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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
Top 10 · Trips and the sea
The best snorkelling in Egypt is on the Red Sea. Our top ten are Ras Mohammed, the Giftun islands, Abu Dabbab, Marsa Mubarak, the Marsa Alam house reefs and Sha'ab Samadai. Dahab adds the Lighthouse, Eel Garden and the Blue Hole rim, and Sharm adds its house reefs. For turtles, go to Marsa Alam. For reef walls, go to Sharm. For an easy boat day, go to Giftun from Hurghada.
We picked spots you can enjoy with a mask, snorkel and fins, with no dive card. Each one is on our own Red Sea pages, with sources for what you will see there. We spread the list across Sinai, Hurghada and Marsa Alam, so there is something near any hotel.
We did not rank by fish counts, because nobody publishes reliable ones. We ranked by how good the reef is near the surface, and how easy it is to reach. Where wildlife is involved, we say how likely you are to see it.
Ras Mohammed National Park is at the tip of Sinai, south of Sharm el-Sheikh. The reef walls start close to the surface. The top few metres hold much of the coral and fish, and you can see the wall drop into deep blue below you.
There is often current, so you need to be a confident swimmer. Most people go by day boat from Sharm. Ask where the boat stops, since some trips are built around deep dive sites.
The free Sinai-only entry permit does not cover the park. You need the full Egyptian visa.
Giftun is a pair of protected desert islands about an hour by boat from Hurghada. The water is clear and shallow, with coral close to the surface. A typical day has two or three snorkelling stops and a couple of hours on a beach.
A park fee is collected in cash on the boat. Orange Bay and Mahmya are both beaches on Giftun. Ask how many people the boat takes before you ask the price.
Abu Dabbab is a sheltered bay near Marsa Alam with one of the largest seagrass beds in the region. Green turtles graze there and are seen most days.
HEPCA, the Red Sea conservation group, says the bay has the majority of dugong sightings in the Red Sea. Dugongs are still rare. A line keeps motorboats out, and you enter only from the shore. Rangers watch the bay, and signs ask you not to touch turtles or dugongs.
Marsa Mubarak is the second seagrass bay most visitors to Marsa Alam are taken to. Turtles graze in shallow, calm water, and they are seen most days.
It works with just a mask and snorkel, which makes it one of the best wildlife trips in Egypt for families. Go early, before the groups arrive.
Along the Marsa Alam coast, many hotels sit on a reef you can reach from the beach. You need no boat, no licence and no guide. Snorkellers see most of what divers see on the shallow sites.
The further south you stay, the better the reef and the longer the airport transfer. Use the reef early in the morning, when the water is clearest.
Sha'ab Samadai is a horseshoe reef off the Marsa Alam coast where spinner dolphins rest during the day. The lagoon is zoned, and the core area where they sleep is closed.
Some days you see dolphins from the boundary, and some days you do not. Book it as a reef day with a possible bonus. Wear a life jacket, slip in gently and never chase, touch or feed a dolphin. HEPCA says breaking the code can bring a fine. Sataya, further south, works the same way.
The Lighthouse reef is right in Dahab town. The entry is easy and the water is calm, which is why most training dives happen here.
For snorkellers, it is the reef to start on. In Dahab the reef starts a few steps from the shore, so you simply walk in.
Eel Garden is named for the garden eels that poke out of the sand and pull back as you get close. It is a shore dive site that also works well for snorkelling.
Float still above the sand and the eels come back up. It is one of the few places where staying calm is the whole trick.
The Blue Hole is a sinkhole roughly 100 metres deep, a short drive north of Dahab. Snorkellers stay over the shallow reef rim, which is a good swim in its own right.
Looking down into the dark blue of the hole is the memorable part. Leave the depths to trained divers.
Many Sharm hotels sit on a house reef, reached by a jetty over the coral shelf. The reef walls start near the surface, so children can snorkel close to shore and see a real reef.
The shore itself is often coral and stone. If you need a sandy beach for small children, check before you book the hotel.
Ras Mohammed for reef walls, Marsa Alam for turtles and reef off the beach, and Giftun for an easy boat day from Hurghada. Dahab is best for shore snorkelling in a small town.
Sharm has more reef close to shore, with house reefs and Ras Mohammed nearby. Hurghada's best snorkelling usually means a boat to the Giftun islands.
Abu Dabbab and Marsa Mubarak near Marsa Alam. Green turtles graze on the seagrass there and are seen most days.
Yes, at many Marsa Alam and Sharm hotels, and in Dahab. El Gouna is the exception: it has no house reef, so snorkelling there means a boat.
You can snorkel all year. At Hurghada the sea is about 22C in January and about 31C in August. Wind is strongest from May to September and can cancel boats.
Yes, the full Egyptian visa. The free Sinai-only permit given at Sharm covers Sharm and Dahab but not the national park.
Never stand or walk on the reef, and use the jetty or a sandy entry. Look and never touch: sea urchins, fire coral and stonefish live on the reef flats. Wear reef shoes in the shallows, and give turtles space to breathe.
Snorkel in marked areas, follow any beach closure and never touch the wildlife. For general travel advice, check the current US State Department and UK FCDO pages on Egypt.
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.
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