Hurghada

Visa kiosk and airport transfer(1.5 hours)

The kiosk is before immigration — buy the sticker there in USD, EUR or GBP cash, or arrive with an e-visa from visa2egypt.gov.eg. Hotel transfers run 200-400 EGP; there is no Uber in Hurghada and meters are decorative, so agree every fare before the door closes

Check in and get your bearings(1 hour)

The city is 40 km of beachfront from El Dahar in the north through Sekalla and the Marina to Sahl Hasheesh in the south. Ask reception what a taxi to the Marina should cost and write the number down — you will quote it all week

Marina Boulevard at sunset(2 hours)

Free. A palm-lined harbourfront promenade of restaurants, dive shops and cafés beside the excursion fleet, and the one part of the modern city that works on foot. Most of your boat trips will leave from these berths

Book the week's excursions at the Marina(1 hour)

This is why you came here tonight. Hotel tour desks mark boat trips and safaris up 50-100%: a Giftun snorkelling day is around $35-45 booked at the Marina against $70-90 through a resort concierge. Check the operator has a real office and read recent reviews

Dinner on the harbour(1.5 hours)

Starfish or Gad on the boulevard, $12-25 a head against $40-plus inside the beach resorts. Do not drink the tap water, including for teeth — bottled is cheap and universal

Boat departure from the Marina(45 minutes)

Expect $35-60 including lunch and snorkel gear, plus a national park fee of roughly $5-10 collected separately in cash. Bring your own mask if you have one; rental silicone is often perished

First reef stop and snorkel(1.5 hours)

The Red Sea holds over 1,200 fish species and around 200 coral types, roughly 10% of them found nowhere else. Never stand on or touch coral — it kills the reef, and fire coral and stonefish stings are genuinely serious

Lunch on Mahmya or Orange Bay(1.5 hours)

Included in most trips — grilled fish, rice and salad served on the sand. Mahmya on Giftun Kebir has the better beach; Orange Bay is busier and more built up

Afternoon on the sand(2 hours)

The UV index tops 11 in summer. A rash vest and reef-safe sunscreen beat repeat applications while snorkelling, and the boat's shade is limited

Return and early dinner(2 hours)

Back at the Marina by 4-5PM, sunburnt and salted. Eat early — tomorrow starts at the dive centre

Morning briefing at the dive centre(1 hour)

Paperwork, kit fitting and a medical questionnaire. Check your travel insurance explicitly covers scuba to the depth you plan to reach — most standard policies do not

First dive: Careless Reef or Small Giftun(2 hours)

Careless Reef is known for its resident moray colony; Small Giftun's drop-offs are the reliable choice in wind. Both are 30-50 minutes' sail from the Marina

Surface interval and lunch on board(1.5 hours)

Included on almost all day boats. Tip the dive guide 50-100 EGP a day — baksheesh is woven into daily life here and small notes are essential because nobody will have change

Second dive(1.5 hours)

Usually shallower and longer. If you are on a four-day PADI Open Water course instead ($350-450 all in), this is the day the confined-water skills move into the sea

Evening at the resort(3 hours)

Deliberately nothing. Diving is more tiring than it feels, and you are up before dawn on day five

Free morning at the resort beach(4 hours)

Your rest slot. Sea temperatures run 22°C in February to 29°C in August, and the house reef at most southern resorts is worth a snorkel from the jetty

Taxi to El Dahar(30 minutes)

100-200 EGP from the Marina or the resort strip — ask your hotel what it should cost and name that number first. Cover shoulders and knees here; resort rules stop at the resort gate, and women may want a scarf

The covered souk(2 hours)

Free to wander, selling spices, cotton, papyrus and shisha at a fraction of hotel-shop prices. Haggling is expected: open at around a third of the first quote and be genuinely prepared to walk away — you will usually be called back

El Mina Mosque(30 minutes)

Free. The city's largest mosque, twin-minareted and floodlit on the waterfront near the old port. Non-Muslims can generally visit outside prayer times; dress modestly and remove shoes

Dinner in El Dahar(1.5 hours)

El Hebeny or Abu Khadega for koshari, taameya and grilled kofta at 100-250 EGP a head — a fraction of resort prices and considerably better food. Note that alcohol is generally not served in town

Pre-dawn departure(4 hours)

Pickups start around 4AM in an air-conditioned coach or minibus. Sleep on the road; you cross open desert and the Nile valley appears with no warning at all

Valley of the Kings(2.5 hours)

The standard ticket covers three tombs of your choosing from those open that day; Seti I, Nefertari and Tutankhamun each need a separate ticket bought at the gate in cash. Photography permits are extra. It is a furnace by 10AM — go into the tombs first and the shop later

Hatshepsut's Temple and the Colossi of Memnon(1.5 hours)

