Day 253 – Hurghada
Sindbad Submarine and El Gouna
Sindbad Submarine
Today we went on another tour that we had booked yesterday. After talking with Book Egypt Tours as per the amazing Dolphin House Tour (Day 252), we ended up chatting with the manager of Sunny Seaside Villa. He was willing to beat the price they offered for the Submarine Tour. The tour including one way transfers cost for 537 EGP / $46.33 AUD per person, which is very pricey, but we had not done much in Hurghada, so we were well below budget. We only got one way transfers, as we wanted to hang out in town after the tour.
The submarine is advertised as the only submarine in Africa and the Middle East. We were dropped off by a driver at the entrance to the submarines dock, which was again surrounded by beautiful beach resorts and the Red Sea. At the ticket counter there is a small museum that shows various ship models and fish. The animals looked like actual preserved fish which made them look creepy.
We then had to get onto a ship, like yesterday, and had a 30 minute boat ride out to the submarine station, that was in the middle of the Red Sea. Getting into the submarine, required climbing down the hatch with a ladder into the submarine. Most of the older tourists struggled to climb down the ladder. It wasn’t hard for us, just more confined than normal.
Inside the sub, it was really nice, with two rows of benches facing outwards. There was also a TV screen in between each pair of seats. It shows footage from a mounted camera on the submarine. However, our TV screen was not working. But we didn’t feel like we missed out. The window holes are more than adequate to enjoy the underwater views. Watching the waves from under the sea, was really cool. It almost felt like we were on an alien planet.
After we started moving, it wasn’t long until the submarine was surrounded by fish who follow the sub. There are actually divers outside who feed the fish amongst other cool things. There are plenty of fish and photo opportunities. There is no guide or information about the various fish that you will see, but the sub tour was very entertaining.
However, we were firstly on the side facing toward the coral shelf. This is where all the activity happens. When the sub turns around to go back to the dock, the other passengers get to see what we saw, but it’s not a surprise any more, as they were looking over our shoulders during our experience. On the way back, if we looked out our window there was only a few fish and things to see. The majority of the entertainment was on the coral shelf side.
The return trip is not as exciting, depending on which side of the sub you sit on
Our underwater time was around 45 minutes, but then we had the boat ride back to shore. The staff were really friendly, from the pilot to the divers, who were happy to pose for photos at the end of the tour.
We were back on shore around 12:30pm and we wanted to find some lunch. We walked to the close by Esplanada Bay Mall, but pretty much every shop was closed. Therefore, we kept walking down the road and found another GAD restaurant to eat at.
Inside the very cool yet closed Esplanada Bay Mall
After this we headed back to our hotel, Sunny Seaside Villa via Uber.
El Gouna
Later that night, we decided to check out a more classy town called El Gouna. We caught a Go Bus from the side of the road for only 10 EGP / $0.86 AUD, which was mainly full of locals. A friendly local who was sitting by himself actually shifted to sit next to someone else so that my wife and I could sit next to each other. If you go to El Gouna, you will need a passport, as there is a ID Check of everyone on the bus. Due to our Sri Lankan appearance, we were asked if we were coming into town to work. This is my first ever gated town experience.
The town is small, but very nice. Clearly targeted for high end tourists, we had to bite the bullet and eat at a sea food restaurant for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Fish Market. The meal was definitely pricey for Egyptian standards but for 598.50 EGP / $52.13 AUD, there is no way you can have this much seafood back in Australia.
At around 9:00pm we caught another local Go Bus back to Sunny Seaside Villa, which cost us only 10 EGP / $0.86 AUD again. The trip all the way back to Hurghada would cost 14 EGP / $1.21.