Things to do in Hurghada besides diving

The sea is the main thing to do: Wikivoyage's Hurghada guide says the town "does not have many spectacular sights except for the Red Sea". You don't need to dive to enjoy it. These are the trips we run for non-divers, all with hotel pickup and nothing paid in advance (cash on the day, free cancellation up to 24 hours before):

• Snorkeling trip, €35: two snorkel stops on the Giftun, Abu Ramada or Gota Abu Ramada reefs, with lunch, mask and fins. About 8.5 hours, hotel to hotel. Where to snorkel and what you'll see is in best snorkeling in Hurghada.
• Orange Bay trip, €40: a boat to Giftun island, free time on the Orange Bay beach and two snorkel stops, with lunch on board, mask, fins and the entrance fee included. A full day. Not sure whether Orange Bay, Mahmya or Paradise Island suits you? Read which island trip from Hurghada.
• Private dolphin speedboat, €200 per boat for up to 6: about 3 hours on the boat to Dolphin House (Shaab El Erg), with snorkeling on the reef; you choose the start time, and pickup is in Hurghada. The dolphins are wild, so nobody can promise them. See how to choose a dolphin trip.
• Try dive, €45: your first scuba dive, one-to-one with an instructor, no experience needed, from age 10. It takes 1–2 hours from the beach or about 8 hours on the boat.

Travelling with a diver? Snorkelers can join our daily dive boat for €35, with mask and fins included (more in how non-divers enjoy the boat days). With children, see what works at each age.

Other sea activities in Hurghada, which we don't run, include glass-bottom boats for seeing the reef without getting wet, and kitesurfing schools, some on a shallow flat-water lagoon (both listed by Wikivoyage). Staying in Makadi Bay, Soma Bay or Sahl Hasheesh? You may be able to snorkel straight from your hotel: see snorkeling from the beach. All our prices are on the price list.

In town, the places to see are the old centre of El Dahar with its bazaar, El Mina Mosque and the promenade and marina in the evening. All three cost nothing to walk around.

• El Dahar: the traditional bazaar, the post office and the long-distance bus stations are here (Wikipedia). Wikivoyage calls El Dahar the old town and says its bazaars are cheaper than those in Sakkala (Sigala), the busy centre further south. The sources disagree on which is older: Wikipedia calls Sakkala the oldest part of town.
• Bargaining: Wikivoyage advises haggling everywhere except in restaurants and pharmacies, and warns that a lot of bazaar clothing is fake and the perfume is oil-based.
• El Mina Mosque: Wikipedia calls it the main Islamic landmark in Hurghada and the largest mosque in the Red Sea Governorate, with two 40-metre minarets. It's an active mosque: if you want to go inside, dress modestly, avoid prayer times and ask at the door whether visitors are welcome.
• The promenade and marina: Wikivoyage describes evenings of traditional cafés, shops and restaurants, and the marina as Hurghada's nightlife area with bars and clubs. Nightlife starts late.
• A hot afternoon indoors: Wikivoyage lists a shopping mall about 10 minutes by taxi from town, towards the airport road, with a hypermarket, a five-screen cinema and a children's play area.

Hurghada has two big indoor sights: the Hurghada Museum, for ancient Egypt, and the Hurghada Grand Aquarium, for marine life.

• Hurghada Museum: Wikipedia calls it the first antiquities museum in the Red Sea Governorate. It opened on 29 February 2020 with the theme "Beauty and Luxury". Ahram Online reported 1,791 artefacts, brought from storehouses in the Red Sea area and beyond, in a one-storey, 3,000 m² building (Wikipedia says about 2,000 artefacts). The displays cover cosmetics, wigs, perfumes and jewellery, a model of how perfume was made, hunting and fishing, music and dance, and how ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs.
• Hurghada Grand Aquarium: it opened in January 2015 in the Magawish area. Wikipedia calls it Egypt's largest aquarium, with about 3,500 m³ of tanks and over 1,200 animals of 100 species. The aquarium's own website mentions a 24 m underwater tunnel, sharks, rays and Red Sea reef fish, plus a rainforest, a mini zoo and a fossil exhibit. Opening hours differ between its website and ticket sellers, so check on the day.