The terraced mortuary temple built into the cliff at Deir el-Bahari for Egypt's most successful female pharaoh, whose successor tried to erase her from every wall. The Colossi are a ten-minute photo stop on the road out

Lunch and the Nile crossing(1.5 hours)

Included on most tours, usually a buffet on the east bank. Some operators cross by motor launch, which is far better than the bridge

Karnak Temple(2 hours)

Two thousand years of continuous building, and the Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns are the single most overwhelming space in Egypt. Late afternoon light through the clerestory is the reason tours schedule it last. Back in Hurghada around 9PM

Free morning(4 hours)

Sleep off Luxor. If you dived on day three, note that you must leave 18-24 hours between your last dive and your flight, so today is your last possible dive day — and only in the morning

Pickup for the desert safari(45 minutes)

Typically 4-5 hours total for $25-50 booked at the Marina rather than the hotel desk. Confirm helmets are provided before you pay

Quad bike or buggy convoy(1.5 hours)

Out across the flat desert behind the resort strip, usually in a long line with a lead guide. Buggies cost more and are far more comfortable for two; goggles and a scarf over the face are not optional

Bedouin camp: tea, camel ride and dinner(2.5 hours)

Sweet tea over a fire, a short camel ride, a grilled dinner and usually a tanoura dance. Tip 20-50 EGP at the camp. It is staged, and it is also the only time on this trip you will be somewhere completely silent

Stargazing from the desert(45 minutes)

The reason to take the sunset departure. Forty minutes from a city of 300,000 with essentially no cloud cover all year — most camps kill the lights for ten minutes if you ask

El Gouna half day(4 hours)

A purpose-built lagoon town 25 km north, 30 minutes by taxi or the hourly shuttle bus. Islands linked by bridges and canals, Egypt's kitesurfing centre, and the best restaurant and bar scene in the region around Abu Tig Marina. Beach club day passes run $15-30

Or a last morning on the house reef(3 hours)

Snorkelling is fine before a flight; scuba is not. Most southern resorts from Sahl Hasheesh to Makadi Bay have jetty access straight onto coral

Last shopping in Sekalla(1 hour)

The Senzo Mall or the Sekalla street shops for spices, hibiscus tea and cotton at a fraction of airport prices. Break your large notes before you go — 'no change' is a standard way to keep the difference

Transfer to Hurghada International(45 minutes)

200-400 EGP, agreed before the door closes. HRG is Egypt's second-busiest airport for charter traffic and the queues at check-in can be long — allow three hours for a European departure

Departure from HRG(1 hour)

Keep small notes for the porters and washroom attendants inside the terminal; 10-20 EGP each is standard and expected

Visa kiosk and airport transfer(1.5 hours)

The kiosk is before immigration — buy the sticker there in USD, EUR or GBP cash, or arrive with an e-visa from visa2egypt.gov.eg. Hotel transfers run 200-400 EGP; there is no Uber in Hurghada and meters are decorative, so agree every fare before the door closes

Check in and get your bearings(1 hour)

The city is 40 km of beachfront from El Dahar in the north through Sekalla and the Marina to Sahl Hasheesh in the south. Ask reception what a taxi to the Marina should cost and write the number down — you will quote it for two weeks

Marina Boulevard at sunset(2 hours)

Free. A palm-lined harbourfront promenade of restaurants, dive shops and cafés beside the excursion fleet, and the one part of the modern city that works on foot

Choose a dive centre and book the fortnight(1.5 hours)

The single most valuable hour of the trip. Hotel desks mark boat trips up 50-100%; a Giftun day is $35-45 at the Marina against $70-90 through a concierge. For the four-day PADI Open Water course ($350-450 all in), confirm PADI or SSI affiliation and in-date equipment, and ask to see the compressor room

Dinner on the harbour(1.5 hours)

Starfish or Gad on the boulevard, $12-25 a head. Do not drink the tap water, including for teeth — bottled is cheap and universal, and stomach upsets are the most common complaint here

Boat departure from the Marina(45 minutes)

$35-60 including lunch and snorkel gear, plus a national park fee of roughly $5-10 collected separately in cash. Bring your own mask if you have one — rental silicone is often perished

First reef stop and snorkel(1.5 hours)

The Red Sea holds over 1,200 fish species and around 200 coral types, roughly 10% found nowhere else. Never stand on or touch coral: it kills the reef, and fire coral and stonefish stings are genuinely serious

Lunch on Mahmya(1.5 hours)

Grilled fish, rice and salad on the sand, included in most trips. Mahmya on Giftun Kebir has the better beach; Orange Bay is busier and more built up

Second reef stop(1.5 hours)

The UV index tops 11 in summer — a rash vest and reef-safe sunscreen beat repeat applications while snorkelling, and boat shade is limited

Return and early night(2 hours)

