Alexandria, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh and Ain Sokhna
The watch was on for the first rally and missing by the last
Egypt's Mediterranean coast from Alexandria west to Marsa Matrouh, and Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea south of Suez.
A watch lost in the middle of a game of racket on a North Coast beach can be searched for. Racket is beach paddleball, a national pastime on Egypt's beaches, and where each of you stood, plus any swim between games, is what a detectorist would start from.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Alexandria, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh or Ain Sokhna with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Egyptians call the North Coast Al-Sahel. Alexandria is at its eastern end and Marsa Matrouh at its western end, with El Alamein, Sidi Abdel Rahman and Ras al-Hekma between them, and most of its beaches are private, open to residents, hotel guests and renters. Ain Sokhna, the Red Sea city closest to Cairo, has a card of its own lower down.
Leave the umbrella where it stands
Before you pack up, keep your umbrella or sunbed where it is. From it, take one photo along the sand each way and one towards the sea, then put a pin on the map where you last had the item on you, which is not always where you sat.
Sahel beaches are mostly reached through a gated compound or a hotel, and its name, written in your first message, tells us which stretch of sand you mean. The city beaches of Alexandria and the bays around Marsa Matrouh have names of their own, so there the beach name comes first.
Places we cover in Alexandria, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh and Ain Sokhna
- Alexandria
- Alexandria Corniche
- Stanley Beach
- Maamoura (Mamoura) Beach
- Montazah (Montaza) beaches and gardens
- Miami Beach
- Agami Beach
- El Alamein
- New Alamein corniche
- Sidi Abdel Rahman
- Ras al-Hekma
- Marsa Matrouh
- Al-Gharam Beach
- Rommel Beach
- Cleopatra's Beach
- Agiba (Ageeba) Beach
- Al-Abyad Beach
- Alam Al-Rum Beach
- Al-Maya al-Baida
- Bagoush
- Ain Sokhna
- Kite beaches in southern Ain Sokhna, towards Zaafarana
- Al-Galala City
From the Alexandria Corniche to the coves past Marsa Matrouh, then over to Ain Sokhna
City beaches, private Sahel sand, a sheltered bay and a shallow shore.
The Corniche, Stanley and Maamoura
The Corniche is Alexandria's promenade along the sea, lined with palm trees, cafes and restaurants, and busy day and night. Stanley Beach has cafes and restaurants beside it and a lively feel. Maamoura Beach has playgrounds, and Miami and Agami are two more of the city's beaches. Alexandria has public beaches and private ones.
Montazah
The grounds of Montazah Palace are gardens of trees, palms and flower beds, and they also take in bathing beaches and natural bays. Something dropped at Montazah may be in the gardens or on the sand, so tell us where in the grounds you spent most of the day.
El Alamein and New Alamein
El Alamein is known for its white sandy beaches and clear water. New Alamein's corniche is open to the public and runs through the heart of the city's entertainment area, past shops and restaurants. Say if you were on the sand, on the promenade, or both.
Sidi Abdel Rahman and Ras al-Hekma
Both towns have beach resorts in and around them, and the beach at Ras al-Hekma is calm. A game of racket or a fitness class by the sea is part of a Sahel day, so say what you were doing when the item went.
Marsa Matrouh bay and Rommel Beach
Marsa Matrouh sits on a bay with white soft sand and calm, clear water, kept from the open sea by a line of rocks with a small opening for light boats. Jet skiing and banana boating are among the water sports on that calm water. Al-Gharam Beach is a long beach that people walk at sunset, and Rommel Beach is on Rommel Island in front of the eastern port.
Agiba, Cleopatra's Beach and the beaches beyond
Agiba, west of the town, is a cove between two white cliffs with caves. At Cleopatra's Beach a glass walkway leads over the rocks to a rock formation the waves fill. Al-Abyad Beach, also west, has white sand, Alam Al-Rum is east of the town, and Bagoush is a bay farther east. At Al-Maya al-Baida people swim from hired boats in shallow water.
Ain Sokhna and Al-Galala
Ain Sokhna has long stretches of beach with calm, warm, shallow water, surrounded by mountains, and many visitors come from Cairo for a day or a weekend. Kite centres have been opening in the southern part, towards Zaafarana, where the water is shallow. Al-Galala City is a new resort town near Ain Sokhna.
