Hurghada
Hurghada is where an Egypt trip goes to finish, or the whole holiday. Giftun's reefs are a short boat ride out, spinner dolphins live at Shaab El Erg, and El Dahar's souk runs after dark.
Hurghada in a nutshell
Hurghada: what to expect
Every figure here is drawn from how travellers plan Hurghada on Stippl, stop by stop.
Hurghada is Egypt's Red Sea beach town, and most travellers give it 3 nights on Stippl, longer than Cairo or Luxor. The reason is the water: warm, clear reefs around Giftun Island a short boat ride out, a resident pod of spinner dolphins at Shaab El Erg, and four wrecks on the reef at Abu Nuhas. On land the city stretches about 40 km along the coast, from the old town at El Dahar through the harbour at Sekalla to the resort promenade of El Mamsha.
Hurghada is where an Egyptian trip ends. Of the multi-stop Egyptian trips on Stippl that include Hurghada, 41.55% finish here, and 22.99% of Hurghada trips carry no other Egyptian stop at all. Charter flights land straight from Europe, so the town works as the whole holiday or as the week of sea after Cairo, Luxor and Aswan.
Give it the end of the trip, and one long day for Luxor. Luxor is about four hours each way by Go Bus, which puts the temples within a day of the beach, while Cairo is a flight rather than a drive. Base yourself in Sekalla for the harbour and the dive centres, in El Dahar for the town, or on El Mamsha for a resort. Skip Hurghada if you came for Egypt itself: outside El Dahar the strip is an international beach resort.
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Divers at any level
Warm water most of the year, reefs a short boat ride out and the cheapest dive certification on the Red Sea make Hurghada an easy place to start.
Families
The all-inclusive resorts along El Mamsha and El Kawther are built for families, with beach clubs, water sports and the day-trip boats on the doorstep.
Budget travellers
Hurghada is Egypt's cheapest beach, and a town room in El Dahar with market meals keeps a week well under resort prices.
Anyone finishing a Nile trip
Hurghada closes 41.55% of the multi-stop Egyptian trips on Stippl that include it, a short road from Luxor after the temples.
Kitesurfers
Steady wind and shallow lagoons north towards El Gouna make Hurghada a kitesurfing and windsurfing base, with the season at its best in spring.
Maybe not for you: culture seekers, since outside El Dahar the city is a resort strip built for the beach, and anyone hoping to add Sharm El-Sheikh, which sells the same holiday on the other side of the sea.
The best time to visit Hurghada
Land and sea together
April, May, October and November
The four months when warm days and a warm sea overlap, and the answer to when to go. The town knows it, so book these weeks ahead.
Winter sun
December to March
Mild, sunny days make this the land season and the cheapest stretch of the year. The sea is at its coolest, so snorkellers feel it more than sunbathers.
Summer
June to September
Hot on land and at its warmest in the sea, so the days belong to the water. Evenings at the Old Harbour and in El Dahar are when the town comes out.
- Hurghada is booked closer to departure than Cairo or Luxor. 18.8% of Hurghada trips on Stippl are created inside a fortnight, and most about 60 days ahead, which suits a beach week and is tight for the four overlap months.
- February is the one month the sea is genuinely cold, at about 22 °C. It is also a low month for planning Hurghada, so February suits a land holiday with a Luxor day more than a diving week.
- Ramadan changes the town and not the resorts. El Dahar's cafés and shops shift their hours and the streets fill after sunset, while the all-inclusive hotels along the strip run as normal all month.
- Summer holds up here in a way it does not on the Nile. Hurghada's busiest planning month outweighs its quietest by ×1.83 on Stippl, a far flatter year than Luxor's, because the sea is warmest exactly when the valley is hottest.
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Things to do in Hurghada
Giftun Island and its reefs
Take a full-day boat from the marina or El Mamsha to the Giftun Islands national park, the best accessible coral near the town. The park fee is paid per person on top of the boat.
