Photo : Jan Beránek — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Marsa Alam & the Red Sea · Marsa Alam
Abu Dabbab Bay
A shallow sandy bay north of Marsa Alam, known for its turtles and its seagrass meadows.
Abu Dabbab opens a broad crescent of sand on the coast north of Marsa Alam town, a few hotels behind it and coral heads at either point. The bottom is flat and sandy, with seagrass meadows starting close to shore: that is what brings the green turtles in to graze, and dugongs now and then. You walk in from the beach, no boat needed, past straw parasols and a handful of bathers. Don't expect a reef in full colour: the bottom is grey-green, and what you come for is an animal rather than a landscape.
The extra bit
Get in at opening time, before the bay fills up: the animals graze quietly and pull away as soon as a dozen fins are circling them. Follow the edge of the seagrass rather than the middle of the sand, that is where they come through.
Know before you go
Neither turtle nor dugong is a fixture: some days all you see is a guitarfish lying on the sand, and that is the luck of the day rather than a service falling short. Keep your distance, touch nothing, keep your fins off the seagrass, and never cut across an animal on its way up to breathe. Access to the beach goes through the hotels behind it: entry and a parasol are paid for, often in cash. There is no natural shade, and the afternoon wind chops the surface — the water clouds and the swimming turns less pleasant.
