By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Red Sea
The best time to visit Marsa Alam is September to November. The sea is 26C to 28C, the days are at their calmest, and the offshore reefs run most often. Spring is good too, but windier. Marsa Alam also has the mildest winter of Egypt's main resorts, about 23C by day in January. Summer is hot, about 35C, and best spent in the water. Here is each month.
September to November is the best time to visit Marsa Alam. The water is at its warmest, about 26C to 28C. The days are the calmest of the year, so the offshore reefs run as planned more often.
March to May is the next best. It warms steadily, but it is the windiest stretch of the year. Expect some boat days to be cancelled.
Winter is the mildest on Egypt's main beach coasts. Summer is hot on land, and the sea is the only comfortable place to be.
These are long-term averages for daytime highs and sea temperature. Any one year can run a degree or two either way.
January: air 23C, sea 23C. February: air 24C, sea 22C. March: air 27C, sea 23C. April: air 30C, sea 23C.
May: air 32C, sea 25C. June: air 34C, sea 27C. July: air 35C, sea 28C. August: air 35C, sea 29C.
September: air 34C, sea 28C. October: air 32C, sea 27C. November: air 27C, sea 26C. December: air 25C, sea 24C.
Marsa Alam is far south on the coast, so its winters are warmer. In January it averages about 23C by day. Hurghada averages about 21C and Sharm about 20C.
Winter days are mild, about 23C to 25C, with cool evenings. It is the warmest winter sun of Egypt's main resorts.
The sea is about 22C to 24C. Most divers want a 5 mm wetsuit in January and February.
The northerly wind is strong in winter too. Offshore sites like Elphinstone can be cancelled for several days running.
This is also the busiest flight season. Charter and seasonal flights from Europe are at their thickest. Christmas and New Year are the priciest weeks of the year.
From June to August highs are about 34C to 35C. The desert is effectively out, and the sea is the place to be.
The water is at its warmest, about 28C to 29C in July and August. Snorkelling and diving are easy.
Flights thin out of the winter season. You may need to connect through Cairo, or fly into Hurghada and drive south. Check this before you settle your dates.
Wind is the thing that changes plans in Marsa Alam. A northerly blow is normal here. When it gets up, the exposed offshore sites are cancelled, sometimes for several days.
Elphinstone is among the first sites to be cancelled. Spring is the windiest time, and autumn gives the best odds of it running.
Leave slack in a diving week. A hotel on a reef you can swim to is the best insurance. A windy morning becomes a house-reef dive rather than a wait.
Green turtles graze the seagrass at Abu Dabbab and Marsa Mubarak and are seen most days.
Spinner dolphins rest by day at Sha'ab Samadai and Sataya. Some days you see them and some days you do not. Calm days make the boat trips more likely to run.
Dugongs are rare along the whole coast. No month makes a sighting likely, so treat one as luck.
Our Red Sea marine life and sharks in the Red Sea guides cover what lives where.
Marsa Alam's airport runs mostly on charter and seasonal flights, thickest in winter. Many fly once a week, which fixes your stay at seven or fourteen nights.
The busiest times are Christmas, New Year, February half-term and the European summer holidays. Egyptian families also fill coastal hotels at Eid. In 2027, Eid al-Fitr is expected on 9 or 10 March and Eid al-Adha on 16 May.
Ramadan in 2027 is expected from about 8 February to 8 or 9 March. Islamic dates are estimates until the moon is sighted.
We sell the tours of one Egyptian operator, Memphis Tours. None of our set tours includes Marsa Alam. Send a request and we will ask them to plan a trip around your dates.
October. The sea is about 27C, the air about 32C, and autumn has the calmest days for the offshore reefs. September and November are close behind.
Yes, by Egyptian beach standards. Highs are about 23C to 25C from December to February, the mildest of the main resorts. Evenings are cool.
August, at about 29C. July and September are about 28C. The sea is coolest in February, at about 22C.
Often. A northerly wind is normal, strongest in spring and strong in winter too. Windy days cancel exposed offshore sites, so leave slack in a diving week.
A little. In January Marsa Alam averages about 23C by day, Hurghada about 21C and Sharm about 20C.
About 34C to 35C by day from June to August. The sea is about 27C to 29C, so most people spend the day in or near the water.
Mostly in winter. Flights are largely charter and seasonal. Out of season you may connect through Cairo or fly into Hurghada. Check your own airport before you book.
Read the current US State Department and UK FCDO travel advice for Egypt before you book. Both are updated as things change.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
8 days · Classic Egypt
The route most people take first, at the length it was built for: Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, then a flight to Luxor and four nights sailing down to Aswan.
from US$2,135 / per person
8 days · Nile & Red Sea
No boat on this one. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a night in Luxor for both banks, two nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Royal Mummies.
from US$2,040 / per person
10 days · Classic Egypt
Five nights in Cairo either side of a four-night sail from Luxor to Aswan. The Cairo days are private, just your party and a guide; the sightseeing off the boat is shared with a small group.
from US$2,635 / per person
