Egypt's Red Sea coast is one of the world's great diving and snorkelling destinations — and one of the most reliable winter sun escapes available from the UK within a four-hour flight. The combination of year-round warmth, an extraordinarily rich marine ecosystem, and a hotel infrastructure that ranges from solid budget all inclusive to genuine five-star luxury makes the Red Sea coast one of the most versatile and consistently rewarding destinations in the GotoBeach portfolio. Paul has been diving these waters for years and his assessment is simple: nowhere else within reach of a short-haul flight from the UK offers what the Red Sea offers underwater.
Hurghada
Hurghada is GotoBeach's most important Egypt destination — and the one Paul knows most intimately. What began as a small fishing village on the western shore of the Red Sea is now Egypt's most developed resort city, with a hotel strip stretching over 40 kilometres along the coast and an underwater world that consistently ranks among the finest in the world for recreational diving and snorkelling. The reefs offshore from Hurghada — including Giftun Island, Shaab Abu Ramada and the wrecks of the Thistlegorm and the Rosalie Moller — are among the most celebrated dive sites in the Red Sea. Paul dives them regularly and considers Giftun Island's reef system to be among the most beautiful he has encountered anywhere in the world.
The hotel offering in Hurghada is broad and deep. At the luxury end, five-star all inclusive resorts with private beaches, multiple pools, direct reef access and PADI-certified dive centres sit alongside excellent mid-range properties that deliver strong value for money without compromising on beach quality or food. For families, Hurghada's calm, shallow and warm waters are ideal — the Red Sea here is extraordinarily gentle and safe for young swimmers. For couples, the combination of long sunny days, a warm evening atmosphere along the marina and the extraordinary diving makes Hurghada one of the most complete Red Sea destinations available.
Paul's view on Hurghada is characteristically direct: it is the Red Sea destination that consistently over-delivers on its promise. The all inclusive programmes here are well-run, the dive operations are professional, and the winter sun — reliable warmth of 24–28°C from November through to March when the UK is at its bleakest — makes it one of the most compelling short-haul winter escapes in the GotoBeach portfolio.
Sharm El Sheikh
At the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Red Sea, Sharm El Sheikh sits in a landscape of dramatic desert mountains descending directly to one of the most biodiverse coral reef ecosystems on the planet. For Paul, Sharm El Sheikh occupies a specific place in the Red Sea hierarchy: it is where he goes when he wants to dive world-class sites. Ras Mohammed National Park — a UNESCO-listed marine reserve at the very tip of the Sinai — is, in Paul's assessment, one of the great dive destinations in the world. The shark reef and Yolanda Reef within the park are sites that serious divers travel globally to experience, and they sit a short boat ride from Sharm's main resort area.
The resort itself — centred on Naama Bay and the newer Sharks Bay area — is compact, well-organised and easy to navigate. The hotel infrastructure ranges from solid three-star all inclusive properties to the finest five-star resorts on the Red Sea coast. The beaches in Sharm are typically accessed via jetties rather than sand, which reflects the coral reef structure immediately offshore — something Paul considers an advantage rather than a drawback, as the reef begins within metres of the waterline. For non-divers and snorkellers, the shallow reef gardens are extraordinary: clear, warm water, visibility of 20–30 metres, and marine life of a density and variety that is genuinely difficult to prepare guests for in advance.
Sharm El Sheikh is also one of the driest and sunniest places on Earth — less than 10mm of annual rainfall, over 360 days of sunshine, and winter temperatures that make it one of the most reliable sun destinations available from the UK in December, January and February.
Marsa Alam
Further south along Egypt's Red Sea coast — five hours from Hurghada and a world away in atmosphere — Marsa Alam is Paul's personal recommendation for guests who want the Red Sea at its most unspoiled. The resort has developed significantly over the past decade, but it retains a quieter, more remote character that the more developed northern resorts no longer offer. The marine life here is, in Paul's direct experience, exceptional — dugongs feeding on seagrass beds offshore, spinner dolphins that approach snorkellers in open water, hammerhead sharks at the deeper sites, and coral reef systems of extraordinary health and colour. For serious divers and snorkellers, Marsa Alam is the Red Sea destination that Paul recommends above all others.
The hotel offering is smaller in scale than Hurghada or Sharm, with properties typically set on longer, less crowded stretches of coastline and with a greater sense of space and seclusion. The all inclusive programmes here tend to be well-run, the beaches are quieter, and the overall atmosphere is considerably more peaceful than the busier northern resorts. For couples seeking a genuine escape, for divers who want the best possible marine access, and for guests who simply want to spend a week somewhere that has not yet been fully discovered by the package holiday mainstream — Marsa Alam is the answer.
Egypt — The Year-Round Case
Egypt's Red Sea coast has no meaningful off-season. Summer temperatures (June to August) reach 35–40°C — hot, but manageable at the coast with a sea breeze and a pool. Winter (November to March) is where Egypt's competitive advantage lies: reliable sunshine and temperatures of 22–28°C when Greece and Turkey are closed and even Morocco is cooler. For UK guests who want guaranteed winter warmth within a four-hour flight, Egypt — particularly Hurghada and Sharm — is one of the most dependable answers in the entire GotoBeach portfolio.
For cheap Egypt holidays, luxury Egypt breaks or all inclusive Egypt packages across Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Marsa Alam — book through GotoBeach with full ATOL protection under licence #11211, low deposits from £30 per person and the honest advice of a team that dives these waters, inspects these hotels and knows this coastline properly.
