Sahl Hasheesh or Makadi Bay?
The two quiet bays south of Hurghada, ten minutes apart, pulling in different directions: couples and calm against families and water slides.
Both are hotel bays rather than towns, both are a short drive from Hurghada airport, and both are chosen by people who want the sea without the city. They are not interchangeable.
The distinction that matters is not scenery, it is who each bay was designed to absorb. Sahl Hasheesh was laid out as a crescent of four- and five-star hotels around a promenade that was meant to become a town and has not quite; Makadi was built to hold families and does it well enough that the water park is a genuine reason to choose it.
Neither has anything you would call a destination outside the hotels, so the honest framing is that you are choosing a property with a bay attached. That is worth saying plainly, because it changes what you should research: the resort matters far more here than the postcode does.
Side by side
Who it is built for
Even- Sahl Hasheesh
- — Couples and quiet holidays
- Makadi
- — Families, explicitly and successfully
Water parks
Makadi ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — Some hotels have slides; no major park
- Makadi
- — Makadi Water World, plus large hotel complexes
Snorkelling from the beach
Even- Sahl Hasheesh
- — Very good house reefs along the bay
- Makadi
- — Good, and several hotels have jetties out to the reef edge
Anything outside the hotels
Sahl Hasheesh ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — The Old Town promenade — quiet, and quieter out of season
- Makadi
- — Effectively nothing
Transfer from HRG
Sahl Hasheesh ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — About 25–30 minutes
- Makadi
- — About 30–40 minutes
Value
Makadi ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — Mid to upper; skews four and five star
- Makadi
- — Strong all-inclusive value, particularly in family rooms
Kitesurfing
Makadi ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — Not a spot — the bay is sheltered and there is no scene
- Makadi
- — Makadi Bay is a recognised spot with schools on the beach
Out of season
Makadi ↑- Sahl Hasheesh
- — The promenade thins out, and the empty plots between hotels show
- Makadi
- — Hotels keep running on family trade; outside them there was never anything
So which one?
Couples wanting calm
Sahl Hasheesh
Quieter, more adult, and there is at least somewhere to walk in the evening.
Families with children under twelve
Makadi
The water park and the family-built hotels do most of the work for you.
Snorkellers on a budget
Either
Both have reef within swimming distance. Pick on the hotel, not the bay.
Divers
Either
Both are twenty-five to forty minutes from the Hurghada day boats and both have reef off the beach. Choose the dive centre, not the bay.
Kitesurfers
Makadi
It is an actual spot with schools. Sahl Hasheesh is sheltered, which is exactly what you do not want.
In both bays you are choosing a hotel far more than a destination. If the resort disappoints, there is very little around it to rescue the week — research the specific property hard.
Last reviewed 26 July 2026. No comparison here is tilted by who pays us — how we make money. Disagree with a call? Tell us why.