Middle East - Anthony Ham [153]
microbus
You’ll find that microbuses run along Sharia al-Gomhuriyya from the roundabout near Sea Princess Hotel north to the administrative buildings on the road to Safaga. Some also go to the bus and service-taxi stations. Fares range between 50pt and E£1.
Service Taxi
Destinations include Cairo (E£60 to E£70), Suez (E£45 to E£50), Qena (E£20), and Hurghada (E£15). As in Hurghada, you have to hire the entire taxi for the trip to Luxor, Qena or Aswan (all routes via Safaga). Expect to pay from E£350 after negotiating.
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MARSA ALAM
065
The Red Sea coast around Marsa Alam shelters some of the most impressive diving in the world. While just a decade ago these sites were accessible only by boat from Hurghada and Sharm, in recent years resorts and dive camps have sprung up to provide an easy jumping-off point to these pristine, world-class reefs.
Marsa Alam itself is not much more than a dusty T-junction where the road from Edfu meets the coastal road. Word on the street has it, however, that this area is about to get a major makeover, with an extravagant marina and several monstrously big luxury hotels moving in for the kill.
Just south of the main junction is a modest collection of shops, a pharmacy, a telephone centrale and a bustling market.
Activities
Apart from the marvellous diving opportunities offered by the dive camps along this coast, trips to the fascinating sites of the Eastern Desert can also be organised with Red Sea Desert Adventures ( 012 399 3860; www.redseadesertadventures.com; Marsa Shagra). This recommended safari outfit has tailored walking, camel and jeep safaris throughout the area. Prices start at approximately US$100 per person per day; they vary considerably depending on mode of transport, length of trip and number of people travelling. Try to book multiday safaris at least one month in advance so that the necessary permits can be arranged.
Sleeping & Eating
There’s very little choice if you want to stay in Marsa Alam village itself, but along the coast is an ever-expanding array of resorts, plus a handful of simpler, diver-oriented ‘ecolodges’ (diving camps). These usually offer no-frills bungalows with generator-provided electricity and a common area for meals. They are run together with a dive centre, and offer a more down-to-earth alternative to the resort scene, though prices stubbornly hover around the mid-budget range. Most hotels and camps can also arrange desert excursions.
Riff-Villa Samak ( 372 0001, 012 462 4933; www.riff-villa.ch; Marsa Alam; r per person €20, full board €25) The only sleeping option in Marsa Alam, this cosy Swiss-German–run diving home-stay is right on the beach, about 1km south of town. There’s a hotch-potch of big and small rooms on offer, all spick and span and some with attached bath. Meals are taken together family style, and there are daily dives on the great house reef as well as further afield. Bookings recommended.
Shaqara Eco-Lodge ( in Cairo 02-337 1833; www.redsea-divingsafari.com; Marsa Shagra; full board per person in tents/huts/chalets €35/40/50) One of the first camps set up on this stretch of coastline, Shaqara is owned by lawyer, committed environmentalist and diving enthusiast Hossam Helmi. It has elementary, squeaky-clean and comfortable accommodation designed to be as kind to the environment as possible, plus first-rate diving. It has the only hyperbaric chamber in the region and arranges 4WD safaris into the desert. It’s along the main road, 24km north of Marsa Alam.
Awalad Baraka ( 010 646 0408; www.aquarisuredsea.com; 14km south of Marsa Alam; hut per person €35, without bathroom per person €25) This is one of the prettier dive camps lining this bay 14km south of Marsa Alam. They offer accommodation in robust, and