Blue Vision Diving Hotel — Hotel in Marsa Alam City

We stayed for 5 days and did some diving with the hotel owner who’s also a diving instructor.

We liked the hospitality of the hotel staff. They were very polite and tried their best to accommodate our every request. However, the room had many issues. First, the bathroom ventilator was broken and the water trap had a foul smell so the bathroom always smelled terrible. Moreover, the toilet shakes when you sit on it and some of the towels looked dirty. Lastly, the fridge was broken but they replaced it upon our request. After chatting with our next door neighbours, it turned out their room suffered from a broken fridge and a smelly toilet as well.

The hotel restaurant’s food was below average in general and the bread was often dry but their sea food lunch was really nice and we’d recommend it. We were also grateful that they accommodated our request for an Egyptian style scrambled egg for one breakfast.

As for diving, the hotel owner gave us some good diving tips but we were quite unsatisfied with the dive sites he chose. We dived for three days with two dives per day but both dives were always at the same spot and were always shore dives. The dive sites were similar to average sites in other dive locations in the Red Sea but for a higher price. Lastly, the equipment was in a bad condition and often leaked some air.

We wouldn’t recommend Marsa Alam for diving except if you do a live-aboard. Diving sites from the shore are average and the city feels like an abandoned ghost town or a construction site with many half built buildings and nothing going on.

One thing we’d caution against is getting the hotel owner to arrange outside services for you as he marks up the price. The first incident was the transport from the airport to the hotel. The owner asked for 35 Euros but a quick search online and we got two offers. One for 23 euro and the other for 750EGP. We went for the later and it was a perfect ride.

The second incident was our transport to Luxor. We had arranged for a driver with a sedan car that leaves at our chosen time for 3000 EGP. Upon hearing this, the owner told us that it’s not safe to travel with just one car as the road has no phone coverage and a couple of people recently got shot by illegal miners. Instead, he suggested the safe way is to leave with a tourist convoy protected by the police. His offer was 4300 (300 goes to the owner) for a limousine car but we had to leave at 4 AM. We trusted him (despite other foreign female travellers confirming they used the normal route safely) cause he said that’s the way he’d trust for his wife and kids. At 4 AM, we were greeted by a van which is not as comfortable as a sedan car as the van’s engine is normally very strong and noisy and you can feel it’s vibrations through your body the whole long journey (I had to explain this point as it wasn’t clear to the owner). Furthermore, the van was gonna take us to Luxor from the same secluded road and without any tourist convoy. Having no ability to arrange another transport on a short notice, we had no choice but to proceed with that. Upon reaching, we informed the owner and he wasn’t even apologetic. So in the end we paid higher price for nothing and used a less comfortable transport at an inconvenient time and no “protection”as promised. Please be cautious if getting his help to...

I contacted Mohamed on whatsapp. He answered all my questions about the hotel and diving, gave me all the necessary information. When we arrived from Hurghada Nesreen and Vivien and the young boy (we call him Mr.Muscle, he is skinny but strong ☺) welcomed us with big smiles. Our room was big and clean. Balcony was great to enjoy the sunset and pool view. Hot water was available. There was fridge in the room. (Fridge was a bit noisy at times but i just pulled the plug at night and plugged it back in the morning 🤣) Breakfast was enough for "before a dive"; local bread, cheese, eggs, jam and fruits, tea, coffee. Location of the hotel is good, close to the markets and restaurants. We were very happy with our stay especially the good vibe of the hotel and of the staff. Thank you Mohamed and his team. We had 2days/4dives from the shore. We wanted shore dives because the weather was not very good for boat and we wanted to look for dugongs. I am an instructor and been to different places in the world, this was the best operation i've seen. Very well organized in all aspects, very safe, also fun. There is a dive office in the hotel. We were given boxes for our equipment. (We had our own equipment but the rentals i've seen in the office were also in good shape) Ahmed was always available on whatsapp for information and answers. Our dive guide, Seyf met us right on time, did all the necessary paperwork and dive briefings in the dive center in the hotel. Then our equipment was put in a truck, tanks and other technical stuff was also in the truck. There was a 3 people team for the truck. We were taken to site by a minivan, a driver and our guide was in the minivan. When we arrived at the site everything was prepared for us in a very short time, including our Nitrox tanks and analyzers and adaptor for my int regulator. Staff was friendly and helpful, Seyf was professional. Dives were really relaxing and slow. There was no rush. Seyf was attentive to us but didn't badger on anything. He was already slow, even slower when i was taking photos. He knew we wanted to look for dugongs and he planned a part of the dive to spend time where we are most likely to find dugongs. Big thanks to Ahmed, Seyf and the rest of the team. Mohamed also arranged our transfer from Marsa Alam to Luxor. The transfer he arranged was really good; nice big, clean car and a friendly driver, Eid. Thanks for that too Mohamed.

We were really happy with all aspects of our visit to Marsa Alam; hotel, dive center, food, transfers. We would certainly stay in and dive with Blue Vision next time. Thanks a lot...

I booked the hotel through another website because I wasn’t sure how safe it would be to come to Egypt as a woman alone, I wasn’t able to find much information from solo women travellers which is why I mention it. I spoke to the owner of the hotel via WhatsApp and he was very kind and prompt with his replies, he provided all the information I needed before I arrived. I booked a cab through him for the transfer and it was again prompt and I felt safe with the driver. Upon arrival I was greeted by the owner Mohammed who settled me in, spoke to me for a while about the things to do and made me feel very welcome.

The hotel itself is in a quiet area which is perfect if you’re looking for a rejuvenating and relaxing holiday, situated inside the hotel is a diving centre which takes care of all your diving, snorkelling and beach needs. The staff there are amazing and helpful and always in a good mood smiling and having fun and making you feel involved.

The amenities at the hotel are everything you’d need for your stay, the pool and public areas are always maintained and clean, the breakfast is delicious, the staff are brilliant and helpful and again very friendly. At no point did I feel unsafe. The room was very comfortable, the bed and bedding was perfect to relax, there was AC and a fridge and wardrobes.

Locationwise there’s plenty of restaurants and shops around that stay open till late at night. There’s a stable nearby if that’s your thing and some shops to buy souvenirs. As a girl I felt very safe walking the streets in the day and at night, the people either are very kind and friendly or they don’t pay you much attention which is perfect. Almost everyone speaks English so that’s not a worry.

I hope to come back to Blue Vision...