Hurghada
Al-Gouna: a compound on the suburbs of
Hurghada.
Russian
dumplings (Pelmeni) in central
Hurghada.
Clownfish at Sharm El Naga
beach
Walkway in Hurghada by
night.
Hurgada-aerial
Al-Mahmeya is a National Protected park
on the coast of Hurghada.
Hurghada
(/hərˈɡædə, -ˈɡɑː-/;
Arabic:
الغردقة
el-Ġardaqa
Egyptian Arabic
pronunciation: [el
ɣæɾˈdæʔæ]) is
a city in
the Red Sea Governorate
of Egypt. It is a
main tourist center and second largest city (after
Suez) in Egypt
located on the Red
Sea coast.
Overview
The
city was founded in the early 20th century, and since the 1980s has
been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to
become the leading seashore resort on the Red Sea. Holiday villages
and hotels provide aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders,
yachtsmen, scuba divers and
snorkelers.
Hurghada
stretches for about 36 kilometres (22 mi) along the seashore,
and it does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort
is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta
and Upper
Egypt, as well as package holiday
tourists from Europe, notably Italians
and Germans. Until a few years ago it was a small fishing village.
Today Hurghada counts 248,000 inhabitants and is divided into three
parts: Downtown (El Dahar) is the old part; Sekalla is the city
center, and El Memsha (Village road) is the modern part. Sakalla is
the relatively modest hotel quarter.
Dahar is where the town´s largest bazaar, the post
office and the long-distance bus station are
situated.
The city is
served by the Hurghada
International Airport with
scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct
connections with several cities in Europe. The
airport has undergone massive renovations to accommodate rising
traffic. Hurghada is known for its watersports activities,
nightlife and warm weather. Daily temperature hovers round 30
degrees celsius most of the year. Numerous Europeans spend their
Christmas and New Year holidays in the city, primarily Germans,
Russians and Italians.
Tourism
Although a town in its own right
Hurgada’s current major industry is foreign and domestic
tourism, owing to its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and
temperate climate and long stretches of natural beaches. Its waters
are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for
various watersports, particularly recreational scuba diving and
snorkelling.
There are plenty of diveshops. Most take
you out on a daytrip and make one dive in the morning and one in
the afternoon. Dive sites around Abu Ramada Island, Giftun Kebir
and Giftun Soraya are very popular. But you can also visit wrecks
such as the El Mina or the Rosalie Moller.
Climate
Hurghada has
a subtropical-desert climate
(Köppen
climate classification: BWh), with
mild-warm winters and hot to very hot summers. Temperatures in the
period December–January–February are warm, while
November, March and April – comfortably warm. May and October
is hot and the period from June to September is very hot. Sunshine
hours are around 3,800 per year (one of the highest results in the
world), from average 9 hours of sunshine / day in December to
average 13 hours in July. Average annual temperature of sea
is 24 °C (75 °F), from 21
°C (70 °F) in February and March to
28 °C (82 °F) in
August.
The
highest record temperature was recorded on June 12, 2013 and
was 46 °C (115 °F), while the lowest record temperature
was recorded on February 2, 1993 and was 0
°C (32 °F)
Resorts near Hurghada
Al-Qusayr
Al-Qusayr is
one of the Egyptian gateways, and one of the oldest cities on the
western coast of the Red Sea. In the past it was known by various
names, such as Thagho in the pharonic period,
Leucos Limen
(white port in
Greek) in the
Hellenistic and Ptolemaic period, and Portus Albus in the Roman period. In the Islamic
period it was given the name Al Qusayr, which means "a small palace or
fortress".
Located
between Hurghada and Marsa Alam, Qusayr used to be an important
port. Many people traveled from there to the land of Punt to
buy ivory, leather and incense. During the
Ottoman and the Islamic periods, Egyptians and Muslims from North
Africa traveled from Qusayr as pilgrims to Mecca. It was also the
only port importing coffee from Yemen. During the
French occupation of Egypt, Qusayr was the arrival point for Arabs
and Muslims from Hegaz coming to fight beside the Mamalic against
the French army. The most important sites in Qusayr are the fort
and the water reservoir. The water reservoir was Qusayr´s only
source of drinking water 100 years
ago.
Al Qusayr Al
Kadima is another important site as well. It was the old Roman port
where hundreds of amphora and
old pottery artifacts
were found. Even the police station is located at a historical
site. There are now many bazaars here, as well as cafes, coffee
shops and restaurants offering sea food. There are several
300-year-old buildings here: the Ottoman fort and the old mosques
Al Farran, Al Qenawi and Al Senousi.
Makadi
Bay
A
Tourist Resort located 30 km south of Hurghada dedicated only to
hotels, shops and clubs. There´s no settlements with locals. Place
features good sandy beach.
Sharm El
Naga
A
village, around 40 km (25 mi) south of Hurghada. Its
beach contains a beautiful reef
cliff.
Soma
Bay
Soma Bay A tourist resort situated 45 km
(28 mi) south of Hurghada, with various hotels including Palm
Royale Soma Bay, La Residence des Cascades,Robinson Club, Sheraton
(Kempinski – opening August 2008) & Caribbean World
Resort Soma Bay ( opened December 7).
El
Gouna
A privately
owned luxury hotel town, about 25 km north of Hurghada. Quiet
and clean, the town consists of several islands separated by
channels and connected by bridges. Besides 14 hotels and 3 marinas,
there are also 2200 private villas and apartments, while many more
are under construction. It is promoted by some as
Egypt´s Venice. It is
built on 10 km of beachfront and has unique and diverse
architecture.
El
Gouna provides diving and watersports centers, horse stables,
go-karting, shopping arcades, bazaars, a wide selection of
restaurants and bars, night clubs, an internet cafe, four bank
branches, many automated teller machines (ATMs), two pharmacies,
the El Gouna international school,El Gouna national school, a
nursery, a private hospital, three marinas, a library, an airport,
one of several casinos on the Red Sea coast, a private radio
station, a post office, a museum, real estate offices and an
18-hole golf course designed by Gene Bates with a unique aqua
driving range.
Al-Mahmya
A
tourist beachfront camp on the protected Giftun island, 45 minutes
by boat from Hurghada.
FROM
WIKIPEDIA
