The Hurghada resort of Soma Bay is regarded as the perfect choice for a top class beach holiday in Egypt. The resort hotels offer a blend of elegant traditional design while providing every modern convenience for cheap package holidays to Hurghada. Sitting on a scenic headland, Soma Bay offers wonderful panoramic mountain views and a beautiful sandy beach lapped by the Red Sea. Soma Bay is popular with water

Soma Bay

sports enthusiasts, families and couples looking for a romantic getaway. Ideal as a base for Red Sea diving holidays and golf holidays, Soma Bay offers a range of accommodation including top class five star hotels with spa centres, spectacular swimming pools, stylish restaurants, beautiful gardens and private beaches. Soma Bay is home to one of the largest thalasso spas in the Middle East. Thanks to the natural healing properties of the sea you can relax and rejuvenate as well as enjoying invigorating pools, whirlpools and saunas along with a whole range of beauty and health treatments.  Excellent sports facilities, children’s clubs and family entertainment make Soma Bay a firm favourite for family holidays to Egypt. Year round sunshine makes Soma Bay an excellent choice for a winter sun holiday to Egypt. Spring and late summer are great times to visit Soma Bay as holidays are cheap and the weather is ideal for lazing on the beach and exploring the surrounding area.

The soft white sandy beaches of Soma Bay offer a peaceful atmosphere for lazing in the sun or, if you are feeling energetic, some great water sports. Warm shallow waters and gentle sea breezes make the resort ideal for learning kite surfing, windsurfing and sailing. The dive schools in

Soma Bay Diving

the area offer excellent courses for all levels of diver from beginners to more experienced divers. The house reef at Soma Bay is home to two dives with many other dive sites just a short boat ride away. Non-divers can also marvel at the Red Sea’s coral reefs and marine life with many snorkelling sites accessible from the shore.

When you need a break from the beach there is plenty to do and see. Golfers will not be able to resist the amazing Cascades 18-hole championship golf course which was designed by Gary Player. There are lots of exciting excursions available like a romantic Bedouin desert feast under the stars, a quiet camel safari through the desert sand dunes, desert jeep safaris, boat trips and longer excursions to the ancient city of Luxor, Cairo and Aswan. Many of the resorts hotels offer a shuttle bus service to nearby Hurghada for shopping trips and for the lively nightlife.

For that extra touch of romance, why not combine your last minute holidays to Soma Bay with a cruise along the Nile.

Luxor

Soma Bay enjoys temperatures in the high 30′s in July and August, with cooling sea breezes which help to cool it down. This is the best time to visit if you want a lazy relaxing holiday as it is far too hot for anything too strenuous. Many people prefer to visit in May, June and November when days are filled with sunshine but the temperature is more bearable than during the very hot summer season. December to April see long sunny days with temperatures in the 20′s making this an ideal time for winter sun holidays which are perfect for activity holidays to Egypt.

When you think of Egypt what springs to mind? Like most people you probably know Egypt as the land of the pyramids where you can relax on beautiful beaches in glorious sunshine, explore the many ancient sites that the country is so famous and cruising along the Nile for but there is much more to this amazing country.

Jungle Aqua Park Hurghada

Combining water sports and leisure, the Jungle Aqua Park near Hurghada is something different that has something for all family to enjoy on their package holidays to Egypt. Located on the Red Sea just 25 minutes from Hurghada on the road to Safaga, the park offers swimming pools, water slides and a multitude of sports and activities for all ages.

Hurghada is a popular Red Sea resort well known for its hot climate, beaches, scuba diving and snorkelling, water sports and nightlife. With temperatures around the 30˚C mark for most of the year Hurghada is a popular year round holiday destination, including Christmas and the New Year. The resort is divided into three main parts; the modern El Memsha, the city centre Sekalla and the old part El Dahar.

Jungle Aqua Park

When you need to take a cooling break from the heat on a hot summers day then take the family to Hurghada’s biggest aqua park. With 14 outdoor pools (some are heated) and 35 water slides, what a fantastic way to cool down. The Jungle Aqua Park water slides include wave pool which circles the whole area, swimming pool area (2 large swimming pools), kids area (18 games), group slide (3 games), tube free fall (1 game), twister (2 games), up hill (1 game), uphill plus (1 game), turbo lance, flying boat (2 games), wave slide (1 game), space boat (1 game), space hall (1 game), tsunami (1 game), multi slide (1 game 4 lanes), family slide (1 game), black hall (1 game), rafting slide (1 game), big rafting (1 game) and rafting river which is 1000 meters long.

