Spend A Few Days in The Resort Town of Hurghada

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Lazing alongside the Red Sea In Hurghada

Hurghada is one of Egpyts Resort towns. It is located on the central eastern coast on the Red Sea. If you are thinking about heading to Hurghada, read on for all the info you need and what you can expect to see and do in Hurghada.


How Hurghada Is Laid Out and Where to Stay

Hurghada is a long strip of beaches north and south of the main town. The strip is about 50km long, however there are towns both north and south that also have beach side resort hotels, so you have to be careful where you book.

You can easily find yourself in a resort 40 km from town. That might be perfectly OK if you are looking for some RnR and intend to eat and drink in the resort, but that will mean you are a resort captive unless you wish to do the 40 minute drive into and back out of Old Hurghada.

If you choose a resort on the southern strip it can be kind of like being on an island. Some are all-inclusive and even though it looks like they are all grouped together they are not as close as it looks. It’s not like you can just stroll outside, down the road a kilometre and eat at a little local place. It’s nothing but resorts for miles.

It takes kilometres to pass all the resorts and even then the eating establishments you find are all catered around western tastes so you may as well stay at the hotel and do the buffet.

A resort bay in Hurghada
A resort bay in Hurghada

Where should you stay in Hurghada?

If you would like to lounge around the resort, swim at the beach, sunbake and have an all-inclusive meals package a resort might be for you.

If you would like the option to eat at some more local places, wander the old streets and do some shopping, Old Hurghada town is going to be more your style. You can also find some resorts in the town area, so there is also the possibility of making the most of both resort life and access to external facilities.

Accommodation & Resorts in Hurghada

Sunny Days Resort Pool Hurghada

Sunny Days El Palacio Resort

An all-inclusive resort on the Red Sea coast. Sunny Days Resort features white sand beaches, two swimming pools and excellent diving in the hotel’s lagoon and coral reef. From $105 per room per night including meals that’s a pretty good deal.

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Royal Star Beach Resort Hurghada

Royal Star Beach Resort

Close to downtown this affordable resort has a great pool, restaurants and a private beach area. Also all-inclusive guests can choose from the la carte or buffet restaurant. From $140 per double room per night all inclusive.

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Meraki Adults Only Resort Hurghada

Meraki Resort – Adults Only

Guests can enjoy dinner buffets at the main dining restaurant or at 7 different a la carte restaurants. They have a 2.6km beach, pools, 2 water slides and a spa on site. It is also within walking distance to old Hurghada.

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It was really hot and strangely quiet which was great for us but again no so good for the Egyptian economy. We spent the days beach side on our lilos rotating between sun and shade which was very relaxing I must admit. Weirdly the water was cold. Like freezing cold. I got in a couple of times but far out I couldn’t believe how cold it actually was.

Excursions From Hurghada

We did a little boat trip out to an island to go snorkeling and while there was heaps of fish life and we had a great few hours (you are in the water with your snorkel so what’s not to love) however the cold water was a bit of a challenge after a while.

I thought that it just seemed cold because the outside temperature was hot but nope – its bloody freezing. Someone mentioned something about it being so deep as a reason but I didn’t really look into it. None the less a few days relaxing in the sun, by the sea, with food all included was not hard to take at all.

If you were a family the resorts would be perfect, however we just aren’t really resort people. Actually – that’s not completely true. We just love the local experiences so it feels weird to be in Egypt in a fully western resort.

We did go into old Hurghada one day and it was fun. It also caters to the tourism from the Red Sea heaps and the marina is something to see. It was very quiet though and while we intended to go into the old city to eat we felt so bad for these restaurants that must be paying horrendous rent we broke out rule and at in a café by the marina.

Day Tours From Hurghada

 

To Sum Up:

Amazing spot, beautiful weather and very relaxing. The Red Sea is nice and we did do some good snorkeling (although very cool) but it is very much a Riviera type location. Its meant for fly in fly out don’t meet the locals holidays. I guess the Egyptians and people from the middle east come here like Aussies go to Bali?? But its Bali and not leaving the resort.

2019 Update:

Coming out of Africa I had 10 days to spare and went back to Hurghada mostly because it was cheap, I was leaving from Egypt and the temptation of a week of sun and snorkeling was too much to resist.

This time I stayed in town and it was much more my style. The Bel Air Azul Resort I stayed in was Adults only (YES!) and it turned out it was all inclusive (I had no idea when I booked it) which was great for breakfast and lunch, and then dinner I usually wandered down to the old town or the Marina.

I paid $365 USD for 10 nights in August of 2019. Being all inclusive that is $36.50 (plus taxes as they weren’t included) a night for a big king room, all inclusive including basic alcohol without a kid screaming in sight!

  • they have a big dinner around the pool every night that is themed so its Italian and then Asian and so on and so forth.
  • they have huts on the beach as well as lilo’s around the pool,
  • there are multiple restaurants that you can also eat at apart from the buffet,
  • a few pools and
  • did I mention no screaming kids??
  • there is also wifi in the common area’s but my room was close to the reception so it worked in my room as well.
  • there’s a mini mart across the street and old Hurghada and the marina are about 40 mins walk (sometimes less if there aren’t many people)

Getting to and From Hurghada

Getting to Hurghada is a simple process. Flying is your only real option. Air Cairo flys multiple times per day, as does Egypt Air. Round trips flights from Cairo were around $160 AUD in August of 2023.