Behind the wind of Marsa Alam

At first glance Marsa Alam may not seem like one of the most appealing places in Egypt, especially after you've visited Sharm el Sheik twice, but I can assure you that once you get to know it its charm becomes something magnetic! As soon as we arrived at the airport you notice that it's noticeably small but of recent construction, as indeed are most of the buildings in the area. The wind will certainly be the first to welcome you on arrival, in fact at first even though it seemed annoying, the beaches are equipped for every eventuality and the village area was well sheltered by the dunes.

In fact we stayed for a week at the VeraClub Elphistone and I must say we found ourselves decidedly better off, compared to the Egyptian-run chains we'd tried in the past, for the cleanliness, the organisation and above all the entertainment! In fact it's precisely that which, if missing in a village, at least for young people, can be terribly boring, and the team comes forward with a nice motto: "fun entertainment but not intrusive".

Obviously at Marsa Alam besides the life on the beach and in the village you can't miss the underwater one! I personally recommend everyone sign up for a diving course, because it's an experience that leaves you speechless or truly mute as a fish! The sea there is so full of life that you can admire it even from the beach, in fact the one at the VeraClub Elphistone was located in a protected lagoon and alongside, with the right little shoes, it was possible to admire the coral reef and reach the end of the reef, admiring really fine little corals and starfish of various sizes grouped in the most hidden spots.

Obviously to take this pleasant walk you have to wait for the tide to go out, otherwise on some days, especially towards evening, I recommend taking a canoe so you can navigate directly over it, though with caution since on some ledges you even risk running aground! But another place to admire for its wild nature is certainly the beach of Abu Dabab, always safe for swimming, where with simple snorkelling gear you can admire splendid seabeds, and moreover it's said that in the seabeds of this place there still live some specimens of dugong, a magnificent, ancient marine mammal, and above all hard to see without a lot of luck and good diving or snorkelling gear.

However keep in mind that this beach is less sheltered from the wind than the others, so the sea is decidedly rougher and the beach after 5-6 pm is impractical, in fact after a couple of hours we had to flee because in a swimsuit and the light clothes we were wearing it felt decidedly cold. Moreover it's possible to do various excursions from the village, from the simplest like the glass boat (recommended for those who can't stand a mask) to cultural visits to Cairo, Luxor etc... To tell the truth we had already visited Classical Egypt years earlier so we preferred to enjoy our holiday in total relaxation to disconnect from the civilised world. The only flaw of these trips to Egypt is that you can often catch viral illnesses like dysentery, which I personally caught 3 times, and now that I've been for the fourth time I've finally developed the necessary antibodies.

Moreover one disadvantage of this area is precisely the wind, which in the long run can tire you. Well, after all I can only say that you just have to try it to believe it, and that every place will always have something that will remain written in our personal travel notebook.