Aqua Park Hurghada

The park also offers a variety of themed restaurants and bars including the Mediterranean restaurant, Asian planet restaurant, Tragin restaurant, Tarzan restaurant, Viking restaurant and the Zum Kaiser restaurant. Bars include the Ananas bar, Banana bar, Coconut bar, Crocodile bar, Indigo bar, Jungle bar, Lion bar and the Tropical bar.

Enjoy the thrilling water slides, exhilarating rides and the splash pools and animal rides for the younger children at the Jungle Aqua Park Hurghada on your next direct holidays to Egypt. Stay at the Jungle Aqua Park Hotel complex which offers holiday bungalows, a large swimming pool, lots of sporting activities including tennis, table tennis, football, mini-golf and aerobics and plenty to keep the children occupied including a children’s pool, children’s club for 4-12 year olds, playground and mini disco.

Bordered by the Red Sea, on the east coast of Egypt, Hurghada is the perfect destination for family holidays.

The resort has everything, including glorious golden sands and crystal clear waters, a wide range of watersports, first class diving facilities, restaurants, bars, markets, bazaars, waterparks and plenty more for all the family.

I have just come across this interesting and informative destination guide to Hurghada which will give you an insight into this perfect holiday destination.

Hurghada is situated close to the Equator which means that the temperature is constantly hovering around the thirty degree mark, just perfect for lazing on the beach and topping up your tan.

Trevor Butler set up his first ‘travel’ related business in 2004 and has written many other destination articles with tips and information. I have found these articles both interesting and helpful, hope you do too.

The following review has been supplied to us by our reader David Rolfe

“We were very lucky that the ash saga didn’t affect our outward or inward bound journey earlier this year. We have always spent our summer holidays in Sharm but decided we needed a change and an earlier holiday this year. We read lots of good reviews on the Makadi Palace so decided to give it a go.
As we drove through the gates to the hotel we realised that this hotel was going to be special, and it was.
The hotel and staff had a really warm feel and the hotel itself was spotless.
Swimming pools were great (free pool towels) – we used these more than the beach as my wife didn’t like the sea very much because of the coral (wimp)!
Plenty of good food at meal times and the restaurants were clean and airy.
The majority of holiday makers here were German, don’t know why, but this wasn’t a problem and we made some good friends who we will be keeping in touch with.
Excellent holiday and hotel which we would recommend and will be returning to.”

MAKADI PALACE

With beautiful Moorish decor and palatial ambience, the Makadi Palace offers an impeccable service with views across the Red Sea.

Location

Next to sister hotel Grand Makadi at Makadi Bay, the hotel faces the striking Red Sea and secluded unspoilt beach (beach shoes are recommended due to the Coral).

Accommodation

All rooms have a bathroom and wc, hairdryer, air conditioning, satellite tv, telephone, minibar, safety deposit box and a balcony or terrace.

Dining and Bars

6 restaurants, snack bar, lobby bar, nightclub and piano bar.

Facilities, Sport and Activities

4 outdoor swimming pools, children’s section of the pool, sun loungers, parasols, Private beach, 6 tennis courts with clubhouse, football court, table tennis, beach volleyball, aerobics, aqua aerobics, water polo, playground, Arabic language course, massage, 24 hour reception with money exchange, children’s menu.

Entertainment

Daily entertainment program including sporting activities, games and competitions and evening entertainment program with live music and shows, Hotel run kid’s club at Grand Makadi, StarKids movies, mini disco.

Hurghada is located along the western margin of the northern Red Sea, in Egypt, 330 miles south of Cairo and 180 miles east of Luxor.

The resort stretches for about 25 miles along the coastline but doesn’t reach far into the surrounding desert. In fact Hurghada is three main centres and lots of self-contained tourist villages merged into one resort. To the north is the old town, Ad-Dahar, which has more than half of the total local population, and the cheapest hotels and restaurants. A couple of kilometres south is the Port of Sigala and New Hurghada is another few kilometres further south.

