The Red Sea and Sinai

The Red Sea and Sinai

For the Red Sea and Sinai, the question of budget travel is usually more a question of where one goes, as opposed to finding budget facilities in all the destinations.  For Example, situated within a few miles of each other on the Red Sea mainland coast is El Gouna, Hurghada and Soma Bay.  One can pretty much forget budget travel to the expanding resort city of El Gouna north of Hurghada, and to the quieter, limited facilities of Soma Bay. Both areas are well worth a visit, but were not really created with the idea of budget travel in mind.

Hurghada on the other hand seems to have been developed specifically for the budget traveler. People in North America have a tendency to think of Hurghada as a less expensive Red Sea scuba diving headquarters then Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai.  But for many Europeans, particularly from countries that lack warm beaches, Hurghada represents the least expensive sun and fun beach and party resort available to them.  Whereas in the rest of Egypt, three and four star hotels tend to be older facilities that perhaps once had higher ratings, in Hurghada, new hotels are often specifically built with these rating in mind.

Actually, all along the Red Sea coast, for the most part, room rates for good accommodations are at prices one would often pay for meager accommodations in places like Cairo and Luxor.  For example, the Jasmine Village Hotel in Hurghada has its own beach, swimming pool, and many other amenities and for a single room, is under $50.00 USD.  Other good hotels less expensive then this include the Three Corner facilities, with pricing for single rooms in the mid $30.00.  But there are many good hotels in the $20 to $30 range. These include, but are not limited to, such hotels as the Sea Horse Hotel and Sindbad Inn.

At one point the Sinai was considered to be a fairly exclusive destination, but the popularity of Sharm el-Sheikh and a few other destinations there have inspired a few new hotels that do fall somewhat into the budget category. On the less expensive end is the Pigeon House at Na'ama Bay and the Safety Land Camp, which are both very reasonable for Sharm el-Sheikh with rooms under $20.00 USD.  After that, the prices begin to rise rapidly and most other budget facilities or in excess of $30.00.  These include hotels such as the Palermo Resort, which has a nice pool and a section of the beach, the Tropicana Inn and the Sandy Hotel, also with a pool and good air conditioning. Also in the area is the Oasis hotel, with good air.

Once outside of either the general area of Hurghada on the Red Sea coast, or Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai, one is likely to run into camps and beach huts that can be very reasonable, but unless one is a diver, there is little else to do in such locals.  In addition, a number of hotels are very reasonable.  Just to mention several of these, in Dahab in the Sinai, Club Red and the Christina Residence Hotel both have reasonable rooms under $20.00.  Around Nuweiba in the Sinai, there is the City Beach Village where you can pitch a tent for less then $5.00 USD, or opt to stay in a comfortable room for under $20.00. However, our favorite lodging in Nuweiba has to be the Habiba Hotel on the beach, which seems to serve a primarily young European crowd.