El Gouna, Egypt
El Gouna, located 25 km north of Hurghada, is a rather exclusive holiday resort, with a full range of facilities and all the perks of a small village. It's a purpose built resort of about 10 hotels built on islands in and around a lagoon and a beach, bordering the Red Sea. Some of the hotels are extremely luxurious.
El Gouna may not be as well known as Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada but many people consider it to be a "secret" paradise. El Gouna is more than just a collection of resorts - its town centre is Kafr El Gouna, located on an island and built in Egyptian style with endless alleys. A small but active town with shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, discotheques, cinema, art galleries, school, museum and aquarium. If you need a bigger city for a day or evening tour, then Hurghada is just 20 km south of El Gouna.
For activities you will find Yalla Horse Stable which also has ponies for children, professional tennis and squash courts - and sand volley ball on the beach. El Gouna is also the site of Egypt's first professional Go-Cart Centre. There is plenty to do here to attract the holidaymaker. Health Clubs, wind surfing, boat trips, fishing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, glass bottom boat trips, canoeing, catamaran trips, an 18 hole golf course and of course fantastic diving. In the evenings you can go from hotel to hotel, from restaurant to restaurant - or from bar to bar.
By car it's only three and a half hours drive to Luxor with its monuments and tombs and about five hours drive to Cairo and the pyramids.
Most dive operators