It’s always difficult when going to a new country to provide a comparison review when different countries have different standards. We actually booked the 1st week direct with Booking but changed plans for week 2 and stayed at Neo, finding a price £300 cheaper through Tripadvisor 😅🙏
Starting with Marsa Alam itself
- It was built out of a desert, but if the surrounding resorts are typical then they have to ship sand in - so it is not a typical sand/beach holiday.
- It’s newer than Sharm and Hurgada and therefore less wear and tear.
- Currently resorts are spread out which is good. There are clusters…
- If you’re into snorkelling or scuba diving which is a reasonable percentage, then you need to be aware of the relatively higher winds that Marsa can experience which means piers can be closed and you can only swim from the beach.
- However the sea and the weather is good - the air temperature didn’t drop below 22 during the day and the sea temperatures probably not cooler than 23/24.
- Marsa is ideally situated if you want to combine with Valley of the Kings - which is 4-5 hrs away, or a trip down the Nile.
- Other than the resorts, and the international airport, there’s not much to do - Port Ghalib has a tourist market and restaurants next to the sea, you have to venture further afield where you’ll have transport costs - and Uber isn’t apparently operating in the area - no doubt as it’s somewhat isolated - when we did a Dolphin trip we saw only 1 town/village in the whole hours’ drive.
None of the above was any concern for us, except for the wind - which in December probably closed the pier for 40% of the time.
Now onto the resort
- Jaz Neo Reef is the smallest of the 4 Jaz resorts, but that suited us the best. We prefer not massive sprawling resorts - you get to know the staff, it’s a more intimate resort.
- You can use the facilities of other resorts but I think it depends on what and how busy it is. So for instance I think you can use the tennis courts, probably the pools etc
- There is a water park but that’s not included in Neo Reef - not sure whether it’s bundled in other resorts or not. Charge is €45 pp for the day.
- The staff are friendly, very attentive, and there’s more staff in this resort than we experienced in 2 other all inclusives we’ve stayed in (Turkey and Dominican Republic), so everything is very efficient.
- The food is good - in-line with other resorts we’ve stayed at. The Christmas Eve setup was very good - a massive tent, with drinks outside from 6pm and a huge selection of food once we were seated inside - it literally took 5+ minutes to record a video of it all - and there must have been 30+ chefs on each side as well as may staff attending tables etc
- There is an on-site team of entertainers - who organise games during the day, do stretching exercises, look after the kids in the children’s area, engage with everyone in different languages - especially single people, and also either perform evening shows or handle the music. Definitely the best entertainment we’ve experienced and the Xmas Eve shows were even longer and varied
- There’s an outside terrace, 2 pool tables, table tennis, darts, 3 pools, 3 outdoor bars, a snack bar, volleyball, a small gym, massage (extra), 2 sets of beach beds, a pétanque/ boules area, and a evening disco area.
- Rooms are a good size, with a terrace outside and partitions which isolate any wind. Quite a few guests seem to prefer staying here so the choice is good. They’re built in such a way that they keep cool during the day and overnight.
- For us the jewel of the Neo Reef resort is the lagoon. In fact it runs from the neighbouring resort all the way to Coraya bay but Neo has the main access. Even when the piers are closed, the lagoon is accessible and although you have to be careful with the tides (otherwise it is very shallow) the visibility is amazing and the marine life inside is really good. Not the same shoal sizes, but you can get a lot closer as it’s never deeper than 1.5m at high tide and the only marine life we didn’t see in the lagoon were larger rays, sharks, turtles and dolphins. We saw everything else in crystal clear clarity
- We did try Coraya bay from 2 shore locations but the best snorkelling is from the pier so unless you want a long swim…
- Both Coraya bay and Neo have piers - it’s probably a 10 minute walk from Neo to the end of the pier at Coraya bay but it’s definitely worth it if you can - the shoals of fish are larger than Neo, although some areas are a little narrow and can be a little crowded especially when people do not make the effort to check around them while snorkelling. Neo reef is longer, and deeper, acting as the break which forms the lagoon and therefore running the whole length of the lagoon. Both piers have lifeguards. Coraya has boats for scuba which is good because I’m not convinced of the benefits in December of scuba from Neo - I’m not sure you see significantly more and we couldn’t see any other reef in close proximity.
- The gardens and grass lawns are kept immaculate by the grounds staff, and given you’re in a desert is quite amazing.
- I forgot to mention earlier, the rooms have solar generated water, which means the showers are hotter than you can bear and the pressure is very good.
- The only 2 areas for improvement would be the wifi and the room safe. We sometimes had to use a vpn on the fire stick and that could result in stuttering on action sequences. You might also need a vpn on your phone for some sites, as there are a few restrictions in place. Finally, perhaps due to the wind, but the signal can be a little weak in some locations.
- The room safe can take passports and phones but it won’t take an iPad size device of larger.
Overall for us, the resort was very good and in fact we cancelled a week at another resort at Abu Dabbab over concerns that the snorkeling would be hit and miss. Our main attraction was the snorkelling - and the lagoon was brilliant and even when the piers were open we still managed time in the lagoon as well as from the piers. The lack of sand in the lagoon and the surroundings meant visibility was excellent - yet didn’t cause any impact on the beach itself - there was enough “imported sand” to make it pleasant. For the lagoon using water shoes was great, for the reefs we will consider half flippers next time. A combination of warm sunshine and sea meant we could spend a lot of time snorkelling and yet our stuff would dry quickly outside the water. Price wise for mid December to just after Xmas it cost us the same as Turkey in late November and DR in September so good value.
If you’re interested, Gemini Ai (and no doubt the others) has a very interesting insight into the logistics around a resort in the desert, the challenges of making a reasonable profit which ensures the resorts stay open when you’re somewhat isolated from normal facilities and have to be heavily self-sufficient
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