El Quseir house reefs
The coast’s most underrated shore snorkelling — reef close in, water clearer than the north, and almost nobody in it.
Getting in
Shore entry from hotel beaches along the coast south of town. Some are over a reef flat; a few have jetties or cut channels.
The stretch of coast around El Quseir has the best shore-accessible reef in Egypt, and the smallest number of people in it. Several hotels here exist specifically because of what is directly off their beach — that is the whole proposition of the town.
The trade-off is the two-hour transfer from Hurghada. If snorkelling is the point of your holiday rather than a thing you do twice, it is worth the drive.
What you are likely to see
- Healthy hard coral close to shore, in better condition than the busy northern bays
- Large reef fish, more of them than further north
- Turtles regularly
- Genuinely good visibility on most days
Conditions
- Reef comes close to shore along much of this stretch — the swim out is short
- Less traffic than anywhere north of here
- Entries vary a lot by hotel; ask about the specific beach before booking
What to watch out for
- Entries can be awkward. Some beaches here have a reef flat with a marked channel, and outside the channel you will be scraping over coral at low water — bad for you and worse for the reef.
- It is quiet in the sense that there may be nobody else in the water. Snorkel with someone.
Conditions change and this is planning information, not a briefing. Nobody can promise you an animal. If something goes wrong in the water, the coast’s emergency numbers are on our emergency contacts page.
Also in this bay — El Quseir
The town guide for El Quseir