Hurghada Travel Tips

In this page you will find practical information to plan a scuba diving trip to Hurghada:

Hurghada Photos

Hurghada is a popular beach destination in Egypt and as the local dive sites are very easy, it is a popular place to learn scuba diving. Hurghada is also a good choice if you to want to mix your holiday between the Red Sea and the Nile Valley as it is not far away.

Activities and excursions in Hurghada

Tourists really like to go to Hurghada because it allows splitting their trip between the diving at the Red Sea and cultural excursions and day trips to visit the Wonders of Egypt like the Nile Valley or Egypt. Moreover there are many beach activities in Hurghada for the non-divers. You can for example:

• Go Deep Sea Fishing
• Try Windsurfing, Kite Surf or jet ski
• Go on Motorbike or Quad tour in the Desert
• Visit Luxor on a day trip or Cairo on a 2 days trip.
• Visit Islands for a Snorkelling trip
• Enjoy a Desert Safari and visit local villages
• Visit the Saint Anthony and Saint Paul Monastery
• Just relax on the beautiful beaches

Best time to visit

The climate is subtropical-desert. The weather is sunny and dry all year round. The winter is warm and the summer as you can imagine is very hot!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zamkov/6093264455/

Where is Hurghada?

Hurghada is situated 530 Km South of Cairo and about 75 km South West from the most popular scuba diving destination in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh.

How to get to Hurghada?

Plane

If you are coming from Europe the only way to reach Hurghada is by flight. Hurghada has an International Airport with direct flights to the main airports in Europe and in Middle East. It takes about 4 to 5 hours.

You can also fly first to Cairo than take a 1 hour flight with Egypt Air to Hurghada. The third option is to fly to Luxor then to take a taxi for 4 hours to get to Hurghada.

Once you arrived at the Hurghada Airport, you will need to take a taxi for about 30 min to reach your hotel on the seashore.

If you are travelling on a tight budget, a cheap option could be to fly to Cairo then to take the Bus or a Taxi to Hurghada for 6 hours.

Boat

You can go by fast boat from Sharm El Sheikh to Hurghada. It takes about 1h30 min and cost around 40 US$ for one way. The company is called International Fast Ferries.

Do I need a visa for Hurghada?

Yes, you need a tourist visa. You can get your visa at your arrival at Hurghada Airport. It cost 15 US$ and is valid for 40 days.

Getting Around

You can either get around by mini bus or by Taxi. Be careful to bargain the price of the taxi before the ride as drivers usually try to make tourists pay much more than the fair price. It should be between 5 to 20 LE depending on where you are going in the city.

Mini Bus is a cheaper way to get around but you need to know where you are going!

Where to stay?

Hurghada is a resort town with many hotels working with all inclusive packaged groups. Most of the hotels are on the sea shore. They range from basic “3 stars” to luxurious “6 stars” Hotels.

Most of the hotels have their own pool and “private” beach. The city is also a bit known as a party city and most of the resorts have their own Disco and there are although many bars and Night Clubs.

There is very few budget accommodation and very few people come here as independent travelling as everything is made for all Inclusive package holidays.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusmeissner/3035257192/

Scuba diving

You will find all information about sea life, best time to visit, top dive spots, etc. in our review: Hurghada Diving