Back at the Marina by 4-5PM. The course starts at 8AM tomorrow with theory, and you will want to have slept

Knowledge development(3 hours)

Physics, pressure, equipment and dive tables, usually with e-learning done in advance if you booked online. Ask questions now — everything after this assumes you understood it

Equipment assembly and confined water skills(3 hours)

In a pool or a sheltered shallow bay: mask clearing, regulator recovery, buoyancy, and the controlled emergency ascent. Mask clearing is the skill that fails most students, and it is entirely a matter of practice

Lunch at the dive centre(1 hour)

Most include it or have a café next door for 100-200 EGP. Eat properly — cold water and nerves burn more than you expect

Afternoon at the resort beach(3 hours)

Deliberately free. Review the tables, get an early night, and hydrate — dehydration raises decompression risk and the desert air does it to you without noticing

Boat out to the training reef(45 minutes)

Typically Fanous, El Fanadir or a shallow site off Giftun. Bring a windproof layer — the boat deck at 8AM in winter is colder than the brochure suggests

Open water dives 1 and 2(3 hours)

Skill circuits on the sand at 8-12 m with a fun swim over the reef at the end of each. Your instructor will be within arm's reach the whole time

Lunch on board(1 hour)

Included on almost all day boats. Tip the guide 50-100 EGP a day — baksheesh is woven into daily life and small notes are essential because nobody will have change

Log the dives and debrief(1 hour)

Fill the logbook properly. In ten years it is the only record you will have of what you saw and how much weight you needed

Evening free(3 hours)

No alcohol before a dive day — it dehydrates and the centre will ask. The Marina cafés do excellent karkadeh, hibiscus tea served hot or iced

Boat to the certification site(45 minutes)

Often Umm Gamar or Shaab El Erg, both a little further out and both markedly better than the training reef

Open water dives 3 and 4(3.5 hours)

Compass navigation, a free descent with no reference line, and the tired-diver tow. Then twenty minutes of simply swimming, which is the entire reason you did the other four days

Lunch on board and certification paperwork(1.5 hours)

The temporary card is issued the same day and the plastic follows by post or app. Keep the digital copy — you will be asked for it at every centre for the rest of your life

Afternoon free(3 hours)

Rest. Four consecutive dive days is a real load on the body, and tomorrow is deliberately dry

Celebration dinner at the Marina(2 hours)

El Sakia or Zia Amelia on the boulevard, $15-25. Now you can have the beer

Free morning at the resort(4 hours)

Sleep, swim, do nothing. Sea temperatures run 22°C in February to 29°C in August and the house reef at most southern resorts is worth a snorkel from the jetty

Taxi to El Dahar(30 minutes)

100-200 EGP from the Marina — ask your hotel what it should cost and name that number first. Cover shoulders and knees here; resort rules stop at the resort gate, and women may want a scarf

The covered souk(2 hours)

Free to wander, selling spices, cotton, papyrus and shisha at a fraction of hotel-shop prices. Haggling is expected: open at around a third of the first quote and be prepared to walk away — you will usually be called back

El Mina Mosque(30 minutes)

Free. The city's largest mosque, twin-minareted and floodlit on the waterfront near the old port. Non-Muslims can generally visit outside prayer times; dress modestly and remove shoes

Dinner in El Dahar(1.5 hours)

El Hebeny or Abu Khadega for koshari, taameya and grilled kofta at 100-250 EGP a head — a fraction of resort prices and considerably better food. Alcohol is generally not served in town

Long boat out to Abu Nuhas(2 hours)

About 2 hours north from the Marina in the Strait of Gubal, and this is a $70-100 day trip rather than a standard reef day. Rough in wind — take a tablet an hour before if you are prone

Dive 1: the Giannis D(1.5 hours)

A Greek freighter that hit the reef in 1983 and now lies canted at 45 degrees, which does strange things to your sense of up. The stern section and engine room are the classic swim; penetration needs a wreck qualification you do not yet have

Surface interval and lunch(1.5 hours)

On the boat, in the lee of the reef. Hydrate hard between dives

Dive 2: the Carnatic(1.5 hours)

A P&O steamer that sank in 1869 carrying wine and reportedly gold sovereigns. The wooden hull has largely gone, leaving the iron ribs standing like a cathedral with glassfish pouring through them — one of the most photographed wrecks in the Red Sea

Return and early dinner(3 hours)

Back at the Marina by 5-6PM. No diving tomorrow — the desert is on the schedule and altitude after diving is its own risk

Free morning(4 hours)

No diving today. Snorkelling, swimming and sleeping are all fine; the desert route climbs only slightly, but centres advise a dry day before it anyway

Pickup for the desert safari(45 minutes)

Typically 4-5 hours total for $25-50 booked at the Marina rather than the hotel desk. Confirm helmets are provided before you pay

Quad bike or buggy convoy(1.5 hours)

