SeaLog
Certification required
OW
Marsa Mourain
Egypt · reef · beginner
0–25 mbeginnerOWshore entry
Marsa Mourain
A wide sandy bay with a narrow mouth, two coral flanks and a seagrass patch in the middle where green turtles feed.
Max depth0–25 m
Required levelbeginner
Entry typeshore
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Marsa Mourain is one bay under several spellings. Marsa Alam operators write it Marsa Murain, Marsa Murena or Marsa Morena, and they are all the same inlet, sitting on the coast roughly 15 to 18 km south of Port Ghalib. It is a spacious bay with a sandy bottom and a comparatively narrow entrance, and that entrance is the whole weather story: with any sea running it is not a place to be, and both operator and directory descriptions say plainly that it is best dived when conditions are good.
Inside, the bay is flanked by a northern and a southern reef carrying hard and soft corals over rock formations, with small canyons you can drop into, and the diving is characterised as shallow, cavern and macro work rather than wall diving. The maximum given is 25 m and the current is rated low, which makes it an easy shore dive open to any certification. The feature that distinguishes it from every other sandy marsa on this coast is in the middle: a small area of seagrass sloping down the bay floor, where giant green turtles come to feed and where, according to the centre that runs the site, a dugong can occasionally turn up. The OBIS record around the pin carries a dugong sighting and an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin among otherwise thin, mostly single-record reef fish, which fits a bay that is visited rather than lived in.
The bay also anchors a small group of offshore reefs that dive centres run from it by boat or zodiac: Torfet Badawia, a small lagoon north of the bay reached by boat, with overhangs and whip corals; Shaab Tarabesa, whose marker is a large table coral on a pinnacle at 12 m; and Shaab Bohar, named for the schools of bohar snapper over its pinnacles. Those are separate dives from the bay itself and are the reason Marsa Mourain appears in day-diving programmes at all; the bay is the shore dive and the shelter, the reefs are the reason a boat comes.
- Seagrass patch mid-bay where giant green turtles feed, with occasional dugong
- Northern and southern reefs with hard and soft corals over rock and small canyons
- Easy sandy shore entry into a sheltered bay
- Shaab Tarabesa's large table coral on a pinnacle at 12 m, offshore by boat
- Bohar snapper schooling over the pinnacles at Shaab Bohar
Please note before you go
- Narrow bay entrance that makes entry and exit difficult in any sea
- Seagrass in the middle of the bay is a turtle feeding area, so it is the part to give room to rather than swim over
- Small canyons in the flanking reefs are overhead however brief
- Boat and zodiac traffic between the bay and the outer reefs
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Shore entry into the bay, normally reached as a half-day excursion by road from a Marsa Alam centre; SeaHorse Diving Club sells it that way with transfers, refreshments and tanks included, at about €80 for two certified dives, €60 for an introductory dive and €30 for snorkelling, with equipment rental separate. The outer reefs associated with the bay, Torfet Badawia, Shaab Tarabesa and Shaab Bohar, are boat or zodiac dives rather than shore ones.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
No source gives a month range for this bay. What governs it is sea state rather than season: the entrance is narrow and both the operator and the dive-log directory say the site is only accessible or worth diving in good weather, so a settled forecast matters more here than the time of year.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentlight
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range0–25 m
Environmentreef
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsnot sourced
A shallow, sheltered, sandy bay with low current and easy shore entry, dived at 25 m or less. Calm inside on a good day; the narrow entrance means the site effectively closes when there is any real sea running.
On current: Current is rated low by the operator and limited to none by the dive-log directory, and nothing here is dived as a drift. The constraint is the bay mouth rather than the water inside it: the entrance is narrow and both sources say the site is only worth diving when the weather is good, so a marginal day turns an easy shore entry into hard work and can close the bay outright.
Questions & answers
Is Marsa Mourain the same place as Marsa Murain, Marsa Murena or Marsa Morena?
Yes. They are spelling variants of one bay on the coast roughly 15 to 18 km south of Port Ghalib, and Marsa Alam dive centres use them interchangeably. Emperor Divers files the offshore reefs Torfet Badawia, Shaab Tarabesa and Shaab Bohar under Marsa Morena, while SeaHorse Diving Club writes the bay itself as Marsa Murain. There is one dive site here, not several.
How deep is Marsa Mourain?
The maximum given for the bay is 25 m, and both the operator that runs it and the dive-log directory agree on that figure. The bay floor is sand and slopes gently, and the diving inside is described as shallow, cavern and macro work rather than anything deep. The offshore reefs run from here are separate dives with their own profiles.
Can you shore dive Marsa Mourain?
Yes, the bay is a shore dive with a sandy entry, and that is how centres normally run it, as a half-day excursion by road with transfers, tanks and refreshments included. The catch is the bay's narrow entrance: with sea running, entry and exit get hard and the site is effectively closed, so this is one to book against a settled forecast.
Can you see turtles or dugongs at Marsa Mourain?
Green turtles, yes, and they are the reason to come: there is a small area of seagrass sloping down in the middle of the bay where giant green turtles feed. Dugong is a genuine possibility rather than an expectation. The centre that runs the site says one can sometimes visit the seagrass, and the OBIS record around this pin carries a dugong sighting. Give any feeding animal room and stay off the seagrass.
Is Marsa Mourain good for beginners?
