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Abu Dabbab, Snorkel with Dugongs, Marsa Alam
One of the few places on Earth where you can swim with the rare and gentle dugong.
Boat trip7hPay on arrival OK
Nothing to pay now
From
€55
per adult
Marsa Alam dugongs and turtles
Abu Dabbab or Marsa Mubarak: Where to See Dugongs and Turtles?
Both are sheltered bays north of Marsa Alam with a seagrass meadow on the floor, and seagrass is what green turtles and dugongs eat. Both are shore entries, not boat trips: you walk in from the beach and float out over the meadow. The turtles live in both bays. The dugong is the difference, and so is the first few metres of the walk in.
- Abu Dabbab: guests whose priority is the dugong and who are steady on their feet
- Marsa Mubarak: families with young children, first-time snorkelers, nervous swimmers
Quick answer
Choose Abu Dabbab if the dugong is what you came for: it is the bay where dugongs feed most often, and the turtles are there every day. Choose Marsa Mubarak if you are travelling with children or a nervous swimmer: the entry is a sandy beach into knee-deep water, and a dugong there is an occasional bonus. Neither bay can promise a dugong.
Best if you want
- Abu Dabbab: guests whose priority is the dugong and who are steady on their feet
- Marsa Mubarak: families with young children, first-time snorkelers, nervous swimmers
- Either: anyone happy to spend a morning watching green turtles graze
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Marsa Mubarak, Turtles & Dugongs, Marsa Alam
A protected bay famous for resident green turtles and a chance of dugong encounter.
Boat trip7hUp to 40 guestsPay on arrival OK
Nothing to pay now
From
€60€45
per adult
The two bays side by side
Abu Dabbab is a wide horseshoe bay about thirty kilometres north of Marsa Alam town. You enter across a few metres of rocky reef, so water shoes are worth wearing, and beyond that the bay is shallow throughout. Rangers work the bay: snorkelers keep roughly five metres from a dugong, with no flash and no swimming out to intercept one. Marsa Mubarak is about twelve kilometres north of Marsa Alam airport. The entry is a sandy beach into knee-deep water with no reef to cross, and the bay lies inside a protected zone where motor traffic is kept out, so the surface is calm on most mornings. Dugongs use it as a second feeding ground, which makes a sighting there less frequent than at Abu Dabbab.
What to expect from the animals
In both bays the green turtles are the dependable part of the morning. They are resident, they graze the same seagrass patches day after day, and the guides know which patches are being worked this week. The dugong is the uncertain part. If you arrive treating the turtles as a consolation prize, you will spend the morning scanning the horizon and miss what is directly beneath you. The one rule that matters most around either animal is never to put yourself between it and the surface, because both have to come up to breathe. No touching, no riding, and stay off to the side instead of directly overhead.
Questions before you book
Are Abu Dabbab and Marsa Mubarak boat trips?
No. Both are shore entries. You are driven to the bay, walk in from the beach and snorkel over the seagrass meadow. That is why they suit people who get seasick, and why the kind of entry, rock or sand, is the detail worth choosing on.
Are dolphins, turtles, or dugongs guaranteed?
Wildlife sightings are possible in known areas, but nature is never guaranteed.
Need help choosing?
Send your hotel area, travel date, group size, and what you want to see. The team can point you to the closest suitable trip without inventing guarantees.