Massawa's oldtown sits on an island Batsi that it shares with the country's busiest deep-sea port not very busy, a free trade area and as the name indicates; an oldtown consisting of medieval Ottoman style coral buildings separated by narrow alleys as well as an ancient mosque. The island is connected to the mainland via another island called Tualud, both separated by a causeway. On Tualud you will find most "downtown" hotels like the Dahlak, Red Sea, Central, Corallo etc. Tualud also hosts St. Mary's catholic church and the famous tank monument.
The Dahlak hotel offers boat services to the Green Island, a natural park in Massawa Bay within sight of the city and less than a 20 minute ride away. The Green island has a pristine beach, mangroves and ruins of an ancient mosque and an abandoned pearlfishing settlement. Bring plenty of water, refreshments and sunscreen as there is literally nothing on the island. It is a natural park. Collect all your waste and bring it back with you when leaving the Green Island!!
From Tualud Island where all the main hotels are, there is another causeway to the mainland, where there isn't much at all besides the central bus station, Segalet open air cinema and some public administration and residential buildings of varying standard.
Beaches
To get to the closest mainland beach however, you'd have to head north of downtown Massawa along the mainland coast to Gurgusum Beach and Hotel of the same name, with the adjacent Hamassien hotel to its north. The GB Hotel has all amenities like beach chair with parasol, showers, cafe, restaurant and even air-conditioned bedrooms if you'd like to spend the night. The beach isn't much to write home about though. To get to the nicest beaches you have to head out to the farther Dahlak islands, on a chartered boat expensive or take the bus alt. drive a rental car south of Massawa for a couple of hours to the Gel'Alo resort in the volcanic Danakil region on the way to Assab.