What should I pack for Hurghada?

Less than you think. Sunscreen, toiletries, beach towels, bottled water and snorkel fins are all on sale within ten minutes of any hotel, usually better suited to the climate than what you own. The genuinely worth-packing list is short: a long-sleeved UV top, reef shoes, one layer that covers shoulders and knees for anywhere outside the hotel gate, your own medication in its original packaging with the prescription, and — for divers — your certification card and logbook.

Do I need a wetsuit in the Red Sea?

It depends entirely on the month, and rental suits are everywhere, so bringing your own is a comfort decision rather than a necessity. From about December to April the sea sits in the low twenties and centres will put divers in a 5mm suit; from around May a 3mm is plenty, and through the summer most snorkellers want nothing at all. The fact people get wrong is that February, not January, has the coldest water — the sea lags the air by about six weeks.

Do I need a plug adapter for Egypt?

Egypt runs on 220 volts with the same round two-pin sockets used across most of continental Europe. If you are travelling from Germany, Austria or Switzerland you need nothing at all. If you are travelling from the UK or Ireland you need an adapter, and it is worth packing one rather than hoping the hotel desk still has some.

What to pack — and the longer list of what not to

Almost everything you are planning to bring is for sale ten minutes from your hotel. The short list that genuinely is not, the three that cause trouble at the airport, and the two decisions that depend on which month you come.

The honest answer is that this is a short list, and most packing guides for Egypt are long because length is easier to write than judgement. Almost everything you are thinking of bringing is on sale within ten minutes of your hotel, often better suited to the climate than what you own, and carrying it here costs you the space. What matters is the other direction: five or six things that are genuinely hard to get right once you have landed, three that cause trouble at the airport rather than regret at the hotel, and two decisions that depend entirely on which month you are coming — which is the part every other list replaces with "check the weather".

Leave it — it is here, and cheaper

A holiday’s worth of sunscreen

Sold in every supermarket, pharmacy and hotel shop on the coast, in high factors, because the local market is people who live under this sun. Bring one bottle to get through the first day and buy the rest here — and if reef-safe matters to you, read the ingredients rather than the front of the bottle, which the sun page explains.

Full-size toiletries

Shampoo, razors, toothpaste, sanitary products, nappies and formula are all ordinary supermarket items in the resort towns. The one exception worth packing is anything you are particular about — a specific contact-lens solution or a brand of moisturiser may simply not exist here.

Beach towels

Every hotel above the most basic issues them at the pool and the beach, usually against your room card. A packed beach towel is a kilo of luggage that spends the week in a wardrobe.

A full set of snorkel gear, unless you are fussy

Every boat and hotel lends mask, snorkel and fins. A mask you have already fitted to your own face is genuinely worth bringing — a borrowed one that leaks ruins the day — but fins are bulky, heavy, and identical to the ones in the box on the boat.

Bottled water, and most snacks

Bottled water is everywhere and inexpensive, and the supermarkets carry European brands alongside Egyptian ones. Bring the specific thing your child will only eat; do not bring a suitcase of provisions for a country with supermarkets.

Anything smart

There is almost nowhere on this coast that requires it. Resort restaurants ask for "no swimwear and covered shoulders" at dinner and mean exactly that. One collared shirt or one dress covers every evening you will have.

Worth the suitcase space

A long-sleeved UV top

The single most useful thing in the bag, and the one item on this page that changes a trip. It does not wash off, does not need reapplying, does not get missed in patches and removes the entire back-and-shoulders problem that snorkelling creates — an hour face-down puts near-vertical sun on the backs of your legs and neck while the water keeps you feeling fine. Buyable here, but the selection is aimed at children and the sizes run out.

Reef shoes

Not a comfort item. Almost every injury on this coast happens because somebody put a foot down on the reef, and fire coral, urchins and stonefish sit in exactly the shallow rubble people wade through. They are sold here, but you want them on the first morning rather than after the first cut.

One layer that covers shoulders and knees

A scarf, a light shirt, loose trousers — enough to walk through a market or into a shop without being the story. Inside the hotel gate anything goes; fifteen minutes away the answer changes, and having the layer in the day bag is the difference between going and not bothering. The etiquette page sets out where each applies.

Your own medication, in its original packaging, with the prescription

This is the one with legal weight rather than convenience. Some drugs that are ordinary in Europe are controlled in Egypt and can require documentation, and loose pills in a daily organiser are the version that causes problems. Egyptian pharmacies are excellent for anything ordinary — it is your own regular prescription that has to travel properly.

Your certification card and logbook

Divers

A good centre asks to see both before it takes your money, along with when you last dived — being asked awkward questions is the service you are buying, and turning up without them means a refresher you did not plan. Cards cross between agencies without ceremony, so it does not matter which one is on it.

