Snorkelling at Sha’ab Samadai

If there is one trip I would urge you to book onto it would be the Sha’ab Samadai Dolphin House reef in Marsa Alam, Egypt.

After a 45-minute transfer to the Hamata port we boarded a spacious modern day boat and off we sailed south for two hours passing only a couple of diving boats on the horizon.

Despite our best efforts to persuade the organisers, TGI Divers, to allow us to dive with full scuba gear we were only allowed to snorkel but this proved advantageous.

Once the boat moored in a shallow turquoise lagoon half the guests boarded the zodiac and almost immediately spotted a pod of around 60 dolphins. With a backwards roll and a quick fin out we were among them…

A couple of juvenile spinner dolphins were being kept in tow by their mothers, while all the dolphins in the pod took it in turns to duck and dive before gracefully breaking the surface to breathe. At one point one was just half a metre below me and Stuart, who was tactically trying to predict their direction finned off frantically in another direction, armed with his camera and red mask visible from a distance, ended up among them.

When we could no longer keep up we all rushed back onto the zodiac, which sped off to another pod. This happened four times and at one point there was just Stuart and I and an Italian lady snorkelling with them for about 15 minutes. Our group of 20 had become a group of three – and the others were nowhere to be seen!

The dolphins were settled with us being in such close proximity as they could have easily swam off with the thrust of a tail fin flick or two. They, in stark contrast to us, gracefully and easily glided through the water column while we desperately finned to keep up!

After quite some time they decided to go it alone into the deep blue. Our time was up.

Had we dived in scuba gear we would probably only have seen the large mammals for a matter of moments. Dive trips are arranged for this site. Dives are carried out near the pinnacles in the south west of the horseshoe, which is shallower and easy to navigate. The outer reef where the wall descends to 20m from where it disappears is great for drift dives. There is also a cave system.

This is a protected dolphin sanctuary and access is managed to protect the dolphins – boat numbers are restricted and they must obey strict guidelines on moorings.

Back on the boat we enjoyed a tasty lunch made from the confines of the galley before being given a guided snorkel of the reef. Around the inner reef of the lagoon there was a lot of towering table and salad coral with small fish hovering above the brightly coloured pristine clumps. Clownfish were also in abundance guarding their red anemone homes and we also saw a handful of large titan triggerfish and a blue spotted ray, which hid under the coral as our guide duck dived down to it.

A truly marvellous trip and one of my ‘diving’ highlights. The trip costs £75 per person, which is expensive for a snorkelling trip but worth every pound! If asked whether or not I would do it again I wouldn’t hesitate!