Makadi: Orange Bay Boat Tour with Snorkeling, Lunch & Drinks
A day at Orange Bay from your Makadi Bay hotel. Two hours on white sand, two reef snorkeling stops, buffet lunch aboard and transfers both ways.
Overview
Makadi Bay is already quiet. The point of this day is to find out how much quieter the sea gets once the coast is behind you. A car collects you after breakfast, the marina is a short run up the road, and by the time the engines settle into a rhythm the resorts have shrunk to a white line on the shore.
Orange Bay is a sandbar with an island's worth of sand and almost none of its bulk. Shuttle boats put you ashore for two hours, and the lagoon does the rest: waist-deep, glass-clear, warm enough that nobody hurries out of it. Later the boat anchors twice over living reef. You go in with mask and fins — first time or hundredth — and hang above brain coral and gorgonians while parrotfish and clownfish get on with their day.
Lunch is a buffet on deck between the two reef stops: something grilled, salads, fruit, and cold drinks that keep coming. There is sun on the upper deck and shade below, and no part of the day where you are expected to be anywhere in particular.
You are back at your hotel by mid-afternoon, salt-dried and slower than you left. Most people spend the evening deciding whether to go again.
Highlights
- Two hours ashore on Orange Bay — powder-white sand and a lagoon that stays waist-deep for a hundred metres
- Two anchored reef stops with mask, fins and a guide in the water beside you
- Buffet lunch served on deck, plus soft drinks, tea, coffee and water all day
- Sun deck above, shaded lounge below, and shuttle boats running to the island
- Air-conditioned pickup and drop-off at your Makadi Bay hotel, both directions
Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off in Makadi Bay in an air-conditioned vehicle
- Boat cruise to Orange Bay with snorkeling at two coral reef sites
- Two hours of beach time at Orange Bay with shuttle boats to and from the island
- Orange Bay entry fees and permits
- Professional guides and a pre-snorkel safety briefing
- Full snorkeling gear — mask, fins, life jacket
- Buffet lunch onboard with seasonal fruit
- Unlimited soft drinks, hot drinks, and mineral water
- All taxes and service charges
Not included
- Hotel pickup from outside Makadi Bay
- Optional extras such as the introductory dive, private transfer upgrade and celebration cake (available as paid add-ons)
- Lunch and drinks on the Private Speedboat option — Orange Bay has cafes and restaurants ashore
- Towels (please bring your own)
Good to know
- Child price: ages 2-11 · Infants under 2
- Sunglasses
- Sun hat
- Swimwear
- Towel
- Camera
- No swimming experience needed — our guides stay close at every snorkeling stop, and life jackets and buoyancy vests are on board for everyone.
- Children are welcome, but must stay under a parent's or guardian's supervision at all times — on the boat and in the water.
- The cruise and private yacht options run about 7 hours door to door, with buffet lunch and drinks served on board. The Private Speedboat is a shorter, faster trip — around 4 hours, with the same time ashore and two reef stops, but no lunch or drinks aboard.
- Our guides work in English, German, Arabic and Russian. Let us know your preference when you book and we will match you to the right guide.
- Please don't touch or stand on the coral, and don't touch or feed the fish. The reef is a living, protected habitat — look, don't touch.
- Pickup is at 08:30, and free cancellation applies up to 12 hours before the tour starts. In windy weather the captain may swap the reef stops for calmer sites.