Egypt is a popular holiday destination, a real paradise for snorkelers and divers. The Red Sea is one of the few places on the world where you can find untouched coral reefs. The main tourist cities have different characteristics and atmospheres, but all of them are perfect for exploring the unique marine life. If you also want to see how healthy coral ecosystems look like, we highly recommend snorkeling in Egypt! This “Where to snorkel in Egypt” guide will help you to find the best place that suits your needs the most!

What is the best season to travel to Egypt? This is an easy question! Egypt is a year-round destination! You might often face the problem that many holiday destinations have monsoon or trade-wind seasons, or just low sea temperatures that make swimming or snorkeling impossible. These will not happen in Egypt! The conditions for snorkeling in Egypt are more than perfect anytime you go. The water temperature can reach 29-30 °C in the summer months (July-August). The sea is the coldest in December and January (20-21 °C) when wearing a 3 mm wetsuit might be useful for your comfort, although some people swim without it too.

For snorkeling in Egypt the best periods are the late spring-early summer and autumn months! During these times, the water is pleasantly warm but the air temperatures are not too high.If you would like to take historic excursions as well like visiting the Pyramids, best to go in winter or spring. For snorkeling, plan your trip between May and end of June, or from mid-September until November! In these times the air temperature is 30-35 °C, the sea temperature is 26-28 °C, perfect conditions for snorkeling in Egypt! The summer months, July and August are for heat-lovers, the air temperature can reach 40-44 °C. In Egypt.

Where to go snorkeling in Hurghada?

You already decided to go snorkelling in Egypt but are unsure which area to pick up? The tourist cities are all different but share a common feature: the unique marine life. We visit the country at least once a year (we are real Egypt fans!) so here is a little comparison of the main destinations to help you to decide.

Popular tourist destination in Egypt, visited by thousands of holidaymakers every year. Hurghada once was a small fishing village, nowadays is the country’s main coastal tourism center. It has some modern areas with 5-star hotels, but the city center is rather “old-style”. You find traditional bazaars selling perfumes, papyrus, local spices, but modern complexes like the Marina or Aquarium too. If you’d like to visit Cairo to see the Pyramids, it is the best and easiest from Hurghada.

If the main reason of your holiday is not the nightlife rather snorkeling, be careful when choosing your hotel. Many hotels have sandy beaches only, especially in the city center. In these places you will find little marine life and you might be disappointed. But there are places with vibrant coral reefs: book your holiday in the Makadi Bay, Sahl Hasheesh or Soma Bay for having access to house reefs!

The Makadi Bay is the most famous area and one of the best spots for snorkeling in Egypt!Hurghada’s coral reefs are shallow without steep drop-offs. Visibility is excellent all year round, the wind might be strong sometimes. It is easy to take a boat excursion from Hurghada and explore other great snorkel spots like Saab Sabina Reef or Sharm el Naga. Book a Mahmya Island trip for some Caribbean feeling! You also have a chance to swim with wild dolphins around Hurghada. You will be offered Dolphinarium tours for sure, but please don’t go, don’t support these activities. Look for an excursion that takes you to swim with free dolphins on the open sea.

Sataya Reef

The Sataya Reef is the best of the few snorkeling places in Egypt where you can swim dolphins in the sea, in their natural environment. A Sataya snorkeling trip is a long yet rewarding full day trip. After your hotel pick-up, you will be transported to Hamata Port. The journey takes approx. 2 hours to reach Sataya Dolphin Reef. Since the reef is in the middle of the Red Sea, the corals are super healthy here! You might see big school of fish, turtles, huge napoleon wrasses as well.

Marsa Egla

If your whole family loves snorkeling, Marsa Egla is your perfect place! This large, sandy bay is good for snorkelers at all levels with shallow water and easy shore access. Swim around and seek snappers, batfish, sweetlips, and moray eels, but expect to meet turtles and seahorses too. On the top of these, you might swim into a dugong too who comes often to the bay to feed on seagrass.

Marine Life in Hurghada

The snorkeling trip in Hurghada allows you to face the special marine life of the Red Sea Riviera in almost unbelievably clear waters. Egypt’s dive sites are world-renowned for their visibility, which can reach 70 meters in some places. The country’s desert coastline and deserted islands differ completely from their underwater landscapes. Which exploded with the diversity and richness of colorful creatures and terrain.

The coral reefs in Hurghada are usually shallow and sloping, suitable for beginner diving. All divers’ favorite coral reef residents can be found in the waters of Hurghada. Parrotfish, Spearfish, Butterflyfish, Clownfish (Nemo), Pufferfish, Sweet-lipped Fish, Colorful Headfish, Moray, Yellow Mink, and turtles. As a bonus, we often see dolphins between the coast and snorkeling sites in Hurghada. The Sataya Reef is home to a big population of dolphins, so it can easily happen that you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of them! Swimming with these intelligent animals is a lifetime experience, don’t miss out visiting this special snorkeling place in Egypt while you are in Marsa Alam. Sataya is a protected area and the daily number of visitors is limited, therefore the best is to book your trip in advance!