Marsa Alam – a former fishing village, now a modern resort
I prefer active recreation, so before choosing a tour operator and a specific destination, I looked at local resorts specifically for the possibility of great diving. After browsing a couple dozen reviews of resorts and specific hotels on Holiday Check and similar resources, I concluded that I would go to Marsa Alam.
By the way, on the mentioned site I found information that made this resort even more appealing. Although on the Russian internet it is said that Marsa Alam is just a fishing village 250 km from Hurghada, in reality today the resort town is far from a backwater. No joke – there is an international airport here, and from it to the hotel line I got by taxi in 10 minutes, staying at a 4-star hotel – Resta Reef Resort, whose name eloquently indicated that I had ended up where I dreamed – a true diver's paradise.
The international airport has been operating here for over ten years. That before 2001 the resort was just a fishing village and tourists lived in tents – I can't bring myself to say that – 80 km of coastline consist of international-class hotels and inns. The hotel complex staff consists entirely of Arabs, but they all speak excellent English, are polite, helpful, even accustomed to Russian speech.
The first couple of days, to be honest, I didn't have to go on a scuba diving trip – lush vegetation, several pools, a private beach with pleasant sandstone – reviews of Resta Reef Resort fully met my expectations. Despite the fact that Egypt is a priori an Islamic state, no one dared to say a word about the fact that I am not married to my companion: Arab conservatism is here successfully intertwined with European avant-garde.
After relaxing for a couple of days in passive mode, I still took a scuba tank and with an experienced diver went where I intended – to see corals. The fact that my girlfriend had never seen a scuba tank in her life did not bother the instructor – that same day we swam as equals. I didn't want to return to land: virgin marine fauna with an abundance of corals – something you can look at until the oxygen runs out. In three days we managed to see almost all the local underwater beauties – the cave labyrinth of Beit Gocha, the reef tops of McLauth and Abu Dabbab, where we saw sea cows in the wild.
Reviews of Resta Reef Resort, however, also mentioned the possibility of going from the hotel's diving center to the Elphinstone and Brothers reefs, but my girlfriend wanted to spend her free time from the beach doing fitness (right here, at the hotel), while I stormed the remaining days at the beach bar and the buffet at the Fontana restaurant. And in this regard, reviews of Resta Reef Resort did not disappoint: the hotel complex pleased with surprising Western European cuisine at the La Casa restaurant.
I have already made my choice for next year's vacation destination – of course, it will be Marsa Alam. I see no point in changing hotels either – here I have everything I need to recover.
PR*