She looks like she came straight from the movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”: the manatee in Marsa Alam, Egypt. The peaceful and graceful marine mammals look like mythical creatures and like they come from another planet when you have them right in front of you while snorkeling and diving. What is it like to meet such an animal? Where can you find them? And what do manatees have in common with elephants? In my experience report about my visit to Marsa Mubarak's manatee, I have put together all the important facts and information that you need to know before swimming, snorkeling and diving with the dugongs.

I am probably one of the few lucky holidaymakers in Egypt who have encountered a manatee more than once. My first encounter with a manatee near Marsa Alam was back in 2015 at the jetty of the Three Corners Equinox Resort, which is very close to the famous Dugong Bay Abu Dabbab located. However, my snorkeling encounter was short-lived. I was only able to observe the animal for a few minutes right on the hotel's house reef.

You have to be very lucky to see a dugong

The Marsa Alam manatee disappeared as quickly as it had appeared before. After that, I didn't see a manatee in Egypt for a long time - until I came to Egypt a few years later Marsa Alam snorkeling and was so lucky to meet one of these mythical creatures again.

Because although there are bays and diving spots where... animals can often be spotted, it's a bit of a matter of luck to actually get them in front of your diving mask. Seeing this strange-looking creature seemed like a dream in retrospect, although I took a video of the dugong when I encountered it in December 2021:

Video – Snorkeling with a manatee in Marsa Alam

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Manatees are hard to find

Since meeting the manatee in Egypt in March 2015, I have been keen to see such a mythical creature again and then hopefully stay with the fascinating animal for a little longer. Three stays in Egypt later, I was back in the Marsa Alam region for the first time in November 2021 and spent almost two weeks there at the Three Corners Fayrouz Plaza Beach Resort, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the famous Marsa Mubarak dugong bay. Marsa Mubarak is now more often called Marsa Mares - and there are now two hotels there.

Video – Dugongs and more at Abu Dabbab Bay

Below I have selected a video from close up of snorkeling in Abu Dabbab. With a bit of luck, you may also meet the manatee there and observe the animal in its natural environment.

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An old lady gives me hope

The Fayrouz Resort is a few hundred meters from the bay. On the first day we met an older lady on the beach who took us to her place Smartphone pictures from the manatee showed that she had shot herself the day before. She said it took three vacations before she finally found the animal. That doesn't give me much hope of seeing a dugong on our Marsa Alam vacation. So do I have to continue without meeting again? And how did my little moment of shock in Marsa Mubarak Bay come about?

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Marsa Mubarak (Marsa Mares) – Mass tourism in Dugong Bay?

Right from the start we planned several days of snorkeling in Marsa Mubarak to see the manatees Marsa Alam to find. The conversation with the old lady didn't exactly give me hope and I was prepared for a longer search. However, the lady gave us a tip that was worth its weight in gold: go to Marsa Mubarak either very early in the morning or shortly before sunset, then it won't be so crowded there and you'll be more likely to see the dugong.

We are then on land first Three Corners Fayrouz Walked over to Marsa Mubarak without having any snorkeling equipment - the distance on foot is about 800 meters.

Go to Marsa Mubarak either very early in the morning or just before sunset, then it won't be so crowded and you'll be more likely to see the dugong.

Tip from an older lady

Sometimes hundreds of snorkelers in the water

And when we arrived we were immediately unpleasantly surprised. At peak times, more than a dozen tour boats are anchored there and an estimated 50 to 100 snorkelers paddle around Dugong Bay looking for the manatee. Pure mass tourism to see a single animal.

However, I didn't have to observe the situation for long to realize that none of the snorkelers had seen the manatee. If they couldn't do it, how could we do it?! After all, 100 eyes see more than 4 eyes. I was actually quite pessimistic about encountering the Marsa Mubarak manatee while on holiday. But anyone who knows me knows: That doesn't stop me from looking for the majestic mythical creature.

