We went to Egypt in December for snorkeling. We stayed in three different resorts along the coast of the Red Sea. The snorkeling was surprisingly good!

We flew in to Hurgada which was a direct flight from Basel. Unfortunately, our first resort was LaHami Bay near the southern border. We hired a driver to take us and it was a looong drive, about 5 hours. The ride was crazy. Much of the drive was pretty desolate, with sand blowing across the deserted, wasted landscape on either side of the road. Our driver didn’t like his lane, so he spent most of the time in the opposing traffic lane. Thankfully(?) there were very few other cars to be seen.

The LaHami Bay resort was my least favorite resort we stayed at. The reef was robust but very brown. It could have been that recent weather stirred up silt, but there wasn’t a lot of color in the coral here. There were plenty of fish though, and supposedly a dugong is frequently spotted here (we never saw it). Later, we learned that a great site to snorkel with dolphins is not too far from here. Every day we were here, the boat trips to other sites were cancelled. There had been a recent capsizing so the government was being very cautious cancelling water travel. Getting into the sea here for snorkeling was exceptionally easy, with a lovely light sand beach and extremely shallow grade leading into the water. We had half board here (breakfast and dinner included) but we usually only ate dinner.

The second resort we stayed at was the Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian resort. This was the largest resort we stayed at (maybe ever?). The snorkeling was fantastic. We also had great weather while we were here. The water was super clear, the coral was mostly vibrant and tons of fish. Once again, getting into the sea was very easy. The food was better and more dishes were offered here than at either of the other resorts we stayed at. We paid for half board (here it meant breakfast included) and we paid for dinner separately.

The third resort we went to was the Movenpick. This was the most expensive and the room and furniture was the nicest here. The sea was a little harder to get into but I think this was mostly due to poorer weather. The beach sloped steeper into the sea and we had waves most days. The reef was decent once we got out a bit but the dive shop didn’t recommend going too far. At the Hilton, it felt like you could swim the reef for a mile.

I looked into whether we could visit any of the classic Egyptian sites but none really seemed practical from where we’d stayed. We’ll have to go back and make a specific trip to see more.