Abu Dabbab, Snorkel with Dugongs, Marsa Alam

About this trip

Abu Dabbab is a wide horseshoe bay 30 kilometres north of Marsa Alam town. A seagrass meadow covers most of the bay floor, and seagrass is the favourite food of dugongs, the gentle marine mammals once mistaken by sailors for mermaids. Roughly two of the bay's resident dugongs come in to feed during daylight hours, and around eight green turtles graze the same meadow.

What a dugong actually is, and why Abu Dabbab has them

A dugong is not a dolphin and not a seal. It is a sirenian, the same order as the manatee, and it is the only marine mammal that lives entirely on plants. That single fact explains the whole trip: a dugong has to live where seagrass grows, in water shallow and clear enough for the meadow to photosynthesise, and calm enough that the beds are not torn up by swell. Abu Dabbab is a wide horseshoe bay thirty kilometres north of Marsa Alam town, and a seagrass meadow covers most of its floor. Two of the resident dugongs come in to feed during daylight, which is unusual. Most of the world's remaining dugongs are either nocturnal, in water too murky to see through, or simply gone. This bay is one of a handful of places on earth where you can float above one in daylight and watch it graze. They are also slow to recover from anything. A dugong reaches breeding age around ten and produces one calf every few years. There is no quick rebound if a population is disturbed, which is why the rules here are strict.

How the encounter is policed, and why that is good news

Rangers work this bay and they are not decorative. Snorkelers are kept at roughly five metres, there is no flash photography, no fin splashing above a grazing animal and no swimming out to intercept one. The dugong sets the pace. Sometimes it feeds calmly while a dozen people watch from above, sometimes it surfaces for air right beside you because it chose to. Operators who break the rules get banned from the bay, and that enforcement is the reason there is still something here to see. If a guide offers to get you closer, or to touch, you are being sold the destruction of the thing you came for. The practical version for your morning: listen to the briefing, stay in the group, and do not kick down toward the meadow. Fins stirring silt over the seagrass is the most common way visitors damage this bay without meaning to.

The turtles are the sure thing

Dugongs appear on around sixty percent of trips. Green turtles appear on essentially all of them, because roughly eight of them live in the same meadow and graze it every day. This matters for how you plan your expectations. 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. Green turtles here are large, unbothered and easy to watch for long stretches, surfacing every few minutes on a predictable rhythm. For most guests the turtles end up being the part they describe afterwards. The bay also holds guitarfish on the sandy patches, and on the deep outer edge there is an occasional manta in winter. Neither is something to count on, both are worth knowing about so you recognise one if it passes.

Getting in and out of the water here

This is a shore entry, not a boat trip. You walk in from the beach across a few metres of rocky reef and then float out over the meadow. Water shoes are genuinely recommended rather than upsold: the rock is uneven and sharp in places, and getting out at the end with tired legs is when people cut a foot. Once you are past the entry the bay is shallow throughout. You can see the seagrass beds and the turtles from chest-deep water, which is why this works for people who are not confident swimmers as long as they can manage the entry itself. There is a lifeguard on duty during peak hours. Because it is shore-based, the day is more relaxed than a boat trip. You get in and out as often as you like, dry off, and go back when someone spots something. Seven hours sounds long until you realise most of it is spent doing exactly that.

Trip highlights

• Famous dugong feeding bay
• Green sea turtles year-round
• Easy shore entry, kid friendly

What you will see underwater

Dugongs (NOT guaranteed, dugong is wild and not always present), green turtles (often but not guaranteed), guitarfish, occasional manta on the deep edge in winter.

What's included

• Hotel pickup & drop-off
• Snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, vest)
• Buffet lunch on board
• Soft drinks, tea & water
• Certified captain & crew
• Underwater camera (extra)
• Tip for captain & crew (optional)

Daily itinerary

Approximate. Subject to weather and sea conditions.

1. 1
   Hotel pickup
2. 2
   Arrival at the reef bay
3. 3
   Snorkeling session 1

   Easy shore entry. Resident turtles and reef fish.

4. 4
   Refreshments break
5. 5
   Snorkeling session 2
6. 6
   Lunch
7. 7
   Hotel drop-off

Trip-specific questions