Sights

Marsa Matrouh’s beaches will enchant you. but all the beaches are closed after sun- set. As part of a government effort to control drug trafficking, soldiers patrol the coast throughout the night.

Five km of soft sand rim Matrouh’s crescent-shaped bay, from the town’s small port on the east to Lido Beach on the west. As in Alexandria, some women here swim fully clothed; as in all of Egypt (except the Sinai), bikinis and revealing one-piece suits can incite apoplexy. The Beau Site Hotel has a private beach which is cleaner, less crowded, and more liberal (some belly button sightings reported) than the public beaches. There is no charge for non-guests, but they encourage you to rent an umbrella QLE5 per day), a chair (LE4 per day), a pedalo (LE20 per hr.), or a surf kayak (LE5 per hr.).

East of the port the shoreline arches into a peninsula that faces the town from across the bay. Hire a donkey cart, rent a bike, or hire a boat from the port to take you over to the peninsula, called Rommel’s Isle. The Rommel Museum contains a mediocre exhibit built into a series of nifty caves that Rommel once used as his headquarters during the North African campaign of World War II.