Staff confuse 'bank' with ATM. We almost had a taxi take us to a bank for cash, until we established that there is an ATM at Kahramana reception.
Nobody told us until the last day that there is a free, regular shuttle bus from reception to Abu Dababa beach, 15 mins away, which was by far the best beach for miles around. Superb snorkeling direct from the beach.
We went b and b, were offered half board by the travel agent for an extra £100 pppw. It works out cheaper to just have b and b, and then you can choose where to eat in the evenings, although the choice is quite limited (italian, lebanese, fish or the hotel buffet, which was actually the best.)
The staff were very friendly, and it is a shame to see what the terrorists are doing to the tourist industry out there. Make the effort to learn a few words of Arabic; please, hello, thankyou etc and you will get a very positive response.
Good standard of tennis staff, who will hit with you for a total cost of £3.50ph, including racket hire. Football match every evening (5ish) on the beautifully soft grass pitch.
The diving centre staff were great, and I recommend the 'discover scuba diving' one day course. We also went on a trip to the 'Dolphin House' where there is apparently an 80% chance of swimming with dolphins. I think that is sales talk of the worst kind. It was a shame, as it is a very good trip out into the middle of the Red Sea, which I would have happily gone on for 60 euros. I came away disappointed from that as I expected to see dolphins.
It is worth having those shoes that you can go into the sea with, as some of the beach can be either very hot, or quite rough on your feet.
I had never snorkeled until I got there, (I am 40). Make sure you do it, it is fantastic and very easy, and the water does not go down the tube very often, and even when it does you know its coming so you don't swallow it. We bought cheap snorkel and mask (£10) before we went. A false economy as it misted up very quicky and the far superior hire ones were very cheap to hire.
Security at Marsa Alam is good. It is not a town as such, so there is nowhere for any bomber to target groups of people. All the different complexes have security at the entrances, so any bombers would have to come up with a very detailed plan. So far, all the bombs in Egypt have been in public places. It is very unlikely that you will be in a public place if you go there - it is all resort.
We had a great time, and would certainly go again.