Out across flat desert behind the resort strip in a long line behind a lead guide. Buggies cost more and are far more comfortable for two; goggles and a scarf over the face are not optional

Bedouin camp: tea, camel ride and dinner(2.5 hours)

Sweet tea over a fire, a short camel ride, grilled dinner and usually a tanoura dance. Tip 20-50 EGP at the camp

Stargazing from the desert(45 minutes)

The reason to take the sunset departure. Forty minutes from a city of 300,000 with essentially no cloud all year — most camps kill the lights for ten minutes if you ask

Drive Hurghada to Luxor(4 hours)

Leave around 8AM. The road crosses empty Eastern Desert and drops into the Nile valley with no warning at all — the green appears as a hard line

Check in on the east bank(1 hour)

Corniche hotels run $40-120 a night. The Winter Palace, where Howard Carter announced the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, is the splurge at around $200

Karnak Temple(2.5 hours)

Two thousand years of continuous building by roughly thirty pharaohs. The Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns are the single most overwhelming space in Egypt. Entry around 450-600 EGP; late afternoon light through the clerestory is the reason to come now rather than at 9AM

Dinner on the Corniche(1.5 hours)

Sofra on the east bank does proper Egyptian home cooking in a restored house for 250-400 EGP a head — book, it fills

Luxor Temple after dark(1.5 hours)

Around 400-500 EGP and open into the evening. Floodlit, half-empty and directly in the middle of the modern town, with the Avenue of Sphinxes running away from it toward Karnak — 2.7 km of it, fully excavated and reopened in 2021

Dawn hot air balloon(3 hours)

$80-120 including hotel pickup around 4:30AM and the river crossing. Twenty flights lift at once over the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the green strip against the desert. Flights cancel in wind — book for the first of your two mornings

Valley of the Kings(2.5 hours)

The standard ticket covers three tombs from those open that day; Seti I, Nefertari and Tutankhamun each need a separate ticket bought at the gate in cash, and the photography permit is extra. It is a furnace by 10AM — tombs first, shops later

Hatshepsut's Temple and the Colossi of Memnon(1.5 hours)

The terraced mortuary temple built into the cliff at Deir el-Bahari for Egypt's most successful female pharaoh, whose successor tried to erase her from every wall. The Colossi are a ten-minute stop on the road

Lunch and a rest at the hotel(3 hours)

Deliberate. You have been up since 4AM and the afternoon is unusable outdoors from March to October

Luxor Museum(1.5 hours)

Around 300-400 EGP, open into the evening, air-conditioned and superbly curated — a small, sharply edited collection including the cache of statues found buried under the Luxor Temple courtyard in 1989

Morning at the Ramesseum or Medinet Habu(2 hours)

Around 200-300 EGP each and almost empty. Medinet Habu's painted reliefs still hold their colour better than anything at Karnak, and Ramesses III's mortuary temple records a sea invasion in carved detail. Both open at 6AM

Drive back to Hurghada(4 hours)

Leave by 11AM to be back for a late lunch. Convoy rules on this road have relaxed but drivers still prefer daylight

Afternoon at the beach(3 hours)

No plan, no boat, no alarm

Dinner at the resort or Sekalla(2 hours)

Sekalla's street restaurants do grilled fish by the kilo at 200-350 EGP — pick from the ice and they cook it whole

Boat north to Sha'ab El Erg(1.5 hours)

From the Marina, usually 8-9AM. Choose a small boat: the big cruisers arrive together and the dolphins leave

Snorkelling with the spinner pod(2 hours)

The dolphins are wild and resting — Egyptian regulations and basic decency mean you enter quietly, never chase, and never touch. If they come to you, which they often do, that is entirely their decision

Lunch on board and reef stop(2 hours)

The horseshoe's inner reef is shallow, sheltered and full of coral heads that make it a good snorkel even when the dolphins have moved on

Return and a hammam(2 hours)

Several resorts and the Marina spas run a Turkish hammam and scrub for 400-800 EGP — genuinely restorative after two weeks of salt water and desert dust

Evening free(3 hours)

Nothing scheduled

Taxi or shuttle to El Gouna(30 minutes)

About 30 minutes by taxi (300-500 EGP) or the hourly shuttle bus for far less. Beach club day passes run $15-30

Kitesurfing lesson or a lagoon SUP(3 hours)

Beginner kite lessons run $70-120 for three hours in flat, waist-deep, wind-reliable water — as good a place to learn as exists. Paddleboarding the canals is around $15-25 an hour if that is more your speed

Lunch at Abu Tig Marina(1.5 hours)

Zia Amelia or Moods, $15-30 a head, on a quay of yachts and Nubian-styled architecture that is nothing like the rest of the coast

Downtown El Gouna and the Kafr(2 hours)

