Level: Resort nearby
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Last updated on October 8, 2024
The Marsa Alam region is home to dozens of resorts with house reefs. Brayka Bay, between the marinas of Port Ghalib and Marsa Alam, offers access to a lovely, sheltered coral reef. It stands out from the surrounding resorts for its abundance of big fish such as snapper and grouper.
Brayka Bay is a small bay in the Marsa Alam region. It is entirely occupied by Brayka Resorts, a huge complex comprising several hotels, swimming pools and restaurants, as well as a diving center.
To access the reef, you need to stay at the resort.
The water entrance is either from the beach or from the jetty opposite the Royal Brayka Beach Resort. This option provides direct access to the southern reef.
Brayka Bay is narrow and steep-sided, with calm seas most of the time. Even if there’s wind or waves, one side of the reef (north or south) can usually be snorkeled.
In the absence of seagrass meadows (and therefore resident green turtles), the center of the bay is of little interest. What’s more, visibility close to the shore is often poor, and there’s an area marked by buoys reserved for boat moorings.
The north and south reefs are therefore the best areas to snorkel. Around the corals, whose condition varies according to location and depth, there is a high concentration of marine life.
Various species of fish can be encountered at Brayka Bay, both on the top of the reef (↕2-6 feet/0.5-2 meters) and the drop-off itself, and on the seabed at the foot of the drop-off (↕10-20 feet/3-6 meters).
Beyond the common reef species including angelfish, butterflyfish, surgeonfish, wrasse and clownfish, Brayka Bay surprises for its abundance of big fish. You might see schools of black and white snapper, two-spot red snapper or brown-marbled grouper, which can reach 47 inches/120 centimeters in length.
On the sandy beds at the foot of the reef, look out for Bluespotted Stingrays and Crocodilefish, which are occasionally seen here. From time to time, a Hawksbill turtle swims along the drop-off, before continuing its stroll out of the bay.
This spot is the house reef of Brayka Resorts, a large resort with a wide choice of restaurants.
These snorkeling spots are accessible to beginners and kids. You will enter the water gradually from a beach, or in a less than 3ft. deep area. The sea is generally calm, shallow, with almost no waves or currents. These spots are usually located in marked and/or monitored swimming areas. It is not necessary to swim long distances to discover the sea life. This level only apply when the spot experiences optimal sea and/or weather conditions. It is not applicable if the sea and/or weather conditions deteriorate, in particular in the presence of rough sea, rain, strong wind, unusual current, large tides, waves and/or swell. You can find more details about the definition of our snorkeling levels on our snorkeling safety page.
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Snorkeling spots are part of a wild environment and their aspect can be significantly altered by weather, seasons, sea conditions, human impact and climate events (storms, hurricanes, seawater-warming episodes…). The consequences can be an alteration of the seabed (coral bleaching, coral destruction, and invasive seagrass), a poor underwater visibility, or a decrease of the sea life present in the area. Snorkeling Report makes every effort to ensure that all the information displayed on this website is accurate and up-to-date, but no guarantee is given that the underwater visibility and seabed aspect will be exactly as described on this page the day you will snorkel the spot. If you recently snorkeled this area and noticed some changes compared to the information contained on this page, please contact us.
The data contained in this website is for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice. It is intended to provide snorkelers with the information that will enable them to engage in safe and enjoyable snorkeling, and it is not meant as a substitute for swim level, physical condition, experience, or local knowledge. Remember that all marine activities, including snorkeling, are potentially dangerous, and that you enter the water at your own risk. You must take an individual weather, sea conditions and hazards assessment before entering the water. If snorkeling conditions are degraded, postpone your snorkeling or select an alternate site. Know and obey local laws and regulations, including regulated areas, protected species, wildlife interaction and dive flag laws.