A first dive or a certification
Learn to dive where the reefs start a short boat ride out and the water is warm most of the year. Hurghada is the cheapest base on the Red Sea, which is why it has so many dive centres.
The dolphins at Shaab El Erg
Snorkel at the reef known as Dolphin House, north of the town, where a resident pod of spinner dolphins genuinely lives. The day boats leave from the marina.
The wrecks at Abu Nuhas
Dive four accessible wrecks on one reef north of Hurghada, the reason experienced divers come to this stretch of coast. It is a day boat, not a liveaboard.
El Dahar souk after dark
Walk the old town's lanes of spices, textiles, copper and the vegetable market in the evening. Bargaining is expected, and the backgammon cafés are where to stop for karkade.
A day in Luxor
Take the Go Bus four hours each way for the temples and the Valley of the Kings, the one monument day a Hurghada week needs. Book online and leave early.
The neighbourhoods of Hurghada
El Dahar
Souks, churches, backgammon cafés
The old town, with the market, Coptic churches, the bus station and the public beach. For budget travellers and anyone who wants the Egyptian side of the city.
The only real town in Hurghada, and a taxi ride to the reefs and resorts.
Sekalla and the Old Harbour
Marina, dive shops, late bars
The restored Old Harbour, the marina promenade, Sheraton Road and most of the dive centres. For first-timers and divers who want the town and the boats close together.
The best balance of local life and things to do, and the loudest nights.
El Mamsha and El Kawther
A promenade of big resorts
A five-kilometre pedestrian promenade of four and five-star resorts, beach clubs and water sports, where the Giftun boats leave. For families and anyone on an all-inclusive week.
Everything inside the gate, and little of Egypt outside it.
Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay
Private bays, week-long resorts
Resort enclaves down the coast south of town, Sahl Hasheesh on a private bay with its own reef 18 km away and Makadi Bay beyond it. For a full week by the water.
The quietest beaches on this coast, but a drive from everything in town.
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Where to stay in Hurghada
Stay in Sekalla for a first visit: the harbour, the dive centres and the evening strip are close together, and El Dahar is a short taxi away. Most travellers give Hurghada 3 nights on Stippl, and the resort enclaves down the coast hold people for about a week. All-inclusive dominates the strip, so price it against a town room before you book.
El Dahar
Simple town hotels and guesthouses, the cheapest beds in Hurghada, from €20 to €60.
Sekalla and the Old Harbour
€35–120
Mid-range hotels and dive-centre stays near the marina, from €35 to €120.
El Mamsha and El Kawther
€60–250
Four and five-star beach hotels, most of them all-inclusive, from €60 to €250.
Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay
Large all-inclusive resorts on their own bays, at the upper end of the strip, from about €90.
What to eat in Hurghada
Whatever came in that morning, grilled whole with rice and salads
Fish baked over spiced rice with caramelised onion, the Red Sea coast dish
The national dish: rice, lentils, macaroni, fried onion, tomato-vinegar sauce
Fava beans and fava-bean falafel, the Egyptian breakfast
Pressed to order at street juice bars
Waterpipe and hibiscus tea, the evening in El Dahar
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Hurghada customs and what not to do
Swimwear stays on the beach
Swimwear belongs to the resort and the beach; El Dahar is an ordinary Egyptian town, so cover shoulders and knees there.
The coral is protected
The reefs are a marine park and it is policed: standing on coral kills it where you stand, and the fines are real.
Boat prices are negotiable
The same boat trip sells at very different prices along the strip, and the park fee is often left out of the first quote.
The resort is not Egypt
The strip is international by design, with buffets and imported menus; El Dahar's cafés and markets are where the country is.
Alcohol is normal here
Unusually for Egypt, bars in the resorts and around the harbour are part of the product, so a drink with dinner is ordinary here.
