Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Located just 40km South of Marsa Alam airport, Marsa Shagra is the largest and most well-known of our locations. It boasts one of the most beautiful house reefs in the Red Sea, thanks to the strict environmental protection we enforce in the village. The unlimited diving concept on the house reef offers a unique opportunity to dive with absolute freedom and flexibility, which is what attracts divers to Marsa Shagra. With over 20 nearby dive sites on our regular diving program, including the world-famous Elphinstone and Marsa Abu Dabab, divers are spoilt for choice and can expect to encounter the very best marine life that the Red Sea has to offer. Marsa Shagra is the perfect introduction to diving in the Southern Red Sea.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Family
Mid-range
Languages Spoken
English, French, Arabic, German and 1 more
Location
Halaib We Shellatin, 22km North Marsa Alam City, Marsa Alam 84712 Egypt
We spent a week here with our friends. All of us are divers, so the unlimited dives package was very useful for us.
Our accommodation was in Deluxe Chalets. These are little chalets with a room, a small bathroom and a terrace, looking at the Red Sea, where we could enjoy the beautiful sunrise. The bed was really comfortable. Room was cleaned daily. Towels for shower and beach are provided, as well as 2in1 shower gel and soap.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and soft drinks, plus coffee and tea are included in the package. In the cafeteria and restaurant you can get beer, wine, snacks, pizza, extra soft drinks and extra coffee (e.g. cappuccino) for additional charge. Bottled water is also for a charge of 1 EUR in the cafeteria. However, there are a lot of water stations all around the village where you can refill your own bottle with water as many times as you want.
All members of the staff are very kind and helpful, especially at the diving base, they help you in anything you need.
The house-reef is simply beautiful, with nice corals and marine life. There are also some excursions available, e.g. Elphinstone, Dolphin House, etc. Those of our friends who went to Elphinstone said that it was beautiful, they saw manta rays, but unfortunately no sharks. We all went to the Dolphin House, which is an amazing place. We had two dives, in crystal clear water where we saw huge, colourful corals, and nice little caves. This was an all-day excursion, with a wonderful lunch.
We enjoyed our time here a lot and I'm absolutely sure that we will come back each year.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 13 May 2024
Dear Filitheyo, Thank you for taking your time to write this feedback about Marsa Shagra. We are pleased to read that you had such a great diving holiday with your friends and were able to experience some of our beautiful dive sites. We look forward to welcoming you back to one of our villages soon. Best regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This was my third stay in Shagra and although it has grown considerably since my first visit there in 2014, it still retains that original vibe that is just pure friendliness, laughter and joy. You get to talk to strangers just as easily as you get friendly with the incredible staff which goes out of their way to please you and make your stay as comfortable as possible. A big thank you and shout-out to the whole crowd.
Compared to 10 years ago, the house reef has clearly suffered and there could always be more efforts made to protect it (like making people use reef-safe sunscreen) but all in all snorkeling and diving there remains exciting.
A word of caution if you're thinking of bringing your drone. Don't. They're not allowed for tourists in Egypt and will be most likely be detected at Marsa Alam Airport, then kept in custom's storage and released to you for a moderate fee IF your return flight departs from the same airport you arrived at. You can thank me later ;-)
Read more
Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:Â The Royal Tents heat up during the day but are comfortable to sleep in at night. I didn't meet a...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 27 Nov 2024
Dear darnokg, Thank you for taking your time to write this review about Marsa Shagra. It is great to know that you had another memorable stay with us. Even though the place has grown over the years we are happy that you still feel the original vibe. We appreciate your note about the house reef. We are trying our best to preserving the reef in different ways as it is very important to us. Your tip about drones is really helpful and will certainly save future guests some trouble. We are looking forward to welcome you hopefully again soon in one of our villages. Best regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Obviously diver and snorkeler orientated this is a great place if that’s what you are looking for. Stay away if you want wild parties and jet skis as they don’t have either. Great house reefs and access to nearby reefs - elphinstone and abu dabab - by rib but not for the faint hearted or beginners. Good and plentiful food buffet style. Pizzas and steaks to order and beer available! My hut was perfectly adequate and cool but not en suite. Bed and pillows comfortable but all at higher prices than other similar resorts but the price does include diving and full board/soft drinks. Staff were generally helpful and all spoke some English and many spoke French and German. Of note were the dive guides Tareq and Ezz along with Nas who washed and hung my kit and even disinfected it at the end of the week. A great chilled experience I will repeat.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 11 Jul 2022
Dear markrjpayne, Thank you for your review about Marsa Shagra. We are very happy to read that you enjoyed all aspects of your stay and we will be sure to pass on your feedback to the team. We are aware that our prices are on the higher side in the area, but this is because of the lower number of rooms and guests we have in order to reduce our impact on the environment. Our number of guests is limited to the carrying capacity of our house reef. Once again we are glad you enjoyed your stay and we hope to see you again soon either at Marsa Shagra or one of our other locations.