An aquarium shows you the fish without getting wet. To see the same species where they live, including ones found only in the Red Sea, a snorkeling trip goes to the reef itself. Our Red Sea endemic fish guide tells you what to look for.

Desert trips from Hurghada usually mean quad biking into the desert, often with tea and a camel ride; Wikivoyage also lists motorbike and beach-buggy trips. We don't run desert trips, so we can't recommend a particular one. Some points to check before you book:

• Camels and horses: ABTA, the UK travel association, advises never riding donkeys, horses, mules or camels that are too young, too old, pregnant or nursing.
• Photos with animals: ABTA also says to be wary of photos with a captive wild animal, which may find handling stressful or may be drugged.
• Safety: ask what safety kit is provided for quads and buggies, and check your travel insurance covers them.
• Heat: the desert gets hot from late morning, so an early or late trip is easier, especially in summer.

Yes, but it is a very long day. Wikivoyage puts Luxor about 4–5 hours from Hurghada by bus and calls a day trip possible but "a bit mad": most of a 20-hour day is spent travelling. Cairo is about 6–7 hours by bus, and Wikivoyage says one- and two-day trips run to both cities.

• What you see in Luxor: Luxor Temple and the Karnak temples on the East Bank; the Valley of the Kings, the tombs of New Kingdom pharaohs including Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses VI, and Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon on the West Bank (Wikivoyage).
• Early starts: long-distance trips leave very early and come back late. Wikivoyage's Luxor guide advises arriving early in the morning, especially in summer, because midday is extremely hot. It calls winter, roughly November to early March, the best time to visit.
• Cairo and the pyramids: at 6–7 hours each way, a two-day trip leaves you more time at the pyramids of Giza than you spend on the road.
• Travel advice: the UK Foreign Office's Egypt advice (updated 27 October 2026) lists Luxor as an exception to its Western Desert warning, and doesn't list Hurghada or the Red Sea coast. Check your own government's current advice before you go.
• Plan around it: don't book a Luxor day the day before an 08:00 boat pickup. Keep the day after for the beach or a short trip like the 3-hour dolphin speedboat.

Don't pay for captive dolphin shows, don't take shells or coral, and don't touch, stand on or feed anything on the reef.

• Captive dolphins: a dolphin show or a "swim with dolphins" session in a pool is not the same as seeing wild dolphins at sea. The charity World Animal Protection says captive dolphins face "a lifetime of confinement in concrete tanks or small sea pens" and asks travellers to refuse tickets to attractions that use wild animals for entertainment. That is the charity's position, and ours: we only run trips to wild dolphins. Read how to tell the two apart and the dolphin code of conduct.
• Shells and coral: Egypt's Law 102 of 1983 on nature protectorates forbids "damaging or removing any living organisms or natural features and resources, such as shells, corals, rocks, or soil for any purpose" in protected areas, and also forbids catching or disturbing wildlife there. Breaking it can mean a fine and/or up to one year in prison. The Red Sea Northern Islands were declared a protected area in 2006, and HEPCA describes Giftun as a protectorate. Our advice everywhere: take nothing, not even an empty shell or a piece of dead coral from the beach.
• Wildlife souvenirs: ABTA advises against buying souvenirs made from wildlife products, such as turtle shell, which are often illegal under CITES.
• On the reef: float, don't stand, and keep your hands to yourself. Standing breaks coral and is how people get stung or cut. See reef etiquette in the Red Sea and Red Sea stings and first aid.

The sea trips take a full day or a half day; town sights fit into an afternoon or an evening; Luxor and Cairo take a very long day or two days. Use this table to plan your week:

Planning a whole week? Planning a holiday in Hurghada covers where to stay, and our pickup is included from Hurghada, El Gouna, Makadi Bay, Sahl Hasheesh, Soma Bay and Safaga (dolphin speedboat: Hurghada).