Red Sea (Egypt) closed (covid-19 confined)

[KidDocDMC]

The plan is for spring break (end of March/early April). We will get to the pyramids on our last day before we depart on Sunday at 3am (ugh!). There are no flights to/from Marsa Alam on the days that we will arrive/depart. How bad is the cab ride from Luxor?

 

[ontdiver]

Have you considered flying from Luxor to Hurghada? It would cut down on your road time significantly. As you have quite a bit of time for research/planning, you should be able to find something reasonably comfortable from Hurghada to Marsa Alam.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Hmmm.. it might be a bit of a pain, and return from hurghadha usually has the last flight leaving hurgh to Cairo at about 3:40pm so it can be a long layover in Cairo if your flight is late night.. I’m also not betting there are going to be any reliable quick flights to Luxor from hurgh at the moment and for the next 12 months... taxi from Luxor to port Ghalib would be an utter pain in the ass. I would likely just do the return cab from hurgh which isn’t as bad ( 3.5 hours) and you can arrange to get to Luxor before dawn to get a full day. Then I would shore dive from the breakers or the kempinski and try to do a day trip to the panorama reef/Salem express wreck and a couple of zodiacs to tobia arbaa etc. Orcas dive clubs are onsite at the breakers. Great dive outfit. Great shorediving and some of the sites the liveaboards do as well.
The issue with taxis is that you ain’t getting any Escalades which anyways annoys me. It’s usually a completely beaten up Nissan sunny etc

 

[KidDocDMC]

Hmmm.. it might be a bit of a pain, and return from hurghadha usually has the last flight leaving hurgh to Cairo at about 3:40pm so it can be a long layover in Cairo if your flight is late night.. I’m also not betting there are going to be any reliable quick flights to Luxor from hurgh at the moment and for the next 12 months... taxi from Luxor to port Ghalib would be an utter pain in the ass. I would likely just do the return cab from hurgh which isn’t as bad ( 3.5 hours) and you can arrange to get to Luxor before dawn to get a full day. Then I would shore dive from the breakers or the kempinski and try to do a day trip to the panorama reef/Salem express wreck and a couple of zodiacs to tobia arbaa etc. Orcas dive clubs are onsite at the breakers. Great dive outfit. Great shorediving and some of the sites the liveaboards do as well.
The issue with taxis is that you ain’t getting any Escalades which anyways annoys me. It’s usually a completely beaten up Nissan sunny etc

...yeah, maybe a resort in Sharm is a better bet for our first trip there.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

I think for ease and because you are seeing other stuff, it’s probably the best shout for your first trip. You’ll have a blast.

 

[Mmx06]

Also if you are going to see pyramids etc, I’d advise going now..one of the ladies on our boat spent 3 days in Karnak and on 1 day she was the only tourist there...they were unlocking temples just for her. It was amazing...

This is a highly recommended advice!! We did a 1-week river tour (Edfu, Philae, Abu-Simbel, Kom Ombo, Esna, Karnak, Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings) in Spring 2011, shortly after the revolution and it was fantastic.
Attached a picture from our visit of the (empty) Temple of Hatshepsut

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Boring... i can't see any fish...

 

[ontdiver]

Even if you do not do a river tour (which I highly recommend) seeing the sights in and around Cairo and Luxor is worth every penny.

 

[divezonescuba]

For our first time trip to Egypt we did a couple days in Cairo, one week of shore diving in Dahab and a week on a liveaboard out of Sharm. It’s easy to get between the Sharm airport and Dahab and back. In 2021, we are reversing the sequence, liveaboard first and then a week of shore diving in Dahab.

The Blue Hole in Dahab is epic.

I also really enjoyed our Nile river dinner trip with the whirling dervish dancers.

Aliens helped make those pyramids.

 

[KidDocDMC]

Jewish slaves built the pyramids, and we will be there at the perfect time, Passover. I hope that the Red Sea doesn't part while we try to dive in it. From what I read the Blue Hole and the Canyon in Dahab are more for advanced open water divers. We plan to get AOC and Nitrox certified while we are there, but I'm not sure if we'll venture into those depths. We do plan to go to Cairo for the last day and stay at the Marriott right at the base of the pyramids (with a view of them) and take a tour. Good way to spend some time before and early am departure on Sunday.