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The hotel sent us transportation to be picked up from elgouna, check in was a breeze. The bungalows were lovely with their dome architecture. Indigenous plants everywhere blending in the architecture this is such a well thought out resort. Big size, clean, bathroom good size as well, good water pressure, comfy beds, A/C. The breakfast, lunch and dinner were a variety of different delicious dishes. There was even cake for tea time! The location is right by the reefs so all you have to do is grab your snorkeling gear and get into the water. We also did a snorkeling trip and saw tons of fish, manta rays, turtles, dolphins and soon to be extinct dugong. All in all a lovely place to stay. I just think they need to stress more the less usage of plastic bottles. They did have water dispensers scattered around the resort for guests to refill their bottles. Perhaps encourage a policy of using one bottle per person by giving each guest a bottle with hotel logo to use throughout the visit instead of supplying water bottles in the bedroom :-)
Read more
Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 11 Jul 2022
Dear Curly003, Thank you for taking the time to write a full review about your experience at Marsa Shagra. We are so glad you appreciated the setting and environment, and that you had some great marine life encounters during your snorkeling. We are looking at ways to encourage guests to use less plastic and the dispensers more so we appreciate your suggestion on that point and will look into it further. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The village is poorly constructed imposing health risks to guests. There is no common areas to protect yourself from the harsh weather of the location (extreme heat). There are only two common areas to stay during the day – the cafeteria and the lounge – and both only have an open roof pergola. The structure is precarious and because of that I had a severe heat illness (heatstroke) there. I had to move to safer hotel and receive medical treatment. Other than that, the village receptionist provides very bad service. When I arrived, I was treated very poorly by the unfriendly young blond lady, who barely answered my questions.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 3 Sept 2024
Dear Laiz, Thank you very much for taking time to share your experience at Marsa Shagra and we are sorry to read it didn’t meet your expectations. Our front office team confirmed that you received a full briefing from our receptionist on arrival and just raised one small issue with your room during your stay which was quickly rectified by our housekeeping team. The reception team followed up with you later to check that all was ok, which you confirmed. According to our records you left Marsa Shagra on your planned date of departure as booked through one of our online tour operators. We have a large outdoor shaded area with chairs, sun loungers and beanbags for relaxing on the beach, as well as sun loungers on the beach with parasols and windbreakers, plus our cafeteria area. All are built from solid wood with linen woven shades as represented in the photos on our listing on the online tour operator. It concerns us that you feel our construction is precarious so we would be very grateful if you can contact us directly with more details about your concerns so that we can understand more about the issues you faced, and ensure that other guests feel safe and enjoy their stay with us. Kind regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I would never stay here again. We picked Shagra specfically because we wanted to dive for a couple of days before joining a liveaboard dive boat. We almost missed the opportunity to dive completely due to poor/missing communication at check in. The guy at the equipment desk was just downright rude. The prices were outrageous!!! The extra fees for hyperbaric chambers and the environment might make sense if you're staying a week. They do not make sense if you're staying 2 nights and diving twice. Our room/board was pre-paid. We upgraded our room from a tent to a chalet, and did two dives (two people), with one equipment rental. It cost us $450 EXTRA (beyond the original room/board). Most expensive diving ever.
Read more
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 3 Jan 2024
Dear juliekAKUSA, Thank you for taking time to review Marsa Shagra and we are sorry that on this occasion we didn't meet your expectations. We are looking into what happened at your check-in, both at the reception and our equipment room, to see what happened and what can be improved in the welcome and communication to ensure things run more smoothly. We are also going to be communicating with your travel agency so that next time they can inform their clients better about our concept and our pricing when you book through them. Our diving pricing is based on unlimited house reef daily diving so most people find it very good value when completing two or more dives per day. We also ensure that our house reef diving, equipment rental and courses are priced competitively with other diving centers. Our deco fee is €7 per person and covers you for a treatment in the on-site decompression chamber if needed which we believe is very good value considering the cost of emergency treatment if needed. Our environmental fee of allows us to continue to invest in environmentally friendly practices, which are at the core of our concept - such as our new fully solar powered desalination plant, our farm which provides fruits and vegetables to our restaurants, our solar field, clean-ups, participating in research projects, investing in a local school and helping the local community and Bedouins. We would be very grateful if you could contact us directly if you would consider giving us another chance so that we can assist you better on the next occasion. Our team will be very happy to welcome you and help you get the most out of your experience. Best regards, Sarah O'Gorman
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Outstanding resort! Love the eco village concept. The staff here are exceptional- Mohamed at reception was incredible, he helped us locate our luggage that our airline lost, he went above and beyond to track it down and collect it from the airport, we are so grateful to him for this! The chefs are brilliant, food was always fab, and the pastry chef even asked my partner his favourite puddings and made these for him. Everything was very clean, we loved the royal tent and staff were very kind to carry our luggage to it, even in the heat. Diving here is amazing, we loved the house reef, diving four times a day here for a week and never got bored of it! We saw turtles pretty much every dive and even a dolphin. Very cute dogs and a cat who live at the resort too!
