The Red Sea sits between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Eritrea has about 1,200 kilometres of coastline along it. The water is very warm - sometimes warmer than a heated swimming pool - and so clear that snorkellers can see fish, sea turtles and coral from the surface. Scientists say the Red Sea contains more than 1,000 species of fish, and about 17% of them are found nowhere else on Earth.
Massawa is one of the hottest cities on the planet - in summer the temperature can reach 42°C. But in the morning and evening a sea breeze rolls in off the water, and locals sit out on café terraces drinking sweet tea. The old city is built on two small islands connected by bridges, and the architecture is a mixture of Ottoman, Egyptian and Italian styles - all layered up over hundreds of years.
The coral reefs around Massawa are especially healthy because the Eritrean government has worked hard to protect them. Fishing is controlled so that the reef gets time to recover, and there are protected marine areas where no fishing is allowed at all. This has helped populations of parrotfish, moray eels and lion fish stay strong.
Fishermen use traditional wooden boats called dhows, which have a single triangular sail. Dhow-building is a skill passed down through families, and the best builders are highly respected in the community. Today some dhows also have small motors, but the sail is kept for when the wind is good.