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Marsa Alam : Egypt : Trip Report

Marsa Alam

After a short layover in Munich we finally headed to Egypt, specifically a tiny airport in southern Egypt called Marsa Alam International although it was miles from the town of Marsa Alam. Along the way we took in great views of the Greek Isles and the Egyptian desert on either side of the Nile.

The only green at all in Egypt is along the Nile. From our plane we got a pretty good view of Luxor where you could clearly see a bunch of Nile Cruise ships.

Once at Marsa Alam Airport we were greeted by someone from the M/V Tala and escorted to some very fine vehicles for the short trip to the dock at Port Ghalib. The town of Marsa Alam is actually 50km south of the airport but Port Ghalib was a short ride away. One there we discovered it was on huge construction site with condos being built right up to the water. So, if you're looking for the next ground floor real estate opportunity maybe look at Port Ghalib? Apparently the airport and much of the land up and down the coast near it is owned by a Kuwaiti who is slowly developing the area as a major resort destination.

Once at the dock we were told that there was a problem with the M/V Tala which was supposed to be fresh from dry dock and that the operator scrambled to find us a replacement. It wasn't a great boat but it's better than no boat at all. He also re-assured us that it's only for 1 day before we transfer to a better boat called the Blue Waves on which we will spend the rest of our week. That's a good thing because the first boat was nothing to write home about. The Blue Waves however was pretty decent. The state rooms were much bigger and more comfortable and the galley was roomier and more comfortable. It was not the boat we were promised but everyone was pretty happy with it.

Rather than spend the first evening on the crappy boat we were driven about an hour south past the town of Marsa Alam to the boat owner's "dive shop", which is basically a series of huts on the beach. There we relaxed and tried to stay warm by the fire and had a great Egyptian BBQ for dinner.


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