Glad to find some info on El Gouna... getting quite excited now. I do hope that snorkelling is good from Zeytona beach... dont fancy having to rely on getting a boat to take you out further.

Is it particularly windy in July? So fed up with the wind here in Scotland and hoping to get away from it, cold or hot wind!!!!

Can you swim in the lagoons which surround the hotels??

ElleDee

Excellent... another option in case hotel disallows lilos in the pool. ElleDee

Hi, I was in El Gouna in March/April and I have to say that the snorkelling off Zeytouna beach was disappointing at the least! Dont mean to put a dampener on it for you, but I wouldnt want you to be as disappointed as we were when we were there. However, there are several dive companies that take you out on their boats for 2hrs, half a day or a whole day for incredibly reasonable prices (the 2hr one was the equivalent of £7), the snorkelling from th boats was great. The best I experienced was at Mahmya Island, although it didnt compare to sharm el sheikh, there was still lots to see and even things that I had never seen before. The problem with zeytouna beach was the tide, even when it was in, the water was so cloudy, possibly because of the wind kicking up sand. Anyway, it meant that you would swim along and a coral head would appear out of no0where, and to make it worse, it appeared that the coral was dead. It may ahve been the time of year that I went that made it bad. Some people had reported fair snorkelling from the jetty, and many others said it was terrible. I would have to agree with the latter half. None the less, enjoy the boat trips....well worth it!

Thats for that info... shan't build my hopes up then! At least I know now that to get any decent snorkelling in we shall have to take a boat Is the sea as warm as Sharm? We are going at the beginning of July - looks like you were there earlier in the year.

Yeah, in April most of the people going off the boat were hiring short wetsuits, the htree of us felt a bit silly when we were sailing out to the reef, however, once we were in the water we no longer looked daft! The water was lovely and warm, so Im sure that July time it will be like a bath! enjoy!

Going To El Gouna 3 Nov Two Weeks Will we be able to sit outside for
our evening meal in the marina & downtown or indoors How windy
is it at night in these areas Help Soonest
JV

Hello

I was in El Gouna for the first two weeks of November last year . We did manage to sit outside most nights but did need jackets towards the end of the second week and a couple of times felt more comfortable inside. The strength of the wind will dictate whether you can sit out or not ,unfortunately it is more often windy than not . Daytime temperatures were not a problem and if sheltered would still hit 30C.

Crombie HI

Thanks for that fast reply Sounds like its not to cold at night
Dont want my chips to go cold
More info please Is there alocal bus service to Hurghada
Any info on the brewery & winery Best Cairo trip local or tour op
Are the restaurants busy at night in the marina / downtown at this
time of year
By the way we are staying at the sheraton is this good
Best shoping area in Hurghada Is it warm early morning
Hope you can help Best JV

Only heard good reports on Sheraton, we go Friday will let you know on our return.

Hi Jvagas

Answers to some of your questions .

There is a bus service every 20 mins to Hurghada (50p Each Way)

There is also a regular service to Cairo (£5.50 Each Way) .If you are an experienced traveller you may want to go it alone ,though Cairo can be quite a daunting city for the uninitiated.
We did it last year but I had been to Cairo before and knew what to expect .It takes about 6 hours to get there and you would need to stay overnight .
The organised bus tour starts very early and comes back very late making a very tiring trip . There are flight based tours but I do not have any details.

We also did the Luxor trip in 2004 with the local company Protours,my only complaint was we went in a minibus rater than a large coach which would have been more comfortable. we had our own English speaking guide for the 2 of us as we were the only English people on the bus and we had really good fun ,we stayed overnight and had a minibus to ourselves on the way back.

Dont know much about the Brewery\Winery . there seems to be an increasing choice of beers (Stella,Saqqara and Luxor which are all Ok) and wines.The wines are expensive compared to home and range from not that nice to downright awful. Imported wines are extortionate so take duty free or get your duty free allowance in El Gouna in the first 48 hours if you like a glass.

Last November we arrived during one of the EID festivals so El Gouna was quite busy with visiting Cairenes ,that said the only restaurant where we had trouble getting a table without booking was the Tandoor Indian restaurant. We also found the service at Moods bar slow as the staff were at the beck and call of the obviously wealthy Egyptian visitors .From most accounts the resort seems very quiet of late and outside of these special festivals ,so I do not think you will have too many problems.

We satyed at the Sheraton and thoroughly enjoyed it .The grounds are well planted and the rooms are well spaced out and we enjoyed walking through the grounds and over the bridges to our room. The rooms are large,have large balconys with wooden sunloungers and showers but most do not have baths. Because of the lagoons there is plenty of beach space and its easy to get a sunbed .Breakfast was great and you can eat up until 11.00 which will keep you going until dinner.

Hope this helps

Hi Crombi
Thanks again for reply Just a couple more if poss
We are early risers what time does breakfast start
at the Sheraton Pool & Beach towel info and lastlyLunch
time eats whats best
Thanks JV

Hi, I was at the sheraton in march/april. Breakfast starts at 7 or 7.30. Pool and beach towels are given to you in the respective areas every day. Food wise, the satay skewers are lovely for lunch, as are the pizzas, and there are some lovely authentic egyptian dishes too. Hope this is helpful

Hi

When we stayed at the Sheraton we never felt like we needed lunch after the huge breakfasts but on our last visit we rented an apartment so we were totally self catering .

We had sandwiches at Jobos bar which were nice and El Taybeen which is tucked away in downtown did nice sanwiches with an Egyptian twist for about £2 . Ferrari Club had the best presentation and some of the cheapest prices but our favourite lunchtime haunt was the Sandbar in Downtown - Chilli cheese Fries and a shared Chicken Quesedilla washed down with a cold Stella - Perfect

There are lots of nice apartments and villas in El Gouna,most of them with acess to the lagoon beaches ,some with roof terraces and pools .Airport transfers are easy to arrange and they will even stock up your fridge with your favourite things ready for your arrival. If you like your space and privacy I would highly recommend this option .Many would not consider self catering in Egypt but as El Gouna is secure and easy to get around its no problem .

Ho there everyone.
Anyone been to El Gouna over New Year period. What is the weather like? Only been once to Egypt and that was to hilton Sharks bay in Sharm year before last. Thinking of either Sultan Bey or Three Corners Ocean View.............. anyone any thoughts?
Heather

Temperature has dropped a fair bit in the last ten days. It is now running in the mid-high twenties by day - more than comfy in shorts and a t-shirt - and sunbathing OK if you are sheltered from the wind. Gouna is set up for "windy" however and there are plentiful wind-breaks. Rihana BTW has the warmest pool in gouna over the winter!!

Now is the season to be needing a warm fleece (or two if it's very windy!) at night though!!!

We booked earlier on the week for 7 nights in El Gouna and the Movenpick

First time to Egypt and El Gouna and looking forward to it, we are comingover mid-June so hope for hot sun and gentle breeze not a wind (as unlikely as that is )

Forbury Lion,

We have also booked for mid June to the Movenpick. This posting is great. It has given me some useful information.

Gail

Gail,

Have you been to the Movenpick El Gouna before?

Hi Forbuy,

No we haven't. Just the recommendations on HT which swayed us.

Really looking forward to it.

Gail