Basically, this mass rush also has a positive factor: you can see from afar whether a group has possibly discovered something. Because all the snorkelers suddenly start paddling like crazy. However, the sighting does not necessarily have to be a manatee. It could also be a turtle or a passing eagle ray.

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Snorkeling with a dugong in Egypt is a matter of luck

On our third or fourth day of vacation we want to try our luck and go looking for the manatee. So we march with all our luggage to Marsa Mubarak Bay to look for the dugong there for as long as necessary. Because we can't bring ourselves to do it at 7 a.m., we set off instead in the late afternoon around 16 p.m., when the sun slowly begins to set and the excursion boats with the snorkelers start the journey home to Port Ghalib.

There are only a few people on the shallow beach of the bay. A German snorkeler also wants to get into the water to look for the manatee. He tells us that he is regularly in the water here and gives us the tip to look for the manatee on the opposite side of Marsa Mubarak (south side).

You have to really stretch while snorkeling

When we get into the water and start snorkeling, we are a little at a loss. The distance to the other side of the bay, where a new hotel and a long jetty are currently being built, is probably around 300 meters long. If you then take another 200 meters of the bay in width, you get an impressive area of ​​around 60.000 square meters, which you would have to search for the Egyptian manatee in Marsa Mubarak.

Conversely, this means: Even if you swim a search pattern while snorkeling in which you move back and forth in serpentine lines, the probability of actually seeing the manatee is very low. Especially since the dugong can leave the bay at any time. This means: Finding the manatee is purely a matter of luck.

Accordingly, we paddled around relatively aimlessly and haphazardly in the bay. We saw some very pretty and sometimes huge sea turtles - for that alone the visit to Marsa Mubarak was worth it.

We kept a long distance from each other while snorkeling so that we could search more area

So we snorkeled through the bay, covered a few hundred meters and kept a greater distance from each other so that we could search a larger area. This allows you to easily keep an eye on a larger portion of the bay's floor area and increase the likelihood of finding the manatee.

But it all came to nothing: we couldn't find the manatee and had already been snorkeling for almost an hour. So we decided to turn around and get out of the water. We were making our way back to the beach, maybe 150 meters from shore in about 2,50 feet of water, when it happened.

A moment of shock in Dugong Bay

And so my moment of shock came: While I was looking for the manatee, a huge, dark shadow suddenly shot past me at high speed from diagonally behind to the right. At first I thought it might be a larger shark that got lost in the bay. I couldn't tell what it was and assumed it was a shark because I had read that manatees can move at a maximum of ten kilometers per hour.

And suddenly she is right in front of me: the sea cow of Marsa Alam

But you guessed it wrong, it was her: The Marsa Alam manatee - probably the only specimen that inhabits Marsa Mubarak not far from our Fayrouz Resort. One shot, one hit. We discovered them on our first snorkeling tour - or rather, they discovered us. I paddle as fast as I can before I lose sight of the animal in the murky water. So could that have been it again? An encounter with the dugong that lasts three seconds?

No, fortunately it wasn't like that. Because the manatee is curious and comes to us. My absolute highlight of the day – yes, of the entire trip – was still to come. My companion gave nimble fins and followed the dugong. And so a few minutes later we were able to find the manatee very, very close to the beach, at a depth of maybe two and a half meters.

The manatee wasn't shy at all

And how beautiful it was: the manatee wasn't shy at all. She didn't let us bother her at all. On the contrary, the dugong was curious and seemed to be close to us and studying us. And so shortly before the end of our snorkeling trip we not only had a unique encounter with the animal that really looked like a mythical creature. As you can see in the photo below, the animals are not only incredibly sweet and trusting - they also look as if they are smiling.

All I can say is that this meeting was incredible. I've experienced a lot while diving and snorkeling. But this was truly one of the greatest moments ever. Because he was so intimate. We were so close to the animal for so long. The encounter was also incredibly long at around 20 to 30 minutes, of which we were able to spend almost half of the time alone before two other snorkelers joined us.

