Egypt Guide
Alexandria and the Mediterranean coast
The Mediterranean coast
Egypt's five-hundred-kilometre-long Mediterranean coast (known as Al-Sahel) has beautiful beaches and sparkling sea all the way to Libya. However, many stretches are still mined from World War II or off-limites due to military bases, or simply hard to reach - while all the most accessible sites have been colonized by holiday villages. While the beach scene here may lack the atmosphere and the coral reefs found in the Red Sea, the Med is great for wreck-diving, with numerous warships and submarines to explore without the scrum of divers that you get at wrecks off Sinai.
Most foreign travellers heading this way aim for Siwa oasis rather than the staid resort town of Mersa Matrouh. Aside from the beaches near Matrouh, other coastal sites are awkward to reach (or leave) without private transport, though you may consider it worth making the effort to get to the World War II battlefield of El-Alamein, which is also withion taxi range of several luxurious beach hotels.