The second option is a seafood restaurant. Try the well-known Zephyrion, 14 Khalid Ibn Walid St. (tel. 560 1319), an Abu Qir landmark since 1929. The blue and white pavilion has expanded in girth as its popularity has reached new heights. A full dinner of fresh fish with beer and salad typically costs LEI 5. Cooked fish will cost roughly LE28 per kg (more for shrimp-LE70 per kg-and other exotica). Appetite dictates financial damage: it’s possible to binge for JLE22. Try the octopus plate (LE9). (Open daily noon-midnight.) Next door to Zephyrion is another piscatorial paradise called Bella Vista (tel. 560 0628), which is not as nice but has slightly lower prices. (Open daily noon-lam.) To reach either restaurant head north to the waterfront from the main mosque; they’re right on the beach.

Abu Qir offers little except seafood and is best visited as a daytrip from Alexandria. The town is ideal for campers, though, since Abu Qir Camp (tel. 560 14 24), located on Bahr al-Mait St., about 0.5km south of the Zephyrion, supplies the only consistently available camping possibilities in the Alexandria area. A night’s repose will cost you LEI whether you use one of their tents or bring your own. Alternately, with permission from the local police, you can camp for free on the beach.