Red Sea

Egypt's Red Sea coast stretches nearly 800 kilometres between Suez in the north and the Sudanese border in the south. Our team considers it a unique terrain within the country: here, no pyramids or pharaonic temples, but a narrow strip of coastline wedged between the Arabian Desert and a body of water whose high salinity and thermal stability have fostered one of the planet's densest coral reefs. The geography is straightforward: to the west, the Galala and Red Sea Hills mountains peak around 2,000 metres; to the east, the sea; between them, a coastal road, the Safaga-Marsa Alam Highway, serving the main ports and resorts.

Hurghada concentrates most international air traffic with its airport connected to around thirty European cities. The town itself, born as a fishing village in the 1980s, is today a stretch of hotel complexes along fifteen kilometres of coast. We rarely direct our travellers towards its centre, except for Sakkala's fish market or a crossing to the Giftun Islands. The sites worth the detour are found on the outskirts: El Gouna, a resort built from scratch in the 1990s on a system of lagoons and canals, offers a calmer setting with its 18 integrated hotels and pedestrian urbanism; Soma Bay, 45 kilometres south of Hurghada, concentrates on five isolated properties on a peninsula; Makadi Bay and Sahl Hasheesh offer intermediate options.

Further south, the profile changes. Marsa Alam, 270 kilometres from Hurghada, has its own international airport and provides access to a far less urbanised coast. The villages of Marsa Shagra, Marsa Nakari and Wadi Lahami are organised around eco-lodges and diving centres, with no concrete or nightlife. It is from these bases that one reaches Sha'ab Samadai, the horseshoe reef where a colony of spinner dolphins rests during the day, and Elphinstone, an isolated seamount frequented by oceanic sharks between October and December. The Brothers Islands (Al Akhawein), two volcanic peaks rising 60 kilometres offshore, are only reachable by liveaboard dive safaris of 5 to 7 days.

The coastal population is a blend of Ababda and Bisharin Bedouins, present on this coast long before tourism development, and workers from the Nile Valley. In the interior wadis, an hour's drive inland from Marsa Alam, you still encounter Ababda encampments raising goats and camels. We organise evenings with them around the jabana, ginger-roasted coffee served in small cups. Bedouin bread baked on hot stone, fish grilled with cumin, and sayadeya, rice with fish cooked in Quseir, form the basis of local cuisine.

Quseir itself deserves a stop. A former pilgrimage port to Mecca until the 19th century, the town preserves an Ottoman fort from 1571, whitewashed coral houses and a human-scale urban fabric. It is one of the few places on the coast where you still perceive a local life independent of beach tourism. Sixty kilometres to the north, the Roman emerald mine of Mons Smaragdus (Sikait) testifies to ancient mining in the interior desert, accessible by 4x4 for travellers curious about off-the-beaten-path archaeology.

The local economy rests on three pillars: beach tourism, diving (Egypt trains and certifies over 100,000 divers annually), and commercial and fishing ports. This specialisation explains the quality of diving infrastructure: certified centres, liveaboard vessels, hyperbaric doctors in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. For the traveller, this means a stay here is built around the water, whether diving or not.

To discover

Diving Elphinstone Reef. An isolated seamount off Marsa Alam, descending beyond 100 metres, frequented by white-tip oceanic sharks between October and December. Reserved for Advanced Open Water divers minimum.

Swimming with dolphins at Sha'ab Samadai. A horseshoe reef south of Marsa Alam where around a hundred spinner dolphins rest in the lagoon during the day. Access is regulated, two hours' boat journey each way.

Quseir, Ottoman port and 1571 fort. Former embarkation point for pilgrims to Mecca, with its coral houses and restored fort. A day is enough to understand the coast's commercial history before the resort era.

Evening with the Ababda in Wadi El Gemal. A national park of 7,450 km² inland from Marsa Alam. Bedouin camp, ginger jabana, gypsum dune observation and possible encounter with dorcas gazelles.

Liveaboard dive safari to the Brothers Islands. Two volcanic peaks 60 km offshore, accessible only by 5 to 7-day boat safari between March and May. Vertical walls, wrecks of the Aida and Numidia, manta rays possible.

When to visit

Diving and snorkelling are practised year-round, with two distinct seasons. From October to May, the air ranges between 22 and 28°C, the water between 22 and 26°C: the ideal period for combining Red Sea with a cultural circuit in the Nile Valley. April, May, October and November are our favourites for families and heat-sensitive travellers. From June to September, temperatures climb to 38-42°C in Hurghada and often exceed 40°C in Marsa Alam, water reaches 28-29°C; swimming remains pleasant but excursions into the interior desert become taxing midday.

For diving specifically, two windows stand out. From March to May, visibility regularly reaches 30 metres and hammerhead sharks are frequent at the Brothers Islands and Daedalus. From October to December, it is the season for oceanic sharks on Elphinstone. North winds (the shamal) may cancel boat outings for 1 to 2 days in January-February; we always plan a contingency day in winter programmes.

Practical advice

For a pure beach stay, we recommend 5 to 7 nights minimum, enough time to enjoy 3-4 diving or snorkelling outings and recover from jet lag. For divers targeting remote sites (Brothers, Daedalus, Rocky Island), plan 7 to 10 days liveaboard from Hurghada or Port Ghalib. The simplest entry is via Hurghada airport for the northern zone (El Gouna, Soma Bay, Makadi) and Marsa Alam airport for the southern zone. The coastal road between the two represents 4 to 5 hours' driving without particular interest.

The most seamless combination is Red Sea plus Nile Valley: 3 hours' drive separates Hurghada from Luxor, allowing you to chain 4-5 days of temples then 5-7 days at sea. For those adding Cairo and Giza, plan the extension at the start or end of your stay via a one-hour domestic flight. Sinai (Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab) is the diving alternative on the east side, but we discourage combining both shores: the experience is similar and logistics are heavy. Hotel comfort is high throughout the coast, from 4-star family-friendly to isolated eco-lodges for divers. The region is particularly suited to families with children (shallow lagoons at Sahl Hasheesh, Makadi), divers of all levels, and travellers seeking decompression after an intensive cultural circuit.