My experience with the Dugong of Marsa Alam

I have to say that in hindsight it still seems unreal to me. Suddenly the manatee appears in the distance - the dugong from Marsa Mubarak just sits relaxed in front of us on the seabed. In a relaxed manner, she rummages through the sandy bottom for food, while the remoras partly circle her and partly sit next to her. We swim up very carefully, let ourselves drift above the manatee and simply observe, if possible without disturbing the marine mammal while it is eating seaweed. We keep our distance and observe – for minutes.

We watch the strange animal with fascination as it moves along the ground, stirring up the sandy soil. This is probably why the fork-tailed manatee is nicknamed sea pig. The animal looks like a mixture of a porpoise, a dolphin and a hippopotamus.

Hold your breath and go down to the manatee

I take deep breaths and dive down to the manatee a few times. Of course, at a certain distance so as not to scare the trusting marine mammal. I notice all the injuries on the thick skin - and the thought comes to me: It looks a bit like an elephant. And recently I also read that the closest relative of the manatee is not a whale or dolphin, but elephants - yes, you read that right. The dugong is related to the elephant.

As fascinating as it may be to watch the manatee burrowing on the bottom. She looks truly breathtaking when she moves her body, which weighs up to 900 kilograms, through the water and swims freely. And I'm amazed: she appears right next to me and has no shyness at all - on the contrary: I have the feeling she's posing for my camera. And then I notice the animal's most unique feature. The manatee appears to be smiling. She smiles at us.

How beautiful – such a friendly animal! She eats a plant-based diet, is completely harmless, is hardly afraid of people and she seems to smile. With these characteristics, the dugong could easily become my favorite animal.

And so ended our half hour snorkeling with the dugong of Marsa Alam. The fascinating animal could have disappeared at any time, as was the case with my first encounter with the manatee on the Equinox house reef. But that manatee stayed. I've been very lucky to have had many great encounters with sea creatures - among other things Sharks in Thailand, With Dolphins in Mauritius and Sharks in the Maldives, but this visit to the manatee in Egypt was a very special experience that I will not soon forget.

Characteristics – Manatee (Forked-Tailed Manatee, Dugong, Sea Pig)

Dugong (manatee)	Features
Weight	up to 900 kilograms – often 400 kilograms
Length	up to four meters - often three meters
genus	Dugong
Family	forksmanatees (Dugongidae)
Order	Seecows (Sirenia)
Living Space	On the coasts of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and western Pacific
enemies	hardly any natural enemies
Nutrition	purely herbivorous (plant-eating), feeds on sea grass
Reproduction	First viable after ten to 17 years - gestation period: 13 months - pregnant every three to seven years
Life expectancy	up to 73 years

Manatee in Egypt – our visit to the Dugong of Marsa Mubarak (Marsa Mares)

Image gallery with our impressions

A visit to the manatee in Marsa Mubarak Bay is a fascinating experience. However, our pictures quickly show how difficult it is to find the dugong. The experience is all the better when he or she suddenly shows up.

What is the best way to spot the manatees in Marsa Alam?

Basically, I would like to emphasize again at this point that it is a matter of luck to find the manatee on vacation in Egypt. But of course you can significantly increase the probability. You have to search persistently and be lucky and you may be able to find them. To find the manatee, I would do the following. I would recommend that you research again in detail in which bays manatees are regularly spotted in Egypt. Three bays come to mind:

1. Marsa Mubarak Bay (Marsa Mares)
2. Abu Dabbab Bay
3. The house reef of the Three Corners Equinox

If you are planning your vacation in Marsa Alam, I would recommend you to look for a hotel near these three bays. This has a simple advantage: you can quickly get into the water with your snorkeling equipment and search on your own. If you live further away, however, you would have to book a snorkeling trip - this is more complicated and your chances of actually seeing a manatee are lower.

Marsa Mubarak (Marsa Mares)

For the Marsa Mubarak these are about the good and cheap Fayrouz Resort* or located directly in the bay Iberotel Costa Mares* or that Jaz Amara* right in the middle of the bay. From there you can quickly and easily go into the water in the bay and look for the manatee early, before all the tourists come.

