The Red Sea in May
Properly hot, with the sea finally warm. The last comfortable month before summer stops being a description and becomes a problem.
Air, daytime
32–34°C
Air, night
21–23°C
Sea
around 26°C
May is where the coast tips from warm to hot. Midday becomes something to plan around rather than ignore, and the sea at 26°C is warm enough that nobody hesitates on the way in.
For watersports it is close to the best month of the year: consistent wind, warm water, long days. Sandbox festival in El Gouna falls in early May and fills the town.
For sightseeing it is the last month where a full day at Luxor is merely hard rather than genuinely punishing.
Wind, crowds and prices
- Wind
- Strong and reliable — peak kitesurf conditions.
- Crowds
- Steady, with a lull between Easter and the summer holidays.
- Prices
- Reasonable in the gaps between holidays.
Good for
- Kitesurfing and windsurfing
- Warm-water diving
- Late-season value between holidays
In the water
26°C is the point where nearly everyone stops thinking about the water temperature. A 3mm suit is plenty for diving and most snorkellers need nothing. Whale shark sightings are most often reported from around now into the summer, which is a real seasonal pattern rather than a promise — they are wild animals and no operator can guarantee one.
How long the days are
About thirteen and a half hours. The days are long enough that the middle of them can be written off entirely and the trip still works.
The catch
The afternoons. From May onwards the middle of the day belongs indoors or in the water, and any plan involving standing in the sun between noon and four needs rethinking.
Or the month either side
June is three degrees hotter with a sea two degrees warmer, and past the point where the heat is a detail rather than the main feature. April is the same holiday with a cooler sea and gentler afternoons. May is the last month where you can still do a full day at Luxor without regretting it.
Typical Hurghada figures, rounded. Marsa Alam runs a couple of degrees warmer. Last reviewed 26 July 2026. Something off?