Read more
Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 14 Jul 2024
Dear Emma H, Thank you for taking your time to review you holiday wit us at Marsa Shagra. We are very happy that you had a fantastic vacation and that your luggage found its way to. We are pleased to read that our team was able to have a positive influence on your stay. We hope to welcome you back to one of our villages soon so that you can have more beautiful underwater encounters. Kind regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
It saddens me to say that my visit this time to Marsa Shagara was quiet disappointing. This was my 5th visit to Marsa Shagara, the first time was in 2016. This time, I initially booked 11 nights but I decided to leave on my 5th day and I won’t be going back again, and I don’t recommend this place.
The main two issues that made me cut my vacation and go somewhere else was the deterioration of services in the place - while keeping the prices as they are. The food used to be so much better, and the diving center management used to be engaged with customers to ensure they are having a good diving experience and check if they have any complaints, but that is no longer the case. The people who helped pairing me with divers (because I was alone) were the guys at the diving shade - they were really helpful.
I had 2 dives with an instructor who touched a Sawtoothed Feather Star to open it for the customer divers to watch, and picked a Cowrie during the dive. He also allowed snorkelers without life jackets - against the law of the national park we were in. He explicitly said in Arabic that he can disregard the rules of the national park if he wants, mentioning that he can’t say this in English because of the presence of foreigners.
Other two minor issues were; an unclean knife served inside the closed serving envelope, and the AC at my room made a huge noise that kept waking me up.
I didn’t take up these issues with management because in all honesty I didn’t feel the management at the diving center really cared about who is diving and who isn’t, and I didn’t approach the manager of Marsa Shagara because in 2018 he was “welcoming” me back by putting his hands on my hair, which I thought was inappropriate and decided to avoid him ever since.
It’s a shame that such a beautiful place with so much potential is being mismanaged, especially during this time when everyone needs work and the tourism sector needs a push. I do not recommend this place, especially for women traveling alone.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 6 Jul 2021
Dear Yarasallam, Thank you very much for taking time to write about your experience on Tripadvisor. I understand that one of the team has been in contact with you to speak to you personally about your experience and to get more details about your recent stay with us. We were very disappointed to read that you had not only one, but several incidents during your stay in Marsa Shagra which not only meant you did not enjoy your stay, but that led you to cut short your vacation. It is clear that there are some points that you mentioned which are absolutely unacceptable, such as the minibar, cleanliness issues, and finding cutlery inside a sealed envelope which was not completely clean. The operational managers have met together to ensure that these issues are addressed urgently, along with the a/c maintenance in the chalets. Aside from these facilities issues, I was also upset to understand from your review and your conversation with our team that you did not feel completely valued and comfortable on site. This is absolutely not our goal and we are proud to be known for our efforts to ensure our guests enjoy their stay and feel comfortable with our team, particularly trying to accommodate single travellers, male or female, and people from all nationalities, ages and profiles. The fact you did not feel this means we need to try harder in future to make sure this does not slip. We do have many single travellers, and female single travellers, and this is the first time we have received this feedback. In fact we have always been proud that female, single travellers return again and again because they know our staff and feel comfortable and safe with us. We will be looking at this to make sure this remains the case. We appreciate you raising this issue because it can be very sensitive. By you raising the issue that you didn’t encounter female staff on this trip we have become more aware of the fact that the female members of our team were all on vacation at the same time and we should avoid this happening in future. The points you raised about your trip to Dolphin House were particularly concerning, and we have spoken to the dive guide concerned. Any touching of any kind of marine life, and any violations of environmental rules are absolutely not tolerated and we will be taking measures to ensure the team is reminded about these rules. I know that at this time you do not want to return to Marsa Shagra, despite our reassurances that these issues will not happen again, however I would like to repeat that our offer for you to return in the future will continue to stand should you change your mind, and that also goes for our other villages too. We would really love a chance to prove that we have addressed the issues that you raised, and to offer you the experience we aim for our guests to have. Please contact George or myself directly if you decide you would like to return. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you again for raising these issues. All feedback, positive or negative, is extremely important to us. We have many positive reviews and return guests, but we do not always get everything right. For anyone who is considering visiting us we would always encourage our guests to raise any issues on site, in whichever way they feel comfortable, so that we have a chance to rectify them before check-out. Best regards, Sarah O'Gorman