A plug adapter — for some of you

Anyone whose plugs are not continental European

Egypt runs on 220 volts with the same round two-pin sockets used across most of continental Europe. If you are flying from Germany, Austria or Switzerland you need nothing. If you are flying from the UK or Ireland you need an adapter, and the hotel desk will have exactly one left.

A small dry bag

A boat day involves spray, wet decks and a bag on the floor, and phones do not enjoy any of it. This is the cheapest insurance on the page and the thing most often wished for at about eleven in the morning.

The decisions that depend on the month

Whether your own wetsuit is worth the weight

From about December to April the sea sits in the low twenties and centres will put you in a 5mm suit for repetitive diving — that is a real suit rather than a formality, and it is the season where owning one you actually like starts to matter. Around May the water reaches the mid twenties and a 3mm is plenty; through the summer most snorkellers want nothing at all. Rental suits are everywhere and fine, so this is a comfort decision rather than a necessity in any month.

February is colder in the water than January

The sea lags the air by about six weeks, so the coldest water of the year arrives in February rather than at midwinter — which is the single fact people get wrong when they book February expecting spring. It looks like a swimming month from the balcony and does not feel like one from the ladder.

Winter evenings and the desert are properly cold

A coast people picture as uniformly hot drops sharply after sunset from November to March, and a desert trip at any time of year gets cold the moment the sun goes. A fleece or a proper jacket is not overpacking for a winter week here, and a desert night without one is a long evening.

In high summer, pack for shade rather than for sun

From June to September the middle of the day is something to be indoors or in the water for rather than something to manage. A hat with a real brim, loose long sleeves and a second set of clothing for the afternoon do more than any amount of sunscreen, and are what people who live here actually wear.

If you are kiting, the season decides the kite

The prevailing north wind is a year-round feature of this coast and the reason the kite schools are here, but it is strongest and most consistent from spring through summer. Which sizes to bring is a conversation with your own school rather than a list — the point for packing is that spring and summer are the reliable months and the shoulder seasons are not.

The three that cause trouble rather than regret

A different category from forgetting a hat. These are the ones that go wrong at customs or in a pharmacy queue rather than at the pool.

A drone

Bringing one into Egypt requires prior authorisation, and drones are routinely confiscated at customs on arrival — sometimes returned on departure, sometimes not. Flying one without a permit, particularly near coastline, ports or anything official, is a serious matter rather than a fine. Leave it at home unless you have written permission in hand, and check the current position before you travel.

Medication out of its packaging

The same point as the bring-it list, put the other way round because it is the version that goes wrong: a week of tablets in an unlabelled organiser, with the boxes and the prescription left in a bathroom cabinet at home. Nothing about the drug has changed — only your ability to show what it is.

Anything you would be sad to lose on a boat

Jewellery, a good watch, a camera you cannot replace. Boat days involve wet decks, shared bags and a lot of getting in and out of the water, and the losses here are overwhelmingly accidental rather than criminal. Hotel safes are standard and are the right place for the things you brought and then wished you had not.

Common questions

What should I pack for Hurghada?: Less than you think. Sunscreen, toiletries, beach towels, bottled water and snorkel fins are all on sale within ten minutes of any hotel, usually better suited to the climate than what you own. The genuinely worth-packing list is short: a long-sleeved UV top, reef shoes, one layer that covers shoulders and knees for anywhere outside the hotel gate, your own medication in its original packaging with the prescription, and — for divers — your certification card and logbook.
Do I need a wetsuit in the Red Sea?: It depends entirely on the month, and rental suits are everywhere, so bringing your own is a comfort decision rather than a necessity. From about December to April the sea sits in the low twenties and centres will put divers in a 5mm suit; from around May a 3mm is plenty, and through the summer most snorkellers want nothing at all. The fact people get wrong is that February, not January, has the coldest water — the sea lags the air by about six weeks.
Do I need a plug adapter for Egypt?: Egypt runs on 220 volts with the same round two-pin sockets used across most of continental Europe. If you are travelling from Germany, Austria or Switzerland you need nothing at all. If you are travelling from the UK or Ireland you need an adapter, and it is worth packing one rather than hoping the hotel desk still has some.
Can I bring a drone to Egypt?: Not without prior authorisation. Drones are routinely confiscated at customs on arrival — sometimes returned on departure, sometimes not — and flying one without a permit, particularly near coastline, ports or anything official, is a serious matter rather than a fine. Leave it at home unless you have written permission in hand, and check the current position before you travel.

Checked 26 July 2026. Rules and prices change — we link official sources so you can confirm on the day. Something out of date? Tell us.