Red Sea

The Egyptian Red Sea coast stretches over 600 km from north to south, between the Sinai Peninsula and the Sudanese border, and constitutes one of the world's top diving and snorkelling destinations. The coral reefs, among the best preserved on the planet thanks to warm currents (22-30 °C year-round), high salinity (39-40 g/L versus 35 g/L in the Mediterranean) and an almost continuous sunny climate, are home to more than 1,200 species of fish, 17% of which are endemic to the Red Sea.

The west coast is structured around five main seaside destinations. Hurghada (250,000 inhabitants), the tourist capital of the region created in the 1980s, concentrates 60% of the all-inclusive resorts of the country — practical for family holidays but without particular charm. El Gouna, a private resort village created by billionaire Samih Sawiris north of Hurghada, is the high-end alternative — careful Mediterranean architecture, lagoons, marina, golf, international level kitesurf school. Soma Bay and Sahl Hasheesh are two closed bubble-resorts south of Hurghada, dedicated to luxury tourism (Sheraton, Kempinski, Mövenpick). Safaga, an industrial port 60 km south of Hurghada, is less glamorous but serves as a starting point for the best diving cruises in the northern Red Sea. Marsa Alam, resort village created in the 2000s 280 km south of Hurghada, is now the hotspot for expert divers — access to the mythical sites of Elphinstone (vertical wall to 100 m), Sha'ab Samadai (sanctuary of long-beaked dolphins), Sataya Reef and Marsa Mubarak bay (resident dugongs).

Scuba diving is the heart of the region's attractiveness. More than 200 listed sites, from the coastal reef accessible by snorkelling from the beach to legendary wrecks (the Thistlegorm in the north, a British cargo ship sunk in 1941 by the Luftwaffe, still containing trucks, motorcycles and locomotives; the Salem Express at Safaga). Reference sites: Brothers Islands (two isolated islets offshore, 70 km south of Hurghada, hammerhead and thresher sharks in autumn), Daedalus Reef (off Marsa Alam, oceanic sharks), Elphinstone Reef (off Marsa Alam, vertical wall, hammerhead sharks), St John's Reef (far south, near Sudan, offshore diving). More than 100 PADI/SSI certified diving centres operate in the region.

Beyond diving, the region also offers desert excursions from Hurghada (4x4 in the Arabian Desert, visit to the Coptic monasteries of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul — the two oldest Christian monasteries in the world, 4th century), exceptional kitesurfing and windsurfing (El Gouna, Soma Bay, constant thermal winds), and getaways to Luxor (3h30 by road from Hurghada) to combine diving and pharaonic heritage.