Marsa Egla

Marsa Alam · Red Sea · Egypt

Marsa Egla is one of those Red Sea bays that tourism has somehow passed by. Located south of Marsa Alam on the Egyptian coast, this sheltered natural harbour combines extensive seagrass meadows with a healthy fringing reef in water rarely deeper than eighteen metres. The result is a marine environment of surprising richness, anchored by a resident population of green sea turtles and the tantalising possibility of dugong encounters, all accessible from a quiet beach with no resort infrastructure in sight. The bay opens to the east, protected from prevailing northerly winds by a low headland. The shallows are dominated by seagrass beds that extend from the shoreline to around five metres, their blades swaying gently in water so calm it feels like a swimming pool. Green sea turtles graze here with mechanical regularity, heads down in the grass, surfacing to breathe every few minutes with an explosive exhalation audible from the beach. On a typical morning, four or five turtles occupy the seagrass meadow simultaneously. Beyond the seagrass, a fringing reef develops along the bay's southern margin. The coral here is in notably good condition, with branching Acropora, fire coral, and brain coral creating a varied reef structure from six to eighteen metres. The fish life is typically Red Sea: clouds of anthias above every coral head, masked butterflyfish in mated pairs, crocodilefish lying immobile on sandy patches, and lionfish hovering under ledges. The dugong possibility adds a layer of anticipation to every dive. These shy marine mammals feed on the seagrass beds, and while encounters are infrequent compared to the more famous Abu Dabbab to the north, they do occur. I spent a surface interval scanning the bay and watched a dugong surface twice at the northern end, its round grey back breaking the surface briefly before disappearing. The following dive in that area produced no sighting, which is the nature of dugong diving: patience, luck, and the willingness to return.