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
My 11 year old wanted to learn to dive and since my wife and I hadn't dived in a long time took the opportunity to visit the red sea. No better place to learn. We arrived midnight Friday, grabbed some sleep in the gorgeous chalet and went for the 9am brief. We expected it to be about the resort, getting kit sorted, time table for the boys course and so on. We got the kit sorted then his instructor arrived and took him to immediately start the course promptly followed by another instructor taking us for our check dive. We were nervous parents seeing our boy disappear with a stranger to start an intense course. We needn't have worried Tarek was an amazing instructor and very friendly, he kept us well informed about his progress and expectations. He qualified as a junior open water diver on the Monday. Our instructor instilled confidence in us for our check dive. We had an amazing week. Every single member of staff from Ramadan collecting us at the airport to our departure driver dropping us off and everyone in between was so friendly and couldn't do enough to help. ie first meal we ordered cokes, every lunch and dinner there was instant cokes without asking. We had an issue with one dive, we gave management feed back which was greatly received and acted on that day. They do genuinely care what their guests think of their visit. We also got on very well with Mohamed in the souvenir shop. He is a great salesman and ambassador. Very helpful and welcoming. We even exchanged numbers to stay in touch with him and a couple of the other guys. Cant recommend this place enough for anyone wanting to learn or experienced divers alike, something for everyone. We will be back for the boy to do advanced open water.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Try and fly to Marsa Alam even if its via schipol as a 3 hour transfer from hurghada makes a very...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 6 Feb 2023
Dear divermckay, Thank you for taking the time to write a review about your experience at Marsa Shagra. We are very happy to read that you enjoyed your stay with us and the beauty of the Red Sea. We will be sure to pass on your feedback to the team. Congratulations to your son on becoming a junior open water diver! We hope to see you back again soon to continue your diving adventures. Best regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I dont know where to start, it was my first visit to shagra and i am very sad i havent been there all these past years. The location is amazing the staff are awesome and very very friendly, everyone’s first goal is for visitors to enjoy their stay and vacation. Everyone is always trying to help you from the people at the instrument office to the guys in the dive shade (mahmoud, lam3y and shika and all the others). Even the zodiac drivers are super nice and helful (selem, gelberto and all others). We did some awesome dives there at the long canyon and elphinstone and the house reef. Haytham, kareem, adel and abdelrahman all were very professional as dive guides. Basta was very helpful when it came to all the logistics and technicalities. Everyone was just very keen to make this stay memorable and delightful. We stayed at a royal tent first row by the sea. Very spacious and comfy. The food is spectacular and very diverse that ur always looking forward to the meals time. I would definitely recommend it to everyone and i am really looking forward to visiting again. I can’t forget to mention that we encountered 3 white tip sharks and a sea turtle at elphinstone and we also got to see a school of dolphins on the way back to the village. All in all it was super.
Read more
Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Redsea Divingsafari, Marketing at Marsa Shagra
Responded 20 Dec 2022
Dear salma eldabbah, Thank you very much for leaving us a full review for Marsa Shagra. We’re very happy to read that you enjoyed our dive sites with some beautiful encounters and the hotel service too. We will certainly pass on your comments to the team. We hope to see you again soon. Best regards, Flavia Barth
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Hi John I, yes we have unlimited unguided snorkeling on our extensive house reef directly from the beach. The reef forms a natural bay which protects you from the local north-south current which is anyway usually fairly gentle. Strong currents are not common at all and if the conditions are not considered safe then the team will advise you. You can also snorkel on the outer reef by using the zodiac service if you wish. Marine life is very diverse and the top of the reef is close to the surface, we also have some resident turtles as well as eels, rays, and all the usual Red Sea marine life and coral reef fish. We are sometimes lucky enough to be visited by dolphins as well. We offer excursions to other reefs and bays which you can sign up to in the diving center (as long as minimum numbers are met and weather conditions are fine). Sites such as Dolphin House and Abu Dabab are very popular for snorkeling.
Dear Melanie V,
If you access the booking form on our website (click 'Book Now') you can either fill in the form which will submit a request to our reservations team for direct booking, or you will see a list of partner travel agencies in your country (once you have selected your country of departure). Unfortunately we aren't allowed to post links here in our replies. I hope that helps and we look forward to welcoming you.
There are more places to choose from in the Marsa Alam area.
PRICE RANGE
â‚ą10,708 - â‚ą14,305 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
marsa shagra village hotel marsa alam
LOCATION
EgyptRed Sea and SinaiMarsa Alam
NUMBER OF ROOMS
129
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
