Marsa Matrouh and Siwa · Cleopatra Beach, on the El Gharam lagoon
The pool at Safir Marsa Matrouh
A real pool facing the lagoon, with a separate basin for small children — but you get in by taking a room.
At Marsa Matrouh you swim in the sea, and that is exactly why people come. Safir is one of the few addresses in town to offer something else: an outdoor pool set on the edge of the El Gharam lagoon at Cleopatra Beach, with a separate basin for children. The difference is no whim — still water, a floor you can see and a small pool of their own change the whole day when you travel with children who cannot swim yet. The hotel's own site describes an outdoor pool open to the Mediterranean beaches, a dedicated kids' pool and a spot for watching the sun go down. One confusion to clear up at once: the "Cleopatra bath" everyone mentions in Matrouh is not this pool. It is a rock basin hollowed out by the sea — beautiful, with no ladder, no even floor and no lifeguard. Neither replaces the other.
The extra bit
Call before you drive out: nothing on the hotel's site promises day access. And if you are coming with children, use the call to ask how deep the small basin is and whether anyone watches it.
Know before you go
Access: hotel guests. No day-use rate is published on the official site, which speaks only of stays — do not count on one without calling first (the number the hotel publishes is on this page). Mixed bathing: the pool is mixed, in swimwear, as at the resorts along this coast. No women-only slot is advertised, and silence is not a promise: if that is what you are looking for, ask on the phone rather than at the gate. Neither the pool's hours nor the hotel's season are published; the Matrouh coast lives mostly in summer, and out of season the question is a real one.