Free to wander. The mock-Nubian old-town quarter has craft shops, a small mosque and the best coffee in the region

Last dinner in El Gouna or back at the Marina(2.5 hours)

Break your large notes tonight — vendors and drivers genuinely will not have change, and 'no change' is a standard way to keep the difference

Last snorkel on the house reef(2 hours)

Snorkelling is fine before a flight; scuba is not. Most southern resorts from Sahl Hasheesh to Makadi Bay have jetty access straight onto coral

Last shopping in Sekalla(1.5 hours)

Senzo Mall or the Sekalla street shops for spices, hibiscus tea, cotton and shisha at a fraction of airport prices

Pack and check the dive log(45 minutes)

Confirm your certification card has arrived in the PADI or SSI app before you leave the country — it is far easier to chase from the centre's front desk than by email from home

Transfer to Hurghada International(45 minutes)

200-400 EGP, agreed before the door closes. HRG is Egypt's second-busiest airport for charter traffic and check-in queues run long — allow three hours for a European departure

Departure from HRG(1 hour)

Keep small notes for porters and washroom attendants inside the terminal; 10-20 EGP each is standard and expected

Visa kiosk and airport transfer(1.5 hours)

The kiosk is before immigration — buy the sticker in USD, EUR or GBP cash, or arrive with an e-visa from visa2egypt.gov.eg. Note the 30-day validity against a 21-day trip; there is no margin for a long extension. Transfers run 200-400 EGP

Check in and get your bearings(1 hour)

The city is 40 km of beachfront from El Dahar in the north through Sekalla and the Marina to Sahl Hasheesh in the south. Ask reception what each taxi run should cost and write the numbers down

Marina Boulevard at sunset(2 hours)

Free. The harbourfront promenade of restaurants, dive shops and cafés beside the excursion fleet, and the one part of the modern city that works on foot

Choose a dive centre and book the three weeks(1.5 hours)

The most valuable hour of the trip. Hotel desks mark trips up 50-100%. For the PADI Open Water course ($350-450) confirm PADI or SSI affiliation and in-date equipment, and ask to see the compressor room. Book the Luxor car and the Cairo flights tonight too

Dinner on the harbour(1.5 hours)

Starfish or Gad, $12-25 a head. Do not drink the tap water, including for teeth — stomach upsets are the single most common complaint here

Boat departure from the Marina(45 minutes)

$35-60 including lunch and snorkel gear, plus a national park fee of $5-10 collected separately in cash. Bring your own mask if you have one

First reef stop and snorkel(1.5 hours)

The Red Sea holds over 1,200 fish species and around 200 coral types, roughly 10% found nowhere else. Never stand on or touch coral — fire coral and stonefish stings are genuinely serious

Lunch on Mahmya(1.5 hours)

Grilled fish, rice and salad on the sand, included in most trips. Mahmya on Giftun Kebir has the better beach

Second reef stop(1.5 hours)

The UV index tops 11 in summer — a rash vest and reef-safe sunscreen beat repeat applications, and boat shade is limited

Return and early night(2 hours)

Back by 4-5PM. The course starts at 8AM tomorrow

Knowledge development(3 hours)

Physics, pressure, equipment and dive tables, usually with e-learning done in advance if you booked online. Ask questions now — everything after this assumes you understood it

Confined water skills(3 hours)

Mask clearing, regulator recovery, buoyancy and the controlled emergency ascent, in a pool or sheltered bay. Mask clearing is the skill that fails most students and it is entirely a matter of practice

Lunch at the dive centre(1 hour)

Most include it or have a café next door for 100-200 EGP

Afternoon free(3 hours)

Review the tables and hydrate hard — dehydration raises decompression risk and the desert air does it without you noticing

Boat out to the training reef(45 minutes)

Typically Fanous, El Fanadir or a shallow site off Giftun. Bring a windproof layer — the boat deck at 8AM in winter is colder than the brochure suggests

Open water dives 1 and 2(3 hours)

Skill circuits on the sand at 8-12 m with a fun swim over the reef at the end of each. Your instructor stays within arm's reach

Lunch on board(1 hour)

Included on almost all day boats. Tip the guide 50-100 EGP a day; carry small notes, because nobody will have change

Log the dives(45 minutes)

Fill the logbook properly — in ten years it is the only record of what you saw and how much weight you needed

Evening free(3 hours)

No alcohol before a dive day. The Marina cafés do excellent karkadeh, hibiscus tea served hot or iced

Boat to the certification site(45 minutes)

Often Umm Gamar or Shaab El Erg, further out and markedly better than the training reef

Open water dives 3 and 4(3.5 hours)

Compass navigation, a free descent with no reference line, and the tired-diver tow. Then twenty minutes of simply swimming, which is why you did the other four days

Certification paperwork(1 hour)

