Best time
Year-round; spring & autumn best
Home / Destinations / Hurghada
Destination guide · The Red Sea coastEgypt's mainland Red Sea coast — warm sea the year round, coral reefs a fin-kick from shore, and the closest beach to the temples of the Nile.
Hurghada is not an ancient city and makes no pretence of being one. It began as a fishing village forty years ago and grew, fast, into Egypt's busiest Red Sea resort — a long ribbon of hotels, marinas and dive centres along a coast of extraordinary water. People come here for one thing, and it is a very good thing: the sea.
Be clear-eyed about the place. The town itself sprawls, and much of the strip is mass-market package tourism with little Egyptian character. But the water is genuinely world-class — coral reefs in startling health, warm almost every month of the year — and dotted along the coast are a handful of self-contained luxury enclaves that are a different proposition entirely. Stay in the right one, and Hurghada is the perfect, easy counterpoint to a Nile journey: temples first, then the reef.
There are no temples to see here — the pleasures are active and aquatic. Four of them, and one of those is a door back to the Nile.
The main event, and the reason Hurghada exists. Some of the most accessible coral reefs anywhere — healthy, vivid and teeming — with dive centres for every level from a first try-dive to full certification, and snorkelling straight off many house reefs.
Boat days out to the offshore islands and their marine park, dolphin grounds, and — this stretch of coast being one of the world's great windsports spots — superb kitesurfing and windsurfing on the reliable afternoon breeze.
The Red Sea mountains and the desert rise at your back — room for a private bedouin evening, real stargazing, and a jeep run into empty country away from the coast.
Hurghada's quiet advantage: it is the closest Red Sea resort to Luxor, about four hours by road, which makes a day among the Valley of the Kings and Karnak genuinely possible from the beach.
Egypt's two great Red Sea bases sit on opposite shores, and most travellers choose one. The honest distinction:
On the mainland, and far closer to Luxor — the only Red Sea base from which the Nile is a day-trip. A wider spread of enclaves to choose from, world-class windsports, and easy direct flights. The reefs are excellent, if a shade less dramatic than Sinai's.
On the Sinai peninsula, with arguably Egypt's finest reefs — Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran — and dramatic mountain-and-sea scenery. More compact, and close to Mount Sinai and St Catherine's. Less convenient for the Nile.
The single most important choice here. Skip Hurghada town itself, and settle into one of the self-contained enclaves spread along the coast — each its own world.
A purpose-built lagoon town just north of Hurghada, laced with canals and a marina — design-led, walkable, with the best restaurants and the liveliest evenings on the coast. The choice for those who want somewhere with a pulse.
A sweeping bay of large, polished luxury resorts south of town — serene, spacious, and built for doing very little beautifully. Home to some of the coast's finest addresses.
A self-contained headland given over to a handful of upscale resorts, a championship golf course and a renowned thalasso spa — quiet, low-key and genuinely restful.
A string of large resorts along a good reef bay south of Hurghada — comfortable, all-inclusive and family-geared, with house reefs straight off the beach.
The Red Sea is a year-round coast. Spring and autumn are the sweet spots — warm air, warm water, gentle conditions. Summer is hot but tempered by the sea and a near-constant breeze; the depths of winter cool the water a little, though it stays swimmable, and the air can turn brisk in the evenings.
For windsports, the windier months from spring into summer are best; for the calmest snorkelling, the shoulder seasons.
However long suits you — there are no sights to "finish." Most travellers come for three to five days to unwind, dive or simply lie still by the water after a Nile journey.
The classic shape is exactly that: the temples and the river first, then the reef to recover. Two or three nights is plenty for a restful coda; longer if the diving has hold of you.
Fly in to Hurghada — direct international charters in season, or a short domestic hop from Cairo. By road it's roughly five to six hours from Cairo and about four from Luxor; we arrange flights and transfers either way.
Touch nothing, take nothing, stand on nothing — coral is alive and fragile. Use reef-safe sunscreen, and expect marine-park fees on boat trips. Treating the reef well is the price of its being this good.
From a first supervised try-dive to full PADI courses. Choose an established, well-run centre over the cheapest boat, and leave 18–24 hours between your last dive and any flight. We match you to the right operator.
Possible, and popular — but four hours each way makes for a very long day, often a pre-dawn start. Worthwhile as a single taste of antiquity; no substitute for a planned Nile leg.
The resorts and enclaves serve alcohol freely and run as normal through Ramadan; the town beyond is more conservative. Dress and behaviour in the resorts are relaxed, in town more modest.
The resorts are card-friendly and many run all-inclusive; keep cash for tips, taxis and anything in town. Euros are widely taken on the tourist strip, but pounds are better value.
The sun is strong and the breeze hides it — burn happens fast on a boat. Hat, shade and water always. The sea can have currents off the reefs; heed the local briefing and flags.
Swimwear at the pools and beaches, relaxed resort wear otherwise. Cover up if you head into Hurghada town or a local market, as you would anywhere in Egypt away from the resorts.
A calm, secure resort coast, well used to international visitors and watched over within the enclaves. Ordinary care is all that's needed; the sea and the sun are the real things to respect.
We won't dress Hurghada up as something it isn't. It is a resort coast, built for sun and sea, and parts of it are sprawling, package-driven and short on charm. If you are looking for Egyptian culture, atmosphere or beauty in the town itself, this is the wrong place, and we'd point you elsewhere.
But taken for what it is, it does its job superbly. The diving and snorkelling are world-class, the upscale enclaves — El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh, Soma Bay — are genuinely lovely and entirely insulated from the strip, and no other Red Sea base sits so close to the Nile. Come here to unwind after the temples, choose your enclave with care, and let the reef do the rest. That, done well, is exactly what Hurghada is for.
The Sinai alternative — Egypt's finest reefs, dramatic desert mountains, and the road to St Catherine's.
JourneyThe river by cruiser, then the reef — the classic pairing of temples and sea in a single journey.
DestinationThe temples within reach of the coast — the densest gathering of ancient monuments on earth.
Tell us your dates and how you like to travel, and we will pair the Red Sea with the Nile in a journey shaped around you — the right enclave, the right operators, the right pace.
Plan your journeyWe reply within 24 hours