Red Sea Diving

Hurghada was the first commercial dive base in the Red Sea. It was once an isolated fishing village but is now a thriving tourist resort devoted entirely to diving and snorkelling enthusiasts.

The resort is now home to more than 60,000 people and hundreds of hotels along it’s 25 mile long beach. It’s also the gateway to Egypt’s southern dive sites, including Safaga, Quseir and Marsa Alam.
Hurghada attracts scuba-divers from all over the world as well as package holidaymakers.

Hurghada is warm and dry year-round, with the best times to visit being between February to June and September to November. During the summer months the temperature can reach an uncomfortable 40°C (104°F), however for divers this does provide warm waters in which to enjoy the marine life.

Long stretches of natural sand beaches and a year-round dry and temperate climate makes Hurghada an ideal vacation destination for sun seekers and watersports enthusiasts.

The sea here is clear and calm for most of the year, making it ideal for scuba-diving, snorkelling, windsurfing, sailing and deep-sea fishing.

Most of Hurghada’s dive sites are offshore and involve a boat ride of at least half an hour. The diving centres provide daily guided boat services as well as extended live-aboard trips.

Sinbad Submarine

The luxury holiday villages of Hurghada provide all kinds of activities for families, including day trips to the nearby islands for snorkelling and fish barbecues. For those who do not wish to dive but still want to experience the underwater world there is the Sinbad Submarine.The submarine takes up to 44 passengers and dives down 72ft.

The Red Sea Mountains can be explored from Hurghada by camel, jeep or quads.

Hurghada Souk

A visit to the souk in Hurghadas old town is a must. Here you find canvas-covered alleys with vendors selling all sorts, including spices, clothes, handicrafts, plants, rugs, carpets, jewellery, shishas (water pipes), brassware, copperware, leather goods and glass objects. When shopping in the souk remember that it is a tradition to haggle with the shopkeeper about the price, along with accepting a cup of the mint tea that all shops offer to their customers.

The main town area, Ad-Dahar, is just a few kilometres from the resort hotels strip and has preserved all the traditions of a small fishing village, and apart from some restaurants. Most hotels in Hurghada have their own disco and there are also bars and cafes along the main road.

All of the hotels offer international and local food. In the main town area there are a couple of local restaurants with roof terraces where they serve fresh fish and local specialities. Restaurants and cafes are also found along the main road. In the downtown area of El Dahar there are lots of small restaurants and street vendors selling authentic Egyptian Fare.

SHEDWAN GARDEN

Location -  El Dahar, Hurghada, Egypt

Room Facilities -  The modern, comfortable rooms are spread over four floors. All rooms have a private bath/WC, air-conditioning, telephone, satellite TV, mini-fridge, safe and hairdryer. The superior rooms also have a balcony with garden furniture and a sea or garden view. Some rooms have a city view.

Shedwan Garden Pool

Hotel Services & Facilities - 

6 restaurants, Lobby bar, pub, 2 swimming pools, 2 tennis courts, Fitness club, Evening entertainment. Complimentary sun loungers, mats and sunshades are available at the pool and on the beach. Beach towels are provided in attractive beach bags – guests will find these in their rooms upon arrival.

Food, Beverage & Entertainment Facilities - Continental breakfast for early risers,  Breakfast and lunch buffets in the main restaurant, “Andalusia”, Snacks, coffee, tea and cake, Evening buffet in the main restaurant, Late night snacks at the Hambra Bar, Soft drinks and juices, local alcoholic beverages, cocktails, coffee and tea from 10am till 12 midnight.
Thursdays and Fridays: Soft drinks, local alcoholic beverages, cocktails, coffee and tea in the amphitheatre.

Fridays: Oriental show with a barbecue in the main restaurant (evening meal and drinks included). Guests are served snacks at the Splashdown and Lido Pool Bar at the pool or on the beach.

My review of the Shedwan Garden Hotel

Hotel was clean and our room was a good size. We paid extra for a balcony and sea view which was well worth it.

Hotel is on beach front where we always found a sunbed.

Food was ok but nothing special. There was an Arabian theme evening on the Sunday night, we had to pay extra for this, but it was well worth paying as the food and entertainment was great.