Marsa Alam in August - bad idea regarding shark attack?

Hello,

Last april, my wife, my 5 year old daughter and I went to Marsa Alam, Egypt.

We really enjoyed this destination : very nice hotels, warm water and very good snorkeling very near from the hotel : turtles, rays, dugong… So, great to enjoy first snorkelings with my daughter.

So, we thought that it would be great to come back in august for 2 weeks and to split the trip in 3 :

• 1 hotel near the airport
• 1 hotel near Sataya in order to try the dolphins trip without having to take a car or a bus for 3-4 hours the same day => probably Lahami bay hotel
• 1 last hotel near the airport

Our goal : mainly snorkeling (including dolphins)

Sadly, the tragic tiger shark attack occurred early June in Hurghada . So, we are not sure if it is a good idea to come back to marsa Alam. Since I’m a dad, I see danger more often…

What do you think about this choice?

Is there any beaches / spots “safer” than others? I don’t think so regarding the red sea size and the surface that can be covered by tiger sharks…

Thank you for your advice and your help.

Hi Kalani,

Maybe you are joking...

Marsa Alam is very safe. The most dangerous part of the holiday is the driving from airport to the resort (and back). The drivers are very ambitious and they seem to be commited to impress/entertain their clients with aerobatic actions. Much more dangerous than sharks...

In case you mean the hotels in Port Ghalib with "hotels near the airport" these are also save, but the chance that a shark comes in while following the Safari boats is there and bigger than in resorts that are not in the entrance route of the harbour...

Wolfgang

Hello Architeuthis,

Thank you for your message. It is not good to google something bad because you are sure to find something 

It is like when you are sick and you are looking for the symptoms on google : it is an emergency and you need to go to the hospital lol

So, when you search for "shark attack Marsa Alam", there are, sadly, a couple of cases...

The last time , we went to Jaz Maraya hotel : very nice and very cool for kids but snorkeling spots are not very nice.

We also tried Iberotel costa Mares : very nice spot for snorkeling.

In port Khalid directly, it seems that it is mainly Pickalbatross hotels : so it is better to avoid this area?

If I were to go to Egypt in August I would be more concerned about the weather more than the sharks. In Marsa alam in August there are Martian temperatures.
Before the pandemic I stayed with family at Three Corners Fayouz, not far from the airport, and I remember a very nice house reef conveniently accessible by a walkway in front of the umbrellas. In a small cove a few hundred meters away we also had a swim with dugongs.

Joking aside, I understand your fear. 
That video is chilling although frankly it was scarier for me to think that the one was dying and people were filming everything with their cell phones. They couldn't have done anything, of course, but to think that pulling a cell phone out of our pocket and filming anything is now our involuntary reflex makes me creepy.
BTW incidents with sharks in the Red Sea are unfortunately not uncommont, aided by the heavy anthropization of the coasts and the organic pollution that goes with it. Discharges of leftover food from boats are prohibited in theory but in practice....

On balance considering the number of tourists who frequent the Red Sea is the number of accidents, perhaps Architeuthis right: It is more dangerous to transfer to and from the airport

A good and family friendly hotel with beautiful housreef may be the "Mövenpick El Quesire" (https://movenpick.accor.com/en/africa/egypt/el-quseir/resort-el-quseir.html?merchantid=seo-maps-EG-B4L2&sourceid=aw-cen&utm_medium=seo+maps&utm_source=google+Maps&utm_campaign=seo+maps&utm_content=El-Quseir&y_source=1_MTUzNjI2MDUtNzE1LWxvY2F0aW9uLndlYnNpdGU%3D). I have never been there, but have heared a lot of positive things about this hotel and the housereef. More expensive compared to other hotels in the region, but top comfort and still cheap in comparison to other countries...

The resorts where I use to go for housereef diving are Rohanou Resort and Mangrove Bay. They have both a beautiful housereef for diving and snorkeling, but nothing else what you can do with a  wife and five year old daughter. This would be a very bad holiday experience, also regarding the heat in August...

Shark attacks can happen everywhere in the ocean, but are fortunately very seldom. I do not think that the Red Sea is especially dangerous...

Wolfgang

I would add that these days we are experiencing the effects of a crazy heat wave throughout the Mediterranean area with temperatures around 40 degrees.
These hot winds are coming from North Africa and yesterday in Tunisia they officially measured 49 degrees celsius (120 F). Temperatures almost impossible for the human body. In short, I don't know how enjoyable a vacation in Egypt in August is.

3 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

I don't know how enjoyable a vacation in Egypt in August is.

I can let you know in about three weeks..... I've organised a group for 26 people on Emperor Superior heading down to St Johns......

2 hours ago, TimG said:

I can let you know in about three weeks..... I've organised a group for 26 people on Emperor Superior heading down to St Johns......

It will be o.k., since on the liveboards there is always some wind and it is not as hot as in the Sahara desert (where the resorts are located). We have been several times in Egypt in August (also in resorts) and after 1-2 days of acclimatisation it is just fine. This applies to divers that are 3-5 h UW (in 3mm neoprene) per day and cool out permanently. I imagine that for "normal" tourists it is much more stressful...

Wolfgang

6 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

It will be o.k., since on the liveboards there is always some wind and it is not as hot as in the Sahara desert (where the resorts are located).

Yeah, I agree. I've been before in August. 

Of course, I was referring to the desert resorts.
I was in July and August twice but only on a liveboard. It was very hot but it was fine. The boat kept polar temperatures internally and anyway offshore on the reefs it was always breezy. In a resort with children and beach I think it is different but ready to change my mind.

Never heard of a tiger shark attack in Egypt before, usually Longymanus, which can be a little aggressive.

I echo Wolfgang's comment that a shark attack is well down on the possible risks in going to Egypt. Even more so if you stay near the shore as you are planning to do.

I've stayed in a stone hut without airco in August. It is one of those 'been there, done that but would never do it again' things. Tents are actually much nicer. But in the accommodation style you are looking at with good airco and time spent on the beach or in the water I think you will be ok.

In addition to the suggestions already made, I would suggest you have a look at Marsa Abu Dabab which is (one of) the closest sites south of Marsa Alam airport, so easy and quick transfers. It is a very wide marsa with a large seagrass field in the middle, a 'rough side' with vertical walls from shallow to deep on the south side and a very protected aquarium-like reef edge along the north side. The seagrass has green turtles bit stingrays and occasionally you can see guitar rays and dugong. It is a busier tourist spots with some bussed in from resorts along the coast. Depending on your interest that is a good thing or not. There are three resorts, one a Western chain (Hilton?) on the north side, one that seemed to be a 'party resort' on the south side, and a very affordable smaller resort just across the street. The north side resort may appeal to you.

For serious underwater naturalists this is also a great site with different species than you'll find on the much more common fringe reefs or narrower marsas. I found pygmy seahorse there, a goby species new to science, took the first underwater images of a fangblenny that was known from only a single female specimen, and lots of fun juveniles and pipefish hiding in the seagrass.