Hurghada, Egypt

Hurghada is a city in the Port Said Governorate of Egypt. It is a leading seashore resort located on the Red Sea coast. It stretches for about 36 kilometres (22 mi) along the seashore, and it does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as package holiday tourists from Europe.

Today Hurghada is divided into three parts: Downtown (El Dahar) is the old part; Sekalla is the modern part, and El Korra Road is the most modern part. Sakkala is the relatively modest hotel quarter. Dahar is where the town's largest bazaar, the post office and the long-distance bus station are situated.

Hurghada has become an international center for aquatic sports like windsurfing, kiting, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming, and above all snorkeling and diving. The underwater gardens offshore are considered some of the finest in the world. The warm waters here are ideal for many varieties of fish and coral, which may also be observed from a glass bottom boat.

Things to see and do

* Aquatic sports
* Quad biking or camel-riding across the Sahara
* Boat trips to Big and Little Gifton islands
* Glass bottom boat tours
* Shopping at main town and downtown bazaars

Cruise Season - Oct - April
Currency - Egyptian pound (LE) (EGP)
Language - Arabic
Population - 248,000
Electricity - 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT plus two hours
International Country Telephone Code - +20

Port Location - The port is situated on the western coast of the Red Sea near the Gulf of Suez entrance.

Transport Links - The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct connections with several cities in Europe.

International Fast Ferries run fast boats to Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai peninsula, currently running four times weekly. The ride takes 1.5 hours. Warning: this ride is notoriously bumpy and prone to cancellations.

You can reach Hurghada by bus from Cairo. The trip usually takes approximately 7 hours depending on the operator.