I am splashing in water so clear I can count my toes, in a sea so turquoise it looks luminous. The beach behind me is powder white and the sky a saturated blue. My wife, Bridget, and our children, Laila and Ezra, are laughing with delight as foamy waves wash over them. The scene could have been lifted from a postcard, and the only question on my mind is this: where is everyone? It is October half-term, the sun is shining and we appear to be the only people on this pristine beach.
We are in Marassi, three hours’ drive north of Cairo, on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast just west of the Nile delta. To call Marassi a resort is like calling Harrods a corner shop – it is practically a small town, covering more than six million square metres and encompassing 11 hotels and six beaches, an 18-hole golf course, a mosque and a marina.
The Emirati-backed mega-project is coming to the end of its 20-year construction after the Egyptian government auctioned off the land around the 1960s El Alamein Hotel – a development estimated by some at $3.7bn (£2.8bn) that has not come without grumbles among the local community.
Marassi borrows an eclectic range of architectural styles from the Mediterranean basin. It has everything – except, around this time of year, many visitors.
Most beach-loving Britons coming to Egypt head to Red Sea resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh, but the north coast is a secret known mostly to Egyptians, who flee the summer heat of Cairo for the coast.
By October, the Cairenes have gone home. To them, 27°C is practically autumnal, but for my family, Marassi feels like heaven compared with London.
We are staying at the Address Beach Resort which, like many developments here, has a private beach as well as a generous swimming pool and an artificial lagoon at less than £150 a night during the winter season.
Our days begin with a buffet breakfast before heading to the pool. The advantage of visiting in Egypt’s off-season is that there is no need to rush to spread a territorial towel or claim a prized spot.
Marassi is huge, so one afternoon Laila and I borrow a couple of bicycles and set off to explore on immaculate cycle paths. We pass road sweepers, who are pretending to sweep rubbish that is not there, and cycle past The Hub, a colourful open-air social space with arcade machines, a skate park,
a bowling alley and go-karting. We ride along palm tree-lined streets past a mosque and marina, where gleaming yachts bob beside a promenade of boutiques and restaurants.
“This place feels like The Truman Show,” Laila remarks, spotting what might have been the road sweeper from two miles earlier standing on another corner. I know what she means: in summer Marassi is busy, but right now it feels like a vast film set in which we are playing the lead roles.
One could easily while away the days here on the beach and by the pool, with occasional detours to eat in one of the numerous restaurants – from Lebanese street food to Japanese desserts – or even, as we do one afternoon, to the golf course.
Guests can book private lessons, and although I had never played golf in my life, it was not an absence I had felt all that keenly. That said, it is great fun, the four of us lined up taking a swing at the ball, unsure whether it would fly or stay perched on the tee.
This being Egypt, the pull of ancient history is strong. One morning, I take a 15-minute drive to the Commonwealth War Cemetery. It holds more than 7,000 graves, laid out in rows of pale stone, of soldiers who died at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, which turned the tide of the Second World War in North Africa.
There is something profoundly moving about reading the names of the fallen, many of them British and still in their teens. The nearby El Alamein Military Museum is well worth the detour, with tanks and a Spitfire parked outside and displays inside telling the story of the desert duel between Montgomery and Rommel – a reminder that this coast was fought over long before it was sunbathed on.
There had been more history in the three days we spent in Cairo before arriving in Marassi. The Pyramids are among the most famous buildings on the planet, but nothing compares with pressing your hand against the ancient limestone blocks, some of which are thought to weigh as much as 15 tons. But while I loved the hectic energy of the capital, my children found it somewhat overwhelming and preferred the tranquillity of the coast.
That quality was what made our time here so special: we felt lucky to have found a place where the beautiful beaches were so empty, the hotel rooms reasonably priced and the weather so welcoming.
It has everything a winter sun seeker could want – and once the Cairo crowds have headed home, almost no one else wanting it. That won’t last.
How to get there
The writer was a guest of Audley Travel which offers an eight-night tailormade trip to Egypt from £4,295pp, including flights, visas, transfers, three nights’s B&B in Cairo, four nights’ half board at Address Beach Resort Marassi and one night’s B&B in Alexandria, as well as tours and a private guide. audleytravel.com/egypt.
Where to stay
Address Beach Resort has B&B from $170 (£127), addresshotels.com
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