The towns of the Red Sea coast
Eight places along 300km of coast, and they are genuinely different from one another — El Gouna and Safaga are half an hour apart and have almost nothing in common. Each guide covers who the town suits, who it does not, and what it actually costs to be there.
The eight, side by side
| Town | Airport | Transfer | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Gouna | Hurghada (HRG) | 25-35 min | Highest | Anyone who wants to walk out of a hotel and find somewhere to go without a taxi |
| Hurghada | Hurghada (HRG) | 10-30 min | Low | First trips to the Red Sea, and anyone booking on price |
| Sahl Hasheesh | Hurghada (HRG) | 25-30 min | Upper | Couples and anyone whose priority is not being bothered |
| Makadi | Hurghada (HRG) | 30-40 min | Moderate | Families with young children, more clearly than anywhere else on the coast |
| Soma Bay | Hurghada (HRG) | 45-60 min | Highest | Golfers — Cascades is the serious course on this coast |
| Safaga | Hurghada (HRG) | about an hour | Low | Windsurfers and kitesurfers, who have known about this bay for thirty years |
| El Quseir | Either — check yours | HRG 2 hr / RMF 1 hr 15 | Low | Divers, particularly anyone who prefers shore diving to boat days |
| Marsa Alam | Marsa Alam (RMF) | 20 min to over an hour | Moderate | Divers, unambiguously. This is the best diving in Egypt and it is not a close call |
El Quseir sits between the two airports — Hurghada is about two hours north, Marsa Alam about an hour and a quarter south — so which one your flight uses changes the day. Transfer times are typical road times, not promises.
El Gouna
A purpose-built lagoon town 25km north of Hurghada — the coast’s most polished address, and the least Egyptian-feeling place on it.
El Quseir
A genuinely old port town 140km south of Hurghada — an Ottoman fort, a working harbour, and the closest thing this coast has to history you can walk through.
Hurghada
The coast’s real city — biggest, cheapest, busiest, and the one place here that exists for reasons other than tourism.
Makadi
A hotel bay 30km south of Hurghada built around families, water parks and a very good house reef.
Marsa Alam
The far south — the coast’s best diving, its clearest water, its longest transfers, and dugongs in a bay you can swim to.
Safaga
A working port town 53km south of Hurghada — phosphate ships, world-class wind, and prices that have not been rewritten for tourists.
Sahl Hasheesh
A quiet crescent bay 20km south of Hurghada, built for calm — with the trade-offs calm brings.
Soma Bay
A private peninsula 45km south of Hurghada — golf, deep water, serious kitesurfing, and almost nobody else.
Elsewhere in the guide
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