Best place for Dugongs

[divezonescuba]

If we can make it to Egypt this year, we are thinking about going to Hurgada for a liveaboard in 2022. If we end up doing that we would also like to shore / day trip dive for one additional week.

Where would be the best place to stay in that area if we were interested in the remote possibility of seeing dugongs?

Thanks.

 

[tridacna]

I saw dugongs near Shark Bay in Australia years ago. I had no idea they were in Egypt. Live and learn!

 

[scubadada]

My buddy and I did a long swim through the seagrass at Marsa Shouna in May 2016. Unfortunately, no Dugongs

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

I heard of sightings in Soma Bay (rare) but the place of choice in Egypt is around Marsa Alam with one spot being the seagrass meadows around Marsa al Nabaa (N025° 19.318 E034° 44.729)

 

[Sunn]

There are some, regularly seen, in the surroundings of Marsa Abu Dabab (see the post of JustSurfaceInterval for coordinates)

If you really want to see some, approximately 6,000 dugongs in the Persian Gulf (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and 1,000 in Saudi Arabia - Farasan Islands project)

source : TENDUA - Association for biodiversity conservation