Alexandria or Dahab?

Both towns sit on warm water, but the swimming is very different. Alexandria's Corniche beaches are narrow, crowded and conservative. The better sand at Montaza and Mamoura is behind paid gates, and the sea is only properly warm from June to September.

Dahab's water is clear and warm all year. You get into it from jetties and rocks straight onto the reef, so a swim is really a snorkel, and the Lagoon is the place for sand and shallow water. Neither is a resort for lying on the sand, but in Dahab, time in the sea is the whole point.

Both serve grilled fish chosen from the ice, but Alexandria does it better and has far more around it: fish baked in clay in Anfushi, liver sandwiches and fiteer from late-night counters, and patisseries left by the Greek community downtown. Dahab's waterfront fish is pleasant rather than memorable. Its best meals are cheap Egyptian plates of foul and koshary in Assala, and pizza and smoothie bowls fill the rest of the menus.

Here the gap is wide. Alexandria's past survives in fragments, but they are real: the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, the Roman theatre at Kom el-Dikka, Qaitbay Citadel on the site of the Pharos, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, with Cavafy's house among the belle époque streets.

Dahab has no museums or monuments. Its Bedouin character shows in Assala and at the tea stops, and the nearest real heritage is St Catherine's Monastery, a full day out.

Neither town is for clubbing, but Alexandria's evenings last longer and draw more people. In summer the Corniche coffee houses and shisha terraces stay full past midnight, though drinking is limited to hotels and a few old Greek-era bars. Dahab has more of a bar crowd of divers and travellers on cushions by the water, but with early dives the next morning, it is mostly quiet before midnight.

Alexandria's outdoors comes down to the long Corniche walk, sunsets over the Eastern Harbour and dives to the sunken remains of the Pharos. Inland there is only flat farmland, the reed beds of Lake Mariout and then desert.

Dahab is one of the main places on the Red Sea for life underwater. There is reef diving from the shore at the Canyon and the Blue Hole, a major freediving scene, and steady wind for kitesurfing at the Lagoon. Behind town, the granite mountains of South Sinai offer wadis, the Coloured Canyon, the coast path to Ras Abu Galum and the night climb up Mount Sinai.

Alexandria has more places within reach. There are Rosetta's Ottoman merchant houses about an hour east, the war cemeteries at El Alamein, the early desert monasteries of Wadi Natrun and the ruins of Abu Mena, and Cairo is possible as a long day by train.

Dahab has one outing of real weight: St Catherine's Monastery, about two hours inland and often combined with the Mount Sinai climb. Beyond that, trips lead into the desert and the sea rather than to other towns.

Dahab's appeal for children is all in the water, while Alexandria's is a seafront where Egyptian families have spent their summers for generations. In Alexandria children are welcome everywhere, with ice cream, horse carriages and room to run in Montaza's gardens, and older ones may enjoy the catacombs and Qaitbay's fort. The public beaches are crowded, though, and crossing the Corniche traffic with small children takes nerve.

Dahab is slightly easier for families who swim well. The Lagoon has sand and sheltered shallows, older children can snorkel straight from the shore, and a camel ride goes down well. Reef shoes are a must because of coral and sea urchins, summer heat is very hard on little ones, and serious medical care means a trip to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Alexandria stretches along about 20km of coast, but cheap taxis, ride-hailing and the slow old tram link Qaitbay to Montaza without a car, even if the traffic and crossing the Corniche test your patience.

Dahab's promenade is easy to walk and largely free of cars, but there is no public transport at all. The Lagoon, Assala and the Blue Hole all need a taxi or a transfer, and getting there means about an hour by road from Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Neither is a place to shop for fashion or design, but Alexandria gives a curious browser much more to dig through. In the dusty lanes of Attarin you can hunt among old furniture and bric-a-brac left from the city's Greek and Italian decades. The markets of Manshiyya and Zanqat el-Sittat sell cloth and spices to Alexandrians rather than to tourists, which often makes for a more personal thing to take home than a souvenir.

Dahab's choice is a short stretch of stalls along the promenade. They are fine for an evening stroll and some bargaining over a Bedouin-stitched piece or a bit of jewellery, but you will have seen them all in an hour. The one way Dahab beats Alexandria is gear for the sea: a town run on diving and freediving keeps masks, fins and wetsuits well stocked.

Both are very cheap, and Alexandria is a touch easier still. Taxis, street food and seafront hotels cost little there, and site fees are the main expense. In Dahab the money goes on different things: guesthouses and meals in Assala are very cheap, dive courses are the larger but good-value spend, and alcohol and the waterfront restaurants cost more.

Alexandria at least has proper venues. The Sayed Darwish Theatre stages opera, ballet and Arabic music, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina runs concerts and film, though the programme is irregular. Dahab has none, only the odd band in a promenade bar or Bedouin music around a fire at a desert camp.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and spas are limited to the larger hotels. In Alexandria, rest means long mornings in old cafés outside the summer rush, though traffic and crowds work against it. Dahab is made for switching off, with a long-stay community built around yoga, breathwork and freediving, cheap classes and massage, and slow evenings watching the sun go down behind the Sinai mountains.