Hurghada (ar.: Al
Ghardaqah, الغردقة) is an Egyptian city and a tourist
center on the Red Sea.
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 snorkels.
Hurghada stretches for about 40 km 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. Until a few years ago it
was a small fishing village. Today Hurghada counts
40,000 inhabitants and is divided into three parts:
Downtown (El Dahar) is the old part; Sekalla is the
modern part, and El Korra Road is the most modern part.
Sakkala 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 water sports
activities, nightlife and warm weather. Daily high
temperature round about 30 degrees Celsius most of the
year. Numerous Europeans spend their Christmas and New
Year holidays in Hurghada.
Aquatic Sports
Hurghada has become an international center for aquatic
sports like windsurfing, sailing, deep-sea fishing,
swimming, and above all snorkeling and diving. The
underwater gardens offshore are considered some of the
finest in the world. The warm waters here are ideal for
many varieties of fish and coral, which may also be
observed from a glass bottom boat. The city provides a
gateway to diving sites throughout the Red Sea. In
addition, Hurghada is known for providing access to many
uninhabited offshore reefs and islands.
