorkeller this is close to ideal — you walk in, the water stays shallow a long way out, and the animals are feeding rather than passing through. It is also the busiest snorkelling site in the south, and how good your visit is depends heavily on how many people are in the water with you. Early is better.
A word on expectations: turtles are close to reliable, dugongs are not. Anyone promising you a dugong is selling something they cannot deliver.
What you are likely to see
- Green turtles grazing the seagrass, seen on most visits
- Dugong — the reason people come, and never guaranteed
- Guitar sharks and stingrays resting on the sand
- Reef fish along the bay edges rather than in the middle
Conditions
- Shallow and sheltered; usually calm when offshore sites are cancelled
- Visibility drops when wind or fins stir the seagrass
- The middle of the bay is sand and grass, not coral — the colour is at the edges
What to watch out for
- Crowding is the real problem here. A dugong surrounded by snorkellers stops feeding and leaves, which ends the encounter for everyone and stresses the animal. Keep well back, stay behind it, and never block its path to the surface.
- Do not touch or chase anything. Beyond the harm, it is the fastest route to the site being restricted.
- Seagrass is the habitat, not scenery — fin control matters more here than over coral.
Conditions change and this is planning information, not a briefing. Nobody can promise you an animal. If something goes wrong in the water, the coast’s emergency numbers are on our emergency contacts page.
Also in this bay — Marsa Alam
Dive sites
- Elphinstone ReefAdvanced
The Red Sea’s most famous offshore reef: a narrow wall running north to south off Marsa Alam, known for oceanic whitetips and hammerheads — and for currents that make it an advanced dive.
- Abu DabbabBeginner
A shallow seagrass bay north of Marsa Alam, the coast’s most reliable place to see dugongs and green turtles — and one of its easiest shore dives.
- The Brothers IslandsAdvanced
Two isolated islands far offshore in the Marine Park, with sheer walls, two wrecks and the most consistent big-animal diving in Egypt.
- Daedalus ReefAdvanced
An isolated reef in open ocean with a lighthouse on it, sheer walls on every side, and the most reliable hammerhead diving in Egypt.
- St John’s ReefIntermediate
A scattered complex of reefs near Egypt’s southern border — caves, coral gardens and the best-preserved hard coral in the country.
- Rocky Island and ZabargadAdvanced
Two remote islands near the Sudanese border — Zabargad an ancient peridot mine with a wreck, Rocky Island a small, current-swept reef with big animals.
Snorkelling
- Marsa MubarakShore or boat
A quieter alternative to Abu Dabbab a little north of Marsa Alam — same seagrass, same turtles, usually far fewer people.
The town guide for Marsa Alam