Yes. It is rated easy and open to all certifications, the current is low, the entry is off sand and the maximum is 25 m, and centres run introductory dives here for people who have never dived before. The only real demand it makes is on the weather, because the narrow bay mouth turns an easy entry into an awkward one as soon as there is sea.
Can you snorkel at Marsa Mourain?
Yes, in good conditions, and it is one of the better snorkels on this stretch because the seagrass where the turtles feed sits mid-bay at snorkelling depth rather than out on a wall. Both the operator and the dive-site directory list snorkelling here, and the operator sells it as a half-day trip. Stay on the surface over the seagrass rather than diving down onto feeding animals.
What are Torfet Badawia, Shaab Tarabesa and Shaab Bohar?
They are the three offshore reefs dive centres run from this bay, and they are boat or zodiac dives rather than part of the shore dive. Torfet Badawia is a small lagoon north of the bay with overhangs and whip corals, usually done as a boat drop with a zodiac pickup. Shaab Tarabesa is marked by a large table coral on a pinnacle at 12 m. Shaab Bohar takes its name from the schools of bohar snapper over its pinnacles.
Is there current at Marsa Mourain?
Very little. The operator rates the current low and the dive-log directory records it as limited to none, and nobody dives the bay as a drift. What actually varies here is surface conditions rather than current, because the bay's narrow entrance means swell rather than flow is what makes or breaks the day.
Life recorded at Marsa Mourain
49 species within 1.5 km · OBISTaeniura lymmarare · 2 recordsDugong dugonrare · 1 recordsGymnothorax javanicusrare · 1 records
Pseudanthias squamipinnisrare · 4 records
Pycnochromis dimidiatusrare · 3 records
Pterois milesrare · 2 records
All 49 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Pseudanthias squamipinnis | rare | 4 |
| Pycnochromis dimidiatus | rare | 3 |
| Pterois miles | rare | 2 |
| Bodianus anthioides | rare | 2 |
| Amblyglyphidodon flavilatus | rare | 2 |
| Taeniura lymma | rare | 2 |
| Halichoeres hortulanus | rare | 2 |
| Amphiprion bicinctus | rare | 2 |
| Amblyglyphidodon indicus | rare | 2 |
| Millepora dichotoma | rare | 2 |
| Coenobita scaevola | rare | 1 |
| Diodon hystrix | rare | 1 |
| Dugong dugon | rare | 1 |
| Flavocaranx bajad | rare | 1 |
| Gymnothorax javanicus | rare | 1 |
| Hipposcarus harid | rare | 1 |
| Lutjanus ehrenbergii | rare | 1 |
| Mulloidichthys vanicolensis | rare | 1 |
| Myripristis murdjan | rare | 1 |
| Naso elegans | rare | 1 |
| Naso unicornis | rare | 1 |
| Octopus cyanea | rare | 1 |
| Paracirrhites forsteri | rare | 1 |
| Parupeneus forsskali | rare | 1 |
| Pomacentrus sulfureus | rare | 1 |
| Priacanthus hamrur | rare | 1 |
| Ptereleotris evides | rare | 1 |
| Pygoplites diacanthus | rare | 1 |
| Sargocentron caudimaculatum | rare | 1 |
| Scarus niger | rare | 1 |
| Scarus psittacus | rare | 1 |
| Sufflamen albicaudatum | rare | 1 |
| Thelenota ananas | rare | 1 |
| Tursiops aduncus | rare | 1 |
| Acanthurus sohal | rare | 1 |
| Cephalopholis hemistiktos | rare | 1 |
| Chromis flavaxilla | rare | 1 |
| Papilloculiceps longiceps | rare | 1 |
| Nerita sanguinolenta | rare | 1 |
| Tridacna maxima | rare | 1 |
| Amblyeleotris steinitzi | rare | 1 |
| Bryaninops natans | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon auriga | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon austriacus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon fasciatus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon melannotus | rare | 1 |
| Chaetodon semilarvatus | rare | 1 |
| Chlorurus sordidus | rare | 1 |
| Chromis viridis | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Port Ghalib
Explore all sitesHalg El Shouni1.0 km
Port GhalibA narrow inlet you enter through a pool in the back reef, then a channel and a tunnel, onto walls that run north and south outside.
Abu Dabour2.3 km
Marsa AlamA shore dive on the far north end of the Marsa Alam coast with a short canyon and a floor that keeps going to 60 m.
Marsa Shoni Bay2.6 km
Port GhalibA sandy bay you walk into, with a reef arm to the north and one to the south and a coral ridge out at about 20 m.
Ras EL Torfa - Abu Siyal4.0 km
Port GhalibA bay with a shallow coral garden on its north side and a wall on its south, joined by a hole in the reef top that leads out through a short tunnel to the open sea.
Tulip Resort House Reef4.9 km
Port GhalibA fringing reef edge reached by walking 700 m out over the lagoon on a pontoon, then climbing down a ladder onto the drop-off.
Marsa Abu Dabab7.3 km
Marsa AlamThe seagrass bay with the green turtles, the rare dugong and an entry ticket - shore diving 34 km north of Marsa Alam.
Been here? Log it.
SeaLog imports your dives from your dive computer or Apple Watch, tracks every animal you see, and keeps your logbook safe forever.
Download SeaLog