Abu Dabbab

Basically similar to Marsa Mubarak, you can also reside right on the bay and in this way ensure that you can look for the dugong several times a day. At the northern end of the bay is the upscale one Hilton Marsa Alam* where we stayed during a recent stay. The rather cheap ones are at the southern end of the bay Malikia Resort* and the simple but good one Abu Dabbab Lodge*. All three hotels are ideal as a base for searching for the Abu Dabbab manatee.

Three Corners Equinox house reef

The Three Corners Equinox* House Reef is the place where I had my first encounter with the manatee - right on the hotel jetty. The hotel itself is also rather simple and solidly middle class. Thoroughly recommended. When it comes to searching for the manatee, however, it's a lonely task - that's why I'm mentioning it separately here. It is located about 1,5 kilometers south of Abu Dabbab.

And now comes the highlight: When the diving centers go out on their “Search for Dugong tours”, they search the waters in front of the Equinox. If you live there, you have direct access to the place where the manatee most often appears.

Search for Dugong tours in Abu Dabbab

In fact, you can also book a Search for Dugong tour for divers at the regional diving centers in Marsa Alam. This can also help you find the manatee of Abu Dabbab, for example. The employee of a diving center told me that the chance of actually finding a manatee on this tour is about 80 percent. That would be pretty neat. I have a tour like this Diving in Abu Dabbab took part and unfortunately we couldn't find any manatees.

80 percent chance of finding the dugong?

I don't know if the probability is really 80 percent. But it might actually be quite high. However, as an alternative - if the dugong is not found - the bases offer a nice dive on one of the Shaab Abu Dabbab reefs, which is really worthwhile. As a diver, you can book such Search for Dugong tours at all dive centers in the area. I do believe that the chance of finding a manatee is very high because the captains of the dive boats know where to look.

I was also told that the diving centers coordinate. If someone has found the dugong, let the other dive centers know. You can do the Search for Dugong tour, for example, at the diving centers in Abu Dabbab - at BlueOcean Abu Dabbab, diving.de Abu Dabbab and Extra Divers Equinox

Do not confuse with the glass bottom boat

You shouldn't confuse a Search for Dugong tour with a manatee snorkeling tour, which you can book with a glass-bottom boat from Port Ghalib. On Search for Dugong there are always only a few divers and it is a very exclusive tour. If you ride the glass bottom boat, you'll be in the water with dozens of snorkelers.

FAQs about the manatee in Egypt – the most important questions and answers about the dugong of Marsa Alam

Are you planning to go searching for manatees on your Egypt vacation? I have put together the most important questions and answers about dugongs in Egypt and the manatees of Marsa Alam for you.

Manatee in Egypt experience report – my time with the dugong from Marsa Alam

My conclusion

During my first visit to the manatee in Egypt near Abu Dabbab in March 2015, it was clear to me that normal mortals would only spend very little time with these fascinating animals in their lives. It is similar with other sea creatures such as whale sharks, whales, dolphins and ordinary sharks, which are generally very shy and are rarely encountered while diving and snorkeling.

I've often been shy Sharks in the Red Sea seen as manatees. And I am all the more grateful and happy that I was able to spend almost half an hour with Marsa Mubarak's manatee - and at times completely alone.

Very lucky to find the Marsa Alam manatee

Seeing the fascinating animal in its natural environment and experiencing the interaction still excites me to this day. Anyone who would like to snorkel or dive with a manatee in Egypt near Marsa Alam will need a bit of persistence and patience when searching for the dugong - for example in the huge bay of Marsa Mubarak - but will be rewarded many times over if the search is successful.

Especially when diving, you should have a completely different connection to the marine mammal if you can actually dive down to the fantastic animal creature while floating freely using the compressed air bottle.

Have you ever been diving or snorkeling with a manatee – manatee or dugong? Where have you seen the animals before? Or are you planning a manatee excursion? Share your experiences in the comments.