Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh? An Honest Comparison

We run excursions in Hurghada, so we have an obvious interest in you choosing Hurghada. Stating that up front is the only way this article is worth anything — and if the honest answer for you is Sharm, we would rather say so than have you arrive somewhere that does not suit you.

Hurghada

Best for: variety, value, families, and anyone who wants both the sea and the desert.

Hurghada is the biggest and busiest of the Red Sea resorts, and that cuts both ways. It has the widest range of hotels at the widest range of prices, the most excursions, a real town with real shops rather than a purpose-built strip — and, correspondingly, more traffic, more touts, and more hassle.

The reef is excellent, the island trips are the best in Egypt, and the Eastern Desert is right there. If you want to snorkel a reef in the morning and be on a quad at sunset, this is the place that makes that easy.

The downside: it is not quiet, and it is not pretty in the way a purpose-built resort is. It is a working town.

Sharm el Sheikh

Best for: serious divers, and people who want the resort experience without the town.

The diving is genuinely a level above — Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran are world-class, and if diving is the reason you are coming to Egypt at all, Sharm is the honest answer. It is also more polished and more contained: the resort strips are the destination, and you can have an entire holiday without leaving one.

The downside: less to do outside the water, a longer trip to anything cultural, and it can feel hermetically sealed if that is not what you wanted.

El Gouna

Best for: people with more money who want it calm and clean.

Twenty minutes north of Hurghada, and effectively a different country. Purpose-built, lagoons and canals, immaculate, quiet, and expensive. Very little hassle, and very little Egypt.

Worth knowing: it is close enough to Hurghada that you can stay there and still do everything we run — we pick up from El Gouna. Some of our guests do exactly that: sleep in El Gouna, spend the day out here.

Marsa Alam

Best for: wildlife and reef, if you will trade nightlife for it.

Further south, quieter, and the marine life is better — this is turtle and dugong territory. The reefs are less trafficked. There is essentially nothing to do in the evening.

Worth knowing: Abu Dabbab, the famous turtle bay, is in Marsa Alam — and you can do it as a (long) day trip from Hurghada. It is a 5am start and it is worth it.

Makadi Bay and Sahl Hasheesh

Best for: families who want quiet, with Hurghada in reach.

Both are quiet resort bays a short drive south of Hurghada — calmer beaches, fewer people, almost no town. Good with small children.

We pick up from both, so you are not cut off from anything.

So which one?

• Only here to dive? Sharm.
• Want the widest choice and the best day trips? Hurghada.
• Want calm and immaculate, money no object? El Gouna.
• Want turtles and quiet reefs, and don't need a bar? Marsa Alam.
• Small children, want peace? Makadi Bay or Sahl Hasheesh — and you can still do everything.
• Want both sea and desert without a long drive? Hurghada, genuinely.

If you are already booked somewhere and wondering what you can still reach from it, message us. We pick up from Hurghada, El Gouna, Makadi Bay, Sahl Hasheesh, Soma Bay and Safaga — and we will tell you honestly if a trip is too far to be worth it from where you are.