Abu Dabbab Bay
The best chance in Egypt of snorkelling with a dugong, 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.
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.