Средненько mediocre

We stayed for 10 days in September. What to say? - If you are a snorkeler like me, this is not the place for you!!!
Sea: out of 10 days, the white flag was seen for 3 days (though only before lunch, then it was red at best), the red flag was also seen for 3-4 days, and the rest of the time the black flag dominated. Often it would be possible for the lifeguard Mustafa to hang out a red flag, but it’s a bummer - he has to sit on a pontoon and look after the tourists, and the black flag at sea is a holiday for the rescuers, i. e. day off. I note that the ladder from the pontoon is equipped with a winch and, when the black flag, it is raised and even if you are an excellent swimmer, horseradish will fall into the sea. We went to Madinat Koraya - swam in their bay, but also little joy - muddy water, bad visibility, a lot of jellyfish and a lot of people. I read reviews that the guards are not allowed into the territory of the madinat, but we saw these same guards a couple of times and only on the way back (we went before and after lunch). Orange bracelets do not attract attention, since one of the hotels in Madinat also has orange bracelets. So we swam every day. We saw a couple of times a huge moray eel about a meter and a half, a turtle with a shell diameter of a meter, an octopus (I liked it the most) and a bunch of fish, stingrays and crocodile fish. There are many living creatures, but the corals are faded.
Hotel: the room was ok (1012), good double bed with great mattress, noisy air con and powerful fridge. Good bedding - no pilling, super stains on 50% of the surface, etc. was not observed. Antediluvian TV, about 30 channels, 2 Russian. The bathroom is so-so, however, confused by the shuffled and not very clean toilet bowl... On the territory there is a diesel engine working for 2 hotels and a sewage treatment plant - it stinks! I especially smiled that 5 * hotel buildings are being built 50-70 meters away : -) Someone will be lucky to live in them! The territory itself is ordinary, three pools, one of which, like, a fountain, two are swimming, not very clean... The beach is normal, on the territory, like, a football field, they found a rusty blade, so then they didn’t wander barefoot anywhere - it was scary .

Food: here I strained... Everything is more than monotonous, but edible. I was surprised by the pastries - they didn’t give the impression of being fresh (maybe they teleported us what they didn’t eat at 5 *? ), The only exception is croissants and baklava. Cakes... Well, I don’t know, I baked such cakes at the beginning of my culinary career - slimy, not risen, dull in a word, at best decorated with fruits, but mostly with aerosol cream... Fruits: we saw only unripe guava or rotten guava, normal, probably, went to 5 *, weathered and rather tired of life oranges, evergreen melon, only dates and watermelons were tasty. There were no more fruits. The fish and rice were delicious (I don’t eat meat), mashed potatoes and, like, fried, were tolerable. Vegetables are so-so, tomatoes are rather tired. But everything was spoiled by the water with which these vegetables were washed - it gave its own unique taste and aroma, which made you want to puke... But in general, as they say, you will not be hungry. One huge minus - the last three days there was an upset stomach...
Attendants: reception, waiters - no complaints, beach workers - do not want to work, cooks - lack skills, cleaner - normal, they left euros every day, so, in principle, cleaned tolerably, but without swans, only once twisted macaques and hung on lamps.
Internet: 4€ for 30 minutes in internet cafe.
Infrastructure: OK for Marsa Alam. Across the road there are shops, a pharmacy. Bought 100% juice without sugar - awesome! I advise everyone! The price, however, is 2.5 €, but it is worth it - I have not tried this in my homeland (for such money! ). Souvenirs were not purchased.
Excursions: riding ATVs with the local Oscar - a trip 35-40 km long, but if you like speed, it will disappoint you, like us - this measured buzzing through the desert at a speed of 25 km / h... Sadly... There was also Hamata - we did not see any difference with the local reefs - maybe the corals are a little more magnificent, but the living creatures are the same or even less. Only in vain did we spend 6 hours round trip on the bus.
Guide: Karim from Pegasus, they saw once on the trips, he strongly intimidated them not to take excursions on the side, that if they check you and see that you are not with a tour operator, then that's it - they will no longer be allowed into the country. Bullshit! Didn't listen : -)
Animation: 4 Italians - 2 guys, 2 girls. During the day there were all sorts of yoga, volleyball, bowls and water polo, but we did not go - we swam or slept in the room. Evening animation: competitions were still nothing, sometimes funny - Mr. and Miss, dancing, but their amateur performances - all below the belt and only funny in places. Oriental dances - sadness... Really school amateur performance, but trying to knock down money by walking along the rows with an almost outstretched hand, they dance out of place : -) In general, I turn whatever I want. Unless the boy danced well with skirts.

The contingent: upon arrival there were 6 Russians, 4 of us from Ukraine and 2 Belarusians, the rest - Europe, a bit of Arabs. By the end of our stay, judging by the situation, there were 40-50 percent of Russians in the hotel, and food, service, etc. immediately deteriorated. In general, the staff tries differently for different nations, they don’t try for the CIS : -(
Conclusion: We won't be returning to this hotel. As it turned out, the farther south, the quieter the wind and the smaller the waves. The people from the more southern hotels of Mars swam constantly (not in the bays! ). Let's go south.
Last time we were in Mars in November 2008 in Badavia - we dived daily, there was no flag system, we were completely satisfied with the rest, but this time we didn’t like it...
And finally, I thank Misha and Valya from Cherkassy and Olya and Kostya from Mogilev for the company on vacation, everything would be completely dull without you : -)
N.