Scuba Diving in the Red Sea (Hurghada, Egypt)
Disclaimer: This blog uses affiliate links, so if you choose to book something through them, I earn a small commission with no extra cost to you. However, I have had great experiences using Get Your Guide to book activities!
While Egypt is known for the desert, Pyramids, historic sites, and the Nile. One of the greatest things to do in Egypt is to travel over to the coast of the Red Sea and enjoy some of the beautiful, coral reefs by scuba diving in the Red Sea.
It feels like a completely different country when traveling over to the coast. I went to the coast for some scuba diving in Hurghada.
The Red Sea is home to some of the best scuba diving the world has to offer. When I went, I was looking forward to snorkeling over the coral reefs until I found out that Egypt also offers the ability for you to scuba dive without certification with some restrictions (obviously).
I had always wanted to try scuba diving and I thought what better place and time to try it than in the Red Sea. I think there are huge benefits to trying this while you are the:
You can try scuba diving if you had been thinking about getting certified without spending all the money and time for certification.
You get to experience the reefs in the Red Sea in a much more in-depth way in comparison to snorkeling.
The tour I booked included both people that were scuba diving and snorkeling. I booked through Dive Hurghada, which you can check out here. So if you are traveling with a party and not everyone wants to scuba dive, you would still be allowed to spend the day together on the same boat.
We met at at the dive center to gather all of our gear. You can bring your own gear if you want but they do have some available to you if not. After we gathered our gear, we headed to the boat which was a short walk away.
The boat was absolutely beautiful and an experience all on its own. We rode the boat out for about an hour and then we stopped for our first reef.
The group went in 2 waves since those that were not certified had to be accompanied by one of the staff members. While those snorkeling were able to go out due the entire time of the scuba diving waves if they wanted. I went down with my guide and one of the people at my party with her guide. We held onto the arm of our guide and they would signal to us how to adjust our gear and guided us throughout our dive. They monitor the depth and duration underwater to make sure that you are safe. The maximum depth is 12 meters. The time underwater is between 20-30 minutes.
After the first dive, there is lunch on board as the boat travels to the next diving spot. On the boat: there was coffee, tea, lunch, water, and soft drinks available. There was plenty of food. The day we went we had a selection of Mediterranean food and it was delicious!
After lunch, we stopped for our second dive, which was even more beautiful than the first. We spent about 20-30 minutes on that dive again which felt even more comfortable than the first because we had some experience. After that, we all got on the boat and took the ride back to the dive center to turn in our gear.
The boat ride alone was worth the trip because the water is so clear and you can just sit all the sand dune cliffs around the ocean.
The price to dive in Egypt was actually not bad. I booked an “introductory dive” which cost me about 70 USD. This price included my gear rental, lunch, both dives, and a full day out on the water (about 8 AM-4 PM). It was hands down worth the price for this day. Scuba diving in Egypt is a must add to your Egyptian travel itinerary.
The amazingly clear water of the Red Sea is not to be missed! If you’re not interested in scuba diving, be sure to check out another adventure on the coast of Egypt. There are some great other activities like swimming with the dolphins, snorkeling, or even just cruising around.
Check out Get your Guide to look into scheduling something fun in the Red Sea!
Check out my other blog posts on Egypt to help plan your trip:
