Marsa Alam, what a show!

After visiting Sharm and Hurghada, this year we opted for Marsa Alam. And we couldn't have made a better choice...

we leave from Malpensa on 21.08.09; at 5 in the morning we were already at the airport, boarding, check-in and off on the Boeing 737... The only hitch was a delay of about 30 minutes because of a little electrical problem, fixed straight away (off to a great start). We land in Marsa Alam at around 1 pm and as soon as we stick our noses out of the plane we feel extreme heat!!! The usual procedures, passports, suitcases and so on.. A coach is waiting to take us to our accommodation, which is in what I think is the most beautiful bay: Abbou Dabbab.

we chose the Abbou Dabbab Diving Lodge and we were very happy... THERE WAS HARDLY ANYTHING ONLINE ABOUT THIS PLACE, WE TRUSTED PARTLY TO LUCK AND PARTLY TO THE TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS, AND IT WORKED OUT WELL!!! THE ROOMS, OR RATHER LODGES, WERE VERY SPACIOUS, EACH WITH ITS OWN BATHROOM AND AIR CONDITIONING, THE GARDENS VERY WELL KEPT, AND AS FOR THE RESTAURANT WE WERE ALWAYS WELL LOOKED AFTER TOO; THERE'S INTERNATIONAL CUISINE AND A COOK WHO MAKES PASTA TO YOUR LIKING... WHAT MADE US CHOOSE THIS LODGE WAS THAT IT SITS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE FAMOUS ABBOU DABBAB BEACH, A PARADISE ON EARTH!!! TO BE CLEAR, THE OTHER HOTELS BRING THEIR GUESTS HERE ON TRIPS (PAYING, OF COURSE)!! THE REEF IS BOTH TO THE RIGHT AND TO THE LEFT, VERY COLOURFUL AND FULL OF FISH, AND THE ACCESS IS LIKE A PERFECTLY ORDINARY BEACH, SO WITHOUT JETTIES...

(in my opinion not all that convenient) it's also called the dugong bay, but it's almost impossible to see it, you have to be really lucky; when we were there, we were told, the dugong was in the military zone... And so we won't have seen it... Oh well, maybe next time...

in the middle of the bay there are the turtles, 6 of them in total, both big and small, and there I felt an indescribable emotion swimming with them...

we also spotted a guitar shark (harmless), rays, manta rays, crocodilefish, snakes, besides the myriad of colourful fish of every kind, colour and size (including Nemo...;) we did just one 1-day trip: Sharm El Luli and the Blue Lagoon. Both very rich in corals and white sand like the Maldives (but in my opinion our reef at Abbou Dabbab is far more beautiful, being rich in fish) on the last day (like a gift, so to speak), in the morning we witnessed 2 turtles mating; it looked as if they were dancing... And in the late afternoon around 5 pm a dolphin arrived and we swam with it!! it was thrilling, it seemed to be having fun, it did somersaults, went back and forth, played with us!! as I said at the beginning we've seen both Sharm and Hurghada, but Marsa Alam really deserves more. It gave us emotions we'll carry in our hearts forever.