The temporary card is issued the same day, the plastic follows by post or app. Keep the digital copy

Afternoon free(3 hours)

Four consecutive dive days is a real load. Tomorrow is deliberately dry

Celebration dinner at the Marina(2 hours)

El Sakia or Zia Amelia, $15-25. Now you can have the beer

Free morning at the resort(4 hours)

Sleep, swim, do nothing. Sea temperatures run 22°C in February to 29°C in August

Taxi to El Dahar(30 minutes)

100-200 EGP — ask your hotel what it should cost and name that number first. Cover shoulders and knees; resort rules stop at the resort gate

The covered souk(2 hours)

Free to wander, selling spices, cotton, papyrus and shisha at a fraction of hotel-shop prices. Open at around a third of the first quote and be prepared to walk away — you will usually be called back

El Mina Mosque(30 minutes)

Free. The city's largest mosque, twin-minareted and floodlit on the waterfront near the old port. Dress modestly and remove shoes; visit outside prayer times

Dinner in El Dahar(1.5 hours)

El Hebeny or Abu Khadega for koshari, taameya and grilled kofta at 100-250 EGP a head. Alcohol is generally not served in town

Long boat out to Abu Nuhas(2 hours)

About 2 hours north in the Strait of Gubal — a $70-100 day trip rather than a standard reef day. Rough in wind; take a tablet an hour before if you are prone

Dive 1: the Giannis D(1.5 hours)

A Greek freighter that hit the reef in 1983 and lies canted at 45 degrees, which does strange things to your sense of up. Penetration needs a wreck qualification you do not yet have

Surface interval and lunch(1.5 hours)

On the boat in the lee of the reef. Hydrate hard between dives

Dive 2: the Carnatic(1.5 hours)

A P&O steamer sunk in 1869 carrying wine and reportedly gold sovereigns. The wooden hull has gone, leaving iron ribs standing like a cathedral with glassfish pouring through them

Return and early dinner(3 hours)

Back at the Marina by 5-6PM

Deep adventure dive(2 hours)

To 25-30 m, with the classic nitrogen-narcosis demonstration — a simple arithmetic task at depth and again at the surface. Most people are quietly surprised

Underwater navigation dive(1.5 hours)

Compass squares and natural navigation. Unglamorous, and the single most useful skill you will learn

Lunch on board(1 hour)

Included. Tip the guide; carry small notes

Careless Reef or Umm Gamar(2 hours)

Careless Reef is known for its resident giant moray colony, unusually habituated and unusually large. Conditions here are current-dependent and the boat may substitute

Evening free(3 hours)

Nothing scheduled. Two dive days behind you, one ahead

Wreck adventure dive(2 hours)

Usually a return to Abu Nuhas or the Salem Express further south, this time with a proper wreck orientation and a reel. Some centres will not run the Salem Express out of respect — it was a 1991 ferry disaster with over 400 dead, and opinion locally is divided

Peak performance buoyancy(1.5 hours)

The dive that actually makes you a diver. Weighting, trim and hovering without hands — everything else gets easier afterwards

Rest at the resort(4 hours)

Sleep before the night dive. Eat properly and skip the alcohol

Night dive(2 hours)

Off a house reef or a short boat hop, around sunset. Torch in hand, the reef changes shift entirely — Spanish dancers, hunting lionfish, and coral polyps open that you never see by day

Certification and a late dinner(1.5 hours)

Advanced card issued. Now note the clock: no diving until after Cairo, and 24 hours minimum before any flight

Free morning(4 hours)

No diving. Snorkelling and swimming are fine; you fly to Cairo in five days and you are building the margin now

Pickup for the desert safari(45 minutes)

4-5 hours total for $25-50 booked at the Marina rather than the hotel desk. Confirm helmets are provided before you pay

Quad bike or buggy convoy(1.5 hours)

Out across flat desert in a long line behind a lead guide. Buggies cost more and are far more comfortable for two; goggles and a face scarf are not optional

Bedouin camp: tea, camel ride and dinner(2.5 hours)

Sweet tea over a fire, a short camel ride, grilled dinner and usually a tanoura dance. Tip 20-50 EGP at the camp

Stargazing from the desert(45 minutes)

Forty minutes from a city of 300,000 with essentially no cloud all year. Most camps kill the lights for ten minutes if you ask

Drive Hurghada to Luxor(4 hours)

Leave around 8AM. The road crosses empty Eastern Desert and drops into the Nile valley with no warning — the green appears as a hard line

Check in on the east bank(1 hour)

Corniche hotels run $40-120. The Winter Palace, where Howard Carter announced the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, is the splurge at around $200

Karnak Temple(2.5 hours)

Two thousand years of continuous building by roughly thirty pharaohs, entry around 450-600 EGP. The Hypostyle Hall's 134 columns are the single most overwhelming space in Egypt, and late afternoon light through the clerestory is why you come now rather than at 9AM

