Marsa Alam

A bay with seagrass over sand, where green turtles come in to graze. You wade in off the beach and see them straight away; touching or chasing them is not allowed. Coaches from other resorts pile in by late morning, so get in early.

A long reef rising alone in open water, where oceanic whitetip sharks come close to the surface in autumn. Current is strong and the drop is deep, so only experienced divers are taken. When the sea turns rough, no boat sails.

Spinner dolphins rest through the day inside a horseshoe reef. The lagoon is zoned, one part left to the dolphins alone, and the number of people allowed in each day is capped. Permits run out early, so book a boat ahead.

The dry riverbed whose name means valley of camels, the mangroves at its mouth and the islands offshore became one national park in 2003. Gazelles and the tents of Ababda nomads show up in the valley. The inner tracks need four-wheel drive.

A mountain valley where emeralds were mined in Roman times, nicknamed Cleopatra's mines. A small rock-cut temple and the remains of a stone-house settlement survive. It is hours along desert tracks, so it is reached only on guided four-wheel-drive tours.

Small mangrove islands cluster off Hamata in water of pale jade. Ospreys nest on the mangroves, so the places where you may land are fixed. With so little depth, boats feel their way in slowly between the rocks.

A white-sand lagoon inside the national park, shallow and clear to the bottom. There is no resort; it is a park beach with an entry fee and next to nothing beyond sunshades and a kiosk. It shuts before sunset, so a late afternoon arrival leaves little time.

A spread of reefs off Hamata to the south, where a day moves between two or three sites. Inside the Abu Galawa lagoon lies a small sunken tug that can be looked into even from shallow water. The afternoon wind picks up and so does the chop.

A dive camp of tents and huts side by side, where walking in from the beach puts you at a coral wall right away. No boat is involved, so you dive any number of times, whenever you choose. The bay in front is deep and dolphins pass on some days.

A newly built marina town near the airport, where liveaboard dive boats leave for days on the southern reefs. Restaurants and cafes line the quay. Old Marsa Alam is roughly an hour's drive away, so do not confuse the two.

An old port town north of Marsa Alam where pilgrims bound for Mecca once took ship. A sixteenth-century Ottoman fort still stands by the sea, and coral-stone houses with wooden balconies line the lanes. It makes a half-day break from the resorts.

A bay near Port Ghalib whose seagrass beds keep resident green turtles fed. With luck a dugong turns up, though these days that is rare. It is less crowded than Abu Dabbab, so you can stay near the turtles longer.

A small reef far offshore with a lone lighthouse on it, reached only by liveaboard dive boat. In summer schools of hammerhead sharks gather in the deep, and divers flock after them. The current runs strong, so experience is required.