Once your message arrives
Photos can follow
Send what you have now. Pictures a friend took on the beach that day can come later, and they go straight to the person arranging the search.
A drawing of the game
A game of racket or a boat ride has positions: where you stood, where you sat, which side you leaned over. Draw them roughly and we pass the drawing on with everything else.
If the area is too big
When what you can tell us leaves too much sand or sea to cover, we say so before anything is booked.
Costs come first
Questions about money are fine at any point. We explain the costs before any search is booked.
A sheltered bay in the west, shallow water in the east
The Mediterranean from Alexandria to Marsa Matrouh, and the Red Sea at Ain Sokhna.
Inside the rocks at Marsa Matrouh
The line of rocks across the bay keeps the high seas out of Marsa Matrouh, and the water inside is calm. Say where in the bay you swam, and name the nearest landmark on the beach behind you.
Shallow shore at Ain Sokhna
The water at Ain Sokhna is shallow along long stretches of beach. Say whether it came up to your knees or your waist where you stood.
Questions about Alexandria, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh and Ain Sokhna
I lost a watch playing racket on a Sahel beach, and I swam between games.
Mark where you and the other player stood, pace out the stretch you played on and pin both ends. Most North Coast beaches are private, so give us the beach's name, and say when you cooled off in the sea between games, and where.
I felt my wedding band go while swimming at Stanley Beach in Alexandria.
Stanley Beach is a lively city beach with cafes and restaurants beside it, and those make good markers. Photograph the water from the cafe you were nearest to, or from your spot on the sand. Say too whether you were standing or swimming when you felt it go, and whether you stayed in the water afterwards.
A bracelet went missing at Montazah, and we walked the gardens as well as the beach.
Then there are two kinds of ground to mark. The gardens around Montazah Palace are trees, palms and flower beds, and the grounds also take in bathing beaches and natural bays. Mark the garden paths you took and the spot on the beach, and say which came first.
I reached my towel at El Alamein and my Oura ring was no longer on my finger.
The beaches in and near El Alamein are white sand with clear water. Name the beach, mark your way into the sea, and tell us if you could still touch the bottom where you swam. Then trace your walk back up the sand, because the ring may have come off on the way rather than in the water.
I lost an earring at Agiba Beach, either on the cliffs or in the cove.
Agiba is a cove between two white cliffs, west of Marsa Matrouh. People swim in the cove, climb the cliffs for the view and look into the caves, so list what you did there, in order, and which side of the cove you climbed. If you still have its pair, a picture of it tells the detectorist what to look for.
I lost a ring floating inside the rock at Cleopatra's Beach.
At Cleopatra's Beach a long glass walkway crosses the rocky shore to the rock formation, and the waves fill its sheltered interior, where people float. Tell us whether it went during the float or on the walkway, and how strong the waves were that day. Anything that went out with the water through the rocks is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Car keys dropped out of my shorts on a paddleboat round Rommel Beach.
Rommel Beach is on Rommel Island, in front of the eastern port of Marsa Matrouh, and visitors go round it by paddleboat. Mark where you set off, draw the route you pedalled, and say whether you got off on the island. Describe anything attached to the keys, a tag or the remote, and its colour.
We hired a boat to swim at Al-Maya al-Baida, and my phone is now on the bottom.
People hire private boats to swim in the shallow water at Al-Maya al-Baida. Whoever steered the boat knows where it stopped for the swim. Get that spot onto a map pin, add the time the phone went over, and mention the case, if it had one.
We drove down from Cairo for the day, and a chain came off in the shallows at Ain Sokhna.
Ain Sokhna has long stretches of beach with calm, warm, shallow water, and many visitors come just for the day, as you did. Describe the beach by what was either side of you and pin where you stood in the water. If you were at one of the kite centres in the south, towards Zaafarana, name it in the chat.
Alexandria, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh and Ain Sokhna
Tell us what you were doing when it went
The beach or the compound first, then the moment you noticed.
A detectorist works from what you send, so start there: a WhatsApp message naming the beach and the item, with a pin on the map where it went.