Dinner at Sofra(1.5 hours)

Proper Egyptian home cooking in a restored east-bank house, 250-400 EGP a head. Book — it fills

Luxor Temple after dark(1.5 hours)

Around 400-500 EGP, open into the evening. Floodlit, half-empty and in the middle of the modern town, with the 2.7 km Avenue of Sphinxes running toward Karnak, fully excavated and reopened in 2021

Dawn hot air balloon(3 hours)

$80-120 including pickup around 4:30AM and the river crossing. Twenty flights lift at once over the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut and the green strip against the desert. Flights cancel in wind — you have a spare morning tomorrow

Valley of the Kings(2.5 hours)

The standard ticket covers three tombs from those open that day; Seti I, Nefertari and Tutankhamun each need a separate ticket bought at the gate in cash, and photography permits are extra. Tombs first, shops later — it is a furnace by 10AM

Hatshepsut's Temple and the Colossi of Memnon(1.5 hours)

The terraced mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, built for Egypt's most successful female pharaoh, whose successor tried to erase her from every wall

Lunch and a rest(3 hours)

Deliberate. You have been up since 4AM and the afternoon is unusable outdoors from March to October

Luxor Museum(1.5 hours)

300-400 EGP, open into the evening, air-conditioned and superbly curated — a small, sharply edited collection including the cache of statues found buried under the Luxor Temple courtyard in 1989

Drive to Dendera(1.5 hours)

Leave by 7AM to be at the gate when it opens. The road runs along the Nile through sugarcane and small towns that see almost no foreign traffic

Temple of Hathor, Dendera(2.5 hours)

Around 250-350 EGP. The best-preserved temple ceiling in Egypt, cleaned of centuries of soot in the 2000s to reveal astronomical figures in original blue and gold. The crypts and the roof chapels are included, and the Dendera zodiac on the ceiling is a cast — Napoleon's expedition took the original to the Louvre

Drive to Abydos and lunch(2 hours)

Simple roadside food, 100-200 EGP. Carry water — this is a long day in open country with little infrastructure

Temple of Seti I, Abydos(2 hours)

Around 200-300 EGP. The finest raised relief carving anywhere in Egypt, and the Abydos King List — a wall naming 76 pharaohs in order, which is the single most important document for Egyptian chronology. The Osireion behind it sits below the water table and is usually flooded

Return to Luxor(2.5 hours)

Back around dusk. If the balloon was cancelled yesterday, swap this day and go up tomorrow morning instead

Morning at Medinet Habu(2 hours)

Around 200-300 EGP and almost empty at 6AM. Ramesses III's mortuary temple keeps its painted colour better than anything at Karnak, and records a sea invasion in carved detail across the outer wall

Drive back to Hurghada(4 hours)

Leave by 11AM to be back for a late lunch

Afternoon at the beach(3 hours)

No plan, no boat, no alarm

Dinner in Sekalla(2 hours)

The street restaurants do grilled fish by the kilo at 200-350 EGP — pick from the ice and they cook it whole

Morning flight HRG to Cairo(3 hours)

About an hour in the air plus transfers. Note the diving clock: you have not dived since day nine, so the 24-hour rule is long satisfied. Uber and Careem do operate in Cairo, unlike Hurghada, and are far cheaper than street taxis

Check in near Giza or downtown(1 hour)

Giza-side hotels put you ten minutes from the museum and the pyramids; downtown puts you in the city. Both work, and traffic makes the choice matter more than the distance suggests

Grand Egyptian Museum(4 hours)

Around 1,200-1,500 EGP for foreign adults. The Grand Staircase of colossal statuary, the twelve main galleries, and the Tutankhamun rooms. Four hours barely covers it — book the timed entry online and start at the top

Late lunch at the museum(1 hour)

The complex has several restaurants at Egyptian-museum prices, 200-400 EGP, with a terrace looking directly at the pyramids

Dinner in Zamalek or Dokki(2 hours)

Zooba for modern Egyptian street food at 150-300 EGP, or Sequoia on the Nile for a long, slow, 400-700 EGP evening on the water

Giza plateau at opening(3 hours)

Around 700-900 EGP entry, plus roughly 900 EGP more to go inside the Great Pyramid — a hot, cramped, stooped climb that is not worth it if you are claustrophobic. Be at the gate for 7-8AM; by 10AM it is coaches, camels and heat

The Sphinx and the Valley Temple(1 hour)

Included in the plateau ticket. The Valley Temple's granite blocks are the best surviving Old Kingdom masonry, and the view of the Sphinx with the pyramid behind is from the causeway, not the panorama point

Saqqara and the Step Pyramid(2.5 hours)

