Marsa Alam - Dive / Accommodation options

[Oz Chris]

Has anyone been to Marsa Alam recently?

We are going mid April for 4 days, and are tossing up options for where to stay and dive.

Main choice at the moment is between Marsa Nakari or Marsa Shagra. We can't get a Deluxe Chalet at Marsa Nakari the week we are there (someone prefers AC and and ensuite), but we would prefer the slightly less developed / less full of tourists feel of Nakari.

Can't quite work out how the diving works at these - will we be able to hit the sites we want, or will we be constrained to a limited set?

Our fallback option is Emporer Divers / Marina Lodge - very different, but feels a bit more like our experience of dive operators in Australia and the Philippines.

 

[scubadada]

I stayed at Marina Lodge and went out with Emperor Divers before a trip on the Red Sea Aggressor. Perfectly fine hotel, across the marina from the main tourist area, believe they have a shuttle. Emperor Divers was fine, they have special trips to Elphinstone and Abu Dabab that would be good. Emperor Divers and Marina Lodge Hotel April 2016

 

[KenGordon]

I have dived with Red Sea Safari at Marsa Shagra. The way it works is either self guided (following a couple of orientation guided dives) on the excellent house reef or boat trips out to various other sites, including Elphinstone.

They have a shaded area with benches and kit storage next to the beach and you just grab a full cylinder, kit up and get in the water. There is a bloke there with binoculars and if you mess up your navigation he will send a boat out to collect you.

I was doing CCR MOD1 so most of the dives were on the local reef, maxing out at 32m, so the reef was secondary. Other divers there did go off and do something dives up or down the coast. That required enough people to make the trip worthwhile and they had a self booking computer arrangement.

The accommodation and facilities are not like a typical hotel. I much preferred it. Rooms open directly to the outside, it is all single story and you don’t feel ‘enclosed’ if you what I mean.

You might check the weather in April. Will you need AC then?

I like the place.

 

[ontdiver]

Our group had a late 2016 stay at Marina Lodge prior to the RSA; a couple of us dove with Emperor Divers as well.

Hotel rooms were clean and comfortable; meals were fine. The resort is fairly low key and most of the guests were divers.

We were offered the opportunity to upgrade to all inclusive for meals and I seem to recall that the price was reasonable.

Was very pleased with Emperor Divers. They have a spacious gear storage/rinse area and the staff responsible for this were very attentive. Diving was good and experienced divers were not rushed. They served a good buffet lunch on board. I would not hesitate to dive with them again.

 

[Wisnu]

I like Marsa shagra.. Love the diving style, very flexible, dive what you want at their nice house reef, shore to shore, drop by zodiac to shore or drop and pick-up zodiac, self dive (with your buddy) or with guide at extra cost.
You can also check the board to join truck dive (visit further away onshore site), zodiac to elphinstone or other shore dive sites or boat diving to further locations,
Great foods.

 

[Sbiriguda]

How about Elphinstone hotel? Does anybody have first hand info on it?