Fourteen nights, two bases
A fortnight that actually moves: a week in the north for the wrecks and the town, a week in the south for the reef and the quiet. One transfer in the middle.
Days 1–3
Base in Hurghada or El Gouna. Short boat runs, the widest choice of centres, and the Giftun reefs to get your buoyancy back.
Days 4–5
Thistlegorm and Abu Nuhas. This is why you are in the north — the ships are all here, and no amount of southern reef replaces them.
Day 6
Luxor from the north is a long day but a shorter one than from Marsa Alam. Do it from this half of the trip.
Day 7
Four hours by road. Leave early, arrive for lunch, do nothing with the afternoon. Do not book a dive for the day you transfer.
Days 8–11
Marsa Alam is where the house reefs are good enough to dive without a boat and where the dugongs and turtles actually are. Slower days, better water, fewer boats.
Days 12–13
Elphinstone if the conditions and your certification allow, and if they do not, a second day on the house reef is not a consolation prize.
Day 14
No diving. Marsa Alam airport is nearer than people expect from the resorts north of it and further than expected from the ones south. Confirm which you are.
You will spend most of a day in a car, and the south has very little to do in the evenings. That is the trade: better water, less everything else.