Abu Dabbab

Abu Dabbab's wide, calm bay grows the northern Red Sea's best-known seagrass pasture, and pasture attracts grazers: green turtles of remarkable size feed here daily, trailing remoras like staff, and a small number of dugongs work the same meadows on their own unhurried schedule. A dugong sighting is a matter of luck and patience - some weeks they graze in front of everyone, some weeks not at all - but the turtles are near-certain, and the seagrass itself repays slow attention with guitar-shaped rays, flounders, and seahorse rumors. The flanking reef arms give the second half of the dive structure and color. It is shallow, warm, and gentle: family diving in the best sense, provided the crowd behaves.

The moment you come for: Grazing green turtles at close range; the chance of a dugong; effortless shore logistics.

Topography: Seagrass meadows over sand between two fringing reef arms

Entry: Sandy beach entry into a broad bay; guides walk groups out over the shallows to the seagrass meadows.

Hazards: Snorkeler and diver congestion over the meadows; midday sun on the long shallow swims.

Conservation: Give the dugongs room and never block a turtle's path to the surface; crowding pressure on the grazers is this bay's main threat.