Hurghada City is the capital of Red Sea Governorate located on the western coast of the Red Sea, 500km south-east of Cairo, and was initially developed in 1909 by British engineers engaged in oil exploration. By the 1920s a primitive . small village was established, but development soon started to promote the town as a scuba-diving tourist destination . Since the 1980s Hurghada has grown from a small fishing village to an internationally renowned resort town on the Red Sea Governorate . It became an international center for aquatic sports like windsurfing, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming, and above all snorkeling and diving. The unique underwater gardens offshore are some of the finest in the world, justifiably famous amongst divers. Hurghada’s warm waters are ideal for many varieties of rare fish and coral reefs, which may also be observed through glass bottom boats.Hurghada is merging the old with the new, and boasts some of the finest hotel chains in Villages Road and the tourist districts around it like Sahel Hasheesh , or north of it
Out and about Hurghada
El Gouna is a tourist resort, developed since 1990. It is located on Red Sea Governorate 22 km north of Hurghada International Airport. El Gouna is famous as many resorts for its waterspouts, including scuba diving, windsurfing, kite surfing, waterskiing, parasailing and snorkeling in addition to a golf course . There are two main beaches, Zeytuna Beach located on its own island and Mangrove Beach. A network of canals allow many houses to have their own strip of beach, even hundreds of meters inland. Most of these canals are crossed by small stone bridges.
Soma Bay is a peninsula surrounded on all sides by the sea. About 5 km in length and 2 km wide, the peninsula is accessed via a 7 km private road through a single controlled entry gate. Soma Bay features some of the best Red Sea diving with its house reef and a variety of nearby diving sites. The 5 resorts (Sheraton, Robinson Club, La Residence des Cascades, Kempinski and The Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge) also have access to an 18 hole, par 72 championship golf course and golf academy designed by Gary Player. Soma Bay also features one of the largest spas and thalassotherapy centers in the region. Water sports are particularly popular due to the prevailing winds which are perfect for windsurfing, kite surfing and sailing
