Hurghada

Hurghada is really three towns. Dahar in the north is the old Egyptian quarter, with the fish market, the souq and the cheapest food. Sekalla in the middle is the nightlife and mid-range hotel strip, walkable and loud. El Gouna, 25 km north, is a purpose-built lagoon town with its own marina, prices in a different bracket, and the best kitesurfing water on this coast. Stay in Dahar if you want a budget and a real town, Sekalla if you want the beach and the bars, El Gouna if you are here for the wind and do not mind paying for it. A taxi Dahar to Sekalla is 50 to 100 EGP.

Giftun is a protected island 45 minutes offshore with white sand and a genuinely good fringing reef, and the day trip is the standard Hurghada outing. There are two versions of it. The big boats carry 60 people, blast music, and cost 700 to 1,100 EGP with lunch and the 100 EGP national park fee. The small boats take 8 to 14 people, go to the quieter northern anchorages, and run 1,200 to 1,800. The small one is the one worth doing. Ask how many snorkel stops there are, whether the guide gets in the water with you, and confirm the park fee is included before you pay.

The wind here is thermally reliable from March to October, blowing 15 to 25 knots most afternoons out of the north, and the flat shallow lagoons make this one of the best places in the world to learn. A twelve-hour beginner course, the standard IKO Level 1 to 2, runs 12,000 to 18,000 EGP including gear; a single private hour is 1,200 to 1,800. El Gouna and the lagoons south towards Safaga are the flat-water spots, while the beaches in Sekalla are choppier. Book mornings for lighter wind while you are learning, and afternoons once you can ride upwind.

The north wind is the defining fact on this coast. It blows almost daily from March through October, which is why the kite and windsurf schools exist, and it also means the sea can be choppy for diving in the afternoon — book boat dives for the morning. Air runs 25 to 30 C in spring and autumn, 35 to 40 in July and August, and 20 to 24 in December and January with water around 22 C, cold enough for a 5 mm suit. Winter is the quiet season and the diving visibility is at its best. Sandstorms hit a few times a year and shut the boats down for a day.

In Dahar you buy the fish at the market and carry it two doors down to a kitchen that grills it for you, for a fee of around 60 to 120 EGP a kilo on top of the fish itself, which runs 250 to 400 a kilo for bream and more for prawns and calamari. They add bread, salads, tahina and rice. This is the best-value meal in Hurghada by a distance, and it is where local families eat on a Thursday night. Go early evening while the ice is still fresh, point at what you want, and watch it weighed rather than taking the number on trust.

You do not need a boat to dive well in Hurghada. The bays south of town — Makadi and Sahl Hasheesh — have reefs you can walk into straight from the beach, with 10 to 15 m of water, healthy hard coral and reliably good visibility in the morning. A guided shore dive including gear is 700 to 1,000 EGP, roughly half the price of a two-tank boat day. It is the sensible way to do a refresher after a long layoff, and the sensible way to spend a windy afternoon when the boats have been cancelled. Bring a torch — the overhangs at Makadi hide lionfish and the occasional octopus.