About 135 km south of Qusayr, Mersa Alam has several rest houses such as the Egyptian Shooting Club, and is rich with marine life and therefore very suitable for diving and fishing. It is connected to Edfu by a paved desert road, 280 km long. Mersa Alam is quickly turning into much more than the quaint fishing village many modern travel guides make it out to be. Set on Egypt's Red Sea Coast 132 km (82 m) from Al Qusair, it is home to a brand new international airport, plus quite a few additional tourism projects that are in the works. All this, combined with the several new hotels you will find there, clearly makes Mersa Alam much more than just another fishing village.

During the Greek period, Ptolemy II built a road all the way from Edfu to the Red Sea. It ran some 230 km (142 m) before finally intersecting the Red Sea coast road. Along the way it passed through what is now a historic landscape where much of early Egypt's gold was mined. It's still in use today.

Gold is still being mined in the Mersa Alam area. In fact, the two main communities in the region probably owe their existence to man's lust for gold. Just off the road lies Wadi Barmiya, where several gold mining operations take place, and approximately 30 kilometers further into the mountains is Wadi Miya, home to a temple built by Seti I.

In addition, a wealth of rock inscriptions from as early as the pre-dynastic period may also be found along this route near Marsa Alam. The smooth rock faces were an ideal canvas for ancient graffiti, which dates from the earliest times right up until the present. This ancient graffiti depicts animals including giraffes and cattle, and also includes hunting scenes, such as an ostrich hunt with dogs. Unfortunately, with the expansion of this road, many if not all of these inscriptions will be lost soon.

While this road in ancient times was used for the gold mining trade, archaeologists believe its main use was as a trade route between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, where an important ancient port was located.

Today, Mersa Alam remains a fairly small tourist town, but there is considerable development underway. The airport is actually part of a larger project designed to create a state-of-the-art resort area in Port Ghaleb, including both a 1,000-berth marina and port, with a dockside harbor, yacht club, and spa, along with a highly animated town center and a corniche around the marina area.

On the corniche there will be shops, galleries, boutiques, restaurants and bistros, nightclubs, discos, and a casino. In addition, there will be a conference center and festival hall, along with a combined desert and a golf course.

The private marina will not only be the largest in the Middle East but also an international sea-gateway for yachts to visit Egypt.

Only a short time ago, it would seem that most of the accommodations here were tent camps, but even now, many new and fine hotels have been built. However, for the moment the primary reason to visit the mainland Red Sea community is for the snorkeling and diving.

This whole coastline is one huge reef of exceptional quality with new dive sites being discovered all the time. Dive sites such as Elphinstone (famous for its Hammerheads) and Dolphin Reef, previously only accessible to southern Red Sea live-aboards, can now be dived by day boats from Mersa Alam Egypt.

The primary dive sites in Mersa Alam include:

Elphinstone Reef With sheer walls plunging down to over 70 meters, Elphinstone Reef is the mythic dive site of the south. The walls plunge deep into the blue - richly decorated with soft, bright pink, red, white, and brown corals, sponges, gorgonians, and fans. Pelagic and Wrasse may also be seen. The northern plateau is home to schooling Hammerheads with frequent sightings of oceanic gray, White-tip Sharks, along with Barracuda, numerous big Jacks, and even Tuna.

Shaab Mersa Alam A large reef in front of the last southern civilian town on the Egyptian coastline. Coral gardens have formed near huge coral blocks, "pyrites," and there are shoals of Banners, Goatfish, Snappers and Jacks.

Shaab Samadai A horseshoe shaped reef, which creates a shallow turquoise water lagoon where a large herd of Spinner Dolphins live permanently. Others often show up around noon for a rest and to teach their babies how to hunt. Several dives are found on its outer walls. The western tip provides a large group of pinnacles rising to the surface from a carpet of sea grass, populated by schools of reef fish.

Daedalus Reef A huge round reef with a lighthouse more than 40 miles away from the coast features an excellent opportunity for spotting big pelagic all around its steep walls with an extreme variety of fish and coral. Strong currents are possible.

Shaab Sharm (Gota Sharm) A big reef with big walls, Hammerhead and Grey Reef Sharks in summer, Malabar Grouper, Barracudas, and schooling reef fish the rest of the year. Also present are currents, soft corals, and giant fans.

Abu Galawa On "Fury Shoal" Group This reef has a good hard coral garden on the north side, and a wreck of an old tugboat fully covered with corals leaning on a pinnacle on the south side.

Shaab Mansour (Shaab Maksur) Good dives on both north and south plateaus with strong currents, which favor the growth of all types of corals, including black, soft, and fans. Sharks, Napoleon, and Tuna thrive here.

Sataya (Dolphin Reef) Also named "Dolphin Reef," this is a huge barrier reef that offers a sheltered inner lagoon and shear walls on the outside - schooling Hammerhead, large Tuna, and Jacks.

Zabargat (Zabargad) Imagine an enormous mountain coming out of the water, surrounded by a lagoon and circling reef including a couple of wrecks, and some decent diving with a great variety of both corals and reef fish. Most likely, ancient Egyptians mined this island for precious stones.

Rocky Island As a tiny rock emerging a few feet out of the water, it offers one of the most incredible underwater scenarios of the whole Red Sea. Steep walls falling into the deep blue, currents, soft corals, a great abundance of Pelagic, and all kinds of fish.