Do
- Use reef-safe sunscreen, because the coral is what everyone came for
- Carry small notes for boat crews, drivers and hotel staff
- Book dives with a centre rather than going in off a beach
Don't
- Take the first boat price you are quoted on the strip
- Stand on coral, even in shallow water
- Walk around El Dahar in swimwear
What a Hurghada trip costs
El Dahar hotel + local food
€25–45
A town room in El Dahar, market meals and the public beach.
Mid resort, half board
€60–120
A beach hotel with half board, a boat trip and transfers.
All-inclusive on the strip
€90–200+
Everything inside the gate, plus the excursions.
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Fun facts about Hurghada
Hurghada's reefs hold more than 200 coral species and 1,000 kinds of fish. Visibility in the water commonly runs 20 to 30 metres, which is why a first snorkel off Giftun is worth the boat.
Hurghada runs roughly 40 km along the Red Sea coast. It is the capital of the Red Sea Governorate, and nothing in it is walkable end to end, so a taxi or a microbus is part of every day.
Hurghada gets over 300 sunny days a year. Rainfall is effectively nil, which gives the town the most reliable sunshine of any destination in Egypt.
A resident pod of spinner dolphins lives at Shaab El Erg. The reef north of the town is known as Dolphin House for exactly that reason, and the dolphins are wild.
Four wrecks lie on the single reef of Abu Nuhas. They are within day-boat reach of Hurghada, which makes the town a wreck-diving base without a liveaboard.
The resort city of Hurghada was a fishing village within living memory. It is now Egypt's biggest beach destination and its second way in, with charter flights landing straight from Europe.
Road signs spell the town Ghardaka, from the Arabic al-Ghardaqa. Signage along the coast runs in Arabic, Russian and German, which shows who the charter flights bring.
Local tips for Hurghada
Nothing here is walkable
Hurghada runs about 40 km along the coast, so a taxi or a microbus is part of every day, even between the harbour and the old town.
Agree the taxi price first
Fix the fare before you get in, every time; taxi pricing is the most common complaint in Hurghada, and most packages include the airport transfer.
The park fee comes on top
Boat trips to Giftun are quoted without the marine-park fee, which is paid per person on top. Ask for the total price before you book a seat.
Go Bus to Luxor and Cairo
Go Bus runs to Luxor in about four hours and to Cairo overnight, and both are bookable online. For Cairo, the one-hour flight is often not much dearer.
How long to stay
Most people give Hurghada 3 nights on Stippl, and resort stays down the coast run closer to a week, the package rhythm the town is built around.
The water is the real hazard
Currents on the offshore reefs, boat traffic and the sun cause more trouble than crime does. Dive with a centre rather than off a beach.
Hurghada questions, answered
At the end, after the Nile. 41.55% of the multi-stop Egyptian trips on Stippl that include Hurghada finish here. Lay out the Cairo, Luxor and Aswan legs in Stippl first, give the coast what is left, then show the route to people who have been, in the Egypt travel subreddits or Facebook groups.
Often. 22.99% of Hurghada trips planned on Stippl carry no other Egyptian stop, nearly as common as a trip to Cairo alone. Charter flights land straight from Europe, so a Red Sea week with nothing else attached is a holiday in its own right rather than half an Egypt trip.
Longer than in Cairo or Luxor: most give Hurghada 3 nights on Stippl, and a full week is common at the resort end of the coast. That is a beach rhythm, so plan the days around boats and reefs rather than sights, with one long day out for Luxor.
April, May, October and November. Hurghada's land season runs October to April and its water season April to November, and those four months are the only ones where warm days and a warm sea overlap, which is why they book up first.
One or the other. Trips planned on Stippl that include Hurghada almost never add Sharm El-Sheikh, because the two resorts sell the same holiday on either side of the sea. Hurghada is the closer base for a Luxor day, and Sharm is the one for Ras Mohammed and Sinai diving.
Yes. Luxor is about four hours each way by Go Bus, which makes the temples and the Valley of the Kings a long but workable day from the beach. Cairo is not a day trip at 550 km, so fly there or give it a night of its own.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Hurghada in Stippl
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