About 450-600 EGP. Djoser's Step Pyramid is the oldest large stone building on earth, from around 2650 BC, and its restored interior reopened in 2020. The nearby mastaba tombs have painted reliefs of daily life better than anything at Giza

Lunch at a Saqqara restaurant(1.5 hours)

The countryside restaurants along the road do grilled pigeon and mezze for 200-400 EGP with palm groves outside

Dahshur: the Bent and Red Pyramids(2 hours)

Around 200-300 EGP and usually near-deserted. The Bent Pyramid records the moment the builders realised the angle was wrong and changed it mid-construction; the Red Pyramid next door is the first successful true pyramid and you can walk into it with almost no queue

Al-Muizz Street at dawn(2 hours)

Free. A kilometre of the densest concentration of medieval Islamic architecture in the world, pedestrianised and floodlit. At 7AM it is empty and the light is horizontal; by noon it is a market

Sultan Hassan Mosque and the Citadel(2 hours)

Sultan Hassan is around 200-300 EGP and is the finest Mamluk building in Egypt — a courtyard the size of a football pitch under a 26 m portal. The Citadel with the Muhammad Ali Mosque is roughly 450 EGP and gives the whole city from the terrace

Khan el-Khalili and Fishawi's(1.5 hours)

Free to wander. Haggle hard — this is the most tourist-priced market in Egypt. Fishawi's café has been open more or less continuously since 1773; mint tea and a shisha for 100-200 EGP

Lunch at Naguib Mahfouz or Zooba(1 hour)

In the khan itself, 300-500 EGP, or head to Zooba for a third of that and better food

Evening flight back to Hurghada(3.5 hours)

About an hour in the air. Back at the resort for a late dinner, with four days left and all of them on the water

Sleep and a late breakfast(3 hours)

No alarm

House reef snorkel(2 hours)

Most southern resorts from Sahl Hasheesh to Makadi Bay have jetty access straight onto coral. Free with your room, and better than half the paid boat stops

Hammam and scrub(2 hours)

Resort and Marina spas run a Turkish hammam for 400-800 EGP — genuinely restorative after three weeks of salt, sand and desert dust

Sunset walk on the Marina(1.5 hours)

Free. Book tomorrow's dive here in person while you are down there

Dinner at the Marina(2 hours)

$12-25 a head against $40-plus inside the beach resorts

Boat out from the Marina(1.5 hours)

Careless Reef, Umm Gamar and Shaab Abu Ramada are the standard northern trio; conditions on the day decide. $60-95 for two tanks including equipment

Dive 1: Careless Reef(1.5 hours)

Two coral pinnacles rising from 30 m, known for a resident colony of unusually large and habituated giant morays. Current-dependent — the boat may substitute without warning

Surface interval and lunch(1.5 hours)

On board. Hydrate hard, and note the exact time you surface from the second dive — the flight clock starts there

Dive 2: shallow reef(1.5 hours)

Deliberately shallow and long to unload nitrogen before the flight. Ask the guide to keep it above 15 m

Rinse and pack the gear(1 hour)

If you bought a mask or computer here, rinse it properly in fresh water. Confirm both certification cards are in the PADI or SSI app before you leave the country

Taxi or shuttle to El Gouna(30 minutes)

About 30 minutes by taxi (300-500 EGP) or the hourly shuttle bus for far less. Beach club day passes run $15-30

Kitesurfing lesson or a lagoon paddle(3 hours)

Beginner kite lessons run $70-120 for three hours in flat, waist-deep, wind-reliable water — as good a place to learn as exists. Paddleboarding the canals is $15-25 an hour if that suits better

Lunch at Abu Tig Marina(1.5 hours)

Zia Amelia or Moods, $15-30 a head, on a quay of yachts and Nubian-styled architecture that is nothing like the rest of the coast

Downtown El Gouna and the Kafr(2 hours)

Free. The mock-Nubian old-town quarter has craft shops, a small mosque and the best coffee in the region

Last dinner and break your notes(2.5 hours)

Change large notes tonight — vendors and drivers genuinely will not have change, and 'no change' is a standard way to keep the difference

Last snorkel on the house reef(2 hours)

Snorkelling is fine before a flight; scuba is not. Free with your room, and a fitting last look at 1,200 species of fish

Last shopping in Sekalla(1.5 hours)

Senzo Mall or the Sekalla street shops for spices, hibiscus tea, cotton and shisha at a fraction of airport prices

Pack and check documents(45 minutes)

Confirm your certification cards are in the app, and check that your visa's 30 days covered the full 21-day stay without an extension being needed

Transfer to Hurghada International(45 minutes)

200-400 EGP, agreed before the door closes. HRG is Egypt's second-busiest airport for charter traffic and check-in queues run long — allow three hours for a European departure

Departure from HRG(1 hour)

Keep small notes for porters and washroom attendants inside the terminal; 10-20 EGP each is standard and expected