The Hurghada Experience (Egypt)

Overview:

In the course of two decades, Hurghada has been transformed from a humble fishing village of a few hundred souls into a booming town of 50,000 people, drawn here from all over Egypt by the lure of making money. This phenomenal growth is almost entirely due to tourism , which accounts for 95 percent of the local economy. Yet it's worth taking Hurghada's claims to be a seaside resort with a handful of salt.

Unlike Sinai, where soft sand and gorgeous reefs are within easy reach and women can bathe unhassled, Hurghada's public beaches are distant or uninviting, while the best marine life is far offshore. If you're not into diving or discos, it's hard to find much to like about Hurghada - though you have to admire its commercial gusto; many of the townsfolk come from Luxor's west bank, where tourism has been a way of life for generations.

While package tourists laze in their resorts, independent travellers often feel hard done by. Paying for boat trips and private beaches is unavoidable if you're to enjoy Hurghada's assets, and although conditions for diving, windsurfing and deep-sea fishing are great, the cost is high, with real bargains limited to accommodation.

Nor will you save much by self-catering; everything in the shops is more expensive than in Cairo or the Nile Valley. As tour groups come all year round, there's no "off" season for holiday villages, whose peak times are the European Christmas and Easter holidays and the Russian vacation period of August and September. Low-budget hotels are most in demand over winter, when templed-out backpackers flood in from the Nile Valley en route to Sinai.

The town itself is a hotchpotch of utilitarian structures, garish hotels and gaudy boutiques, but Egyptians love its wide boulevards and sea breezes, the spaciousness and "Benetton ambience ". Nowhere else in Egypt are shorts de rigueur and holiday romances so easy. Russians have added fresh spice to its already cosmopolitan mix of Italians, Germans, French, Brits, Aussies and Japanese, whose hedonistic potential is grasped by Saudi princes, for whom Hurghada is only two hours away by private jet. For Westerners, however, the chief lure remains underwater: a score of coral islands and reefs within a few hours' reach by boat, and many other amazing dive sites that can be visited on liveaboards.

Locality:

Hurghada is on the east coast, where the Eastern Desert meets the Red Sea. It is 300 mls SE of Cairo and 170 mls NE of Luxor. The other less-developed diving resorts of Safaga and El Quseir lie respectively 40 and 90 mls farther S. Sharm el Sheikh and the Sinai Peninsula are a 20-min flight to the NE across the Gulf of Suez. Hurghada airport, S of the town centre but central to the resort as a whole, is between 1 and 5 mls from the hotels). It is backed by flat featureless desert and a distant range of saw-toothed mountains to the W, giving some attractive sunsets. At least 15 islands, most with coral reefs, lie within a few miles of the resort.

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

The coral reefs, spectacular fish and relatively warm water in winter make this a specialist scuba-diving destination. Its frequent NW wind also makes it a major resort for serious windsurfers, the numerous other water-sports activities available are really add-ons. No antiquities for the historically minded and, for those seeking a Mediterranean-type holiday, little to do at night after your day of sun, sea and beach. Possibly a relaxing second week for a 2-centre holiday after visiting Egypt's antiquities elsewhere.

All hotels situated between the coast road and the sea have their own beaches with parasols, sun loungers and usually windbreaks as well as bars, snack bars and their aqua-centres for water-sports activities. The natural desert sand is really a coarse grit similar to that found on the Costa Brava, which has the advantage of not sticking to sun-cream-basted bodies; most hotels have supplemented it with the fine golden sand expected by international tourists these days.

The shopping here is dominated in the main bazaar area of town by innumerable gold shops offering good value if strenuously bargained for. The usual array of leatherware, brass and cotton items definitely come second here.

During the daytime beyond the beach, sea, sun and water sports, there is not a lot. There is an aquarium, horse riding, camel rides, bowling alley, tennis, squash etc at hotels, and a submarine trip.

The nightlife consists of all hotels providing either Egyptian folklore or showgirl evenings, but these are repeated frequently and the same show often appears in several hotels. Nearly all bars, "pubs" and discos are hotel based. The area around the Empire Hotel in town has become the main centre of tourist nightlife.

There are lots of restaurants in hotels and, surprisingly, some 20-odd independent restaurants including Greek, Italian, Chinese, Korean, European, steak bars and Egyptian.