Is it safe to swim near the reef in Egypt and what should you know before entering the water?

Even entering via the pontoon, swimming without goggles makes it easy to miss protruding coral; it's recommended to also wear water shoes or fins to avoid cuts.

Danger isn't limited to the reef itself: even sandy shallow areas can hide coral fragments, small stingrays, shells, and sea urchins washed off the reef, so water shoes are recommended everywhere, including the kids' shallow pool — in summer the paths and seabed also get hot and rough.

Near the left border of the beach (toward the paid El Fanar beach), stonefish and stingrays hide in the sand, along with poisonous pufferfish and surgeonfish.

This sea zone often has underwater currents strong enough to carry a swimmer far from shore, so caution is needed even for experienced snorkelers or divers.

At low tide, entering the water and swimming become much more dangerous: the water above the reef gets very shallow, so you can land on the coral, get badly cut, or damage the reef itself. Sharp rocks, dead coral, algae, and silt may also be exposed, so for adults it is generally unsafe and impractical to swim then; low tide is mainly useful only for very shallow warm paddling pools near shore for very small children.

The reef is popular with divers and snorkelers and gets rave reviews, but it's not the safest spot — only recommended for confident swimmers.

At high tide, adults can swim along the shore even with a float ring. The safest entry point is near the pontoon, where the bottom is sandy.

Near the pier, dead coral deposits make the bottom very slippery — water shoes are a must. Children who like to crawl or lie in the water may still scrape their knees even with shoes, as coral starts close to shore.