The canal waterfront is the heart of Port Said, and watching ships pass is the activity that absorbs most visitors without their quite realising how much time has gone by. The ships are enormous — bulk carriers, tankers, container vessels the size of city blocks — and they pass within a few hundred metres of the corniche, moving at a walking pace through water that seems too narrow for them.
The waterfront promenade runs for several kilometres along the canal entrance. At the northern end, where the canal meets the Mediterranean, the view opens up: sea ahead, canal behind, and the opposite shore of Port Fuad visible across the water. In the evenings, families walk the corniche, vendors sell tea and snacks, and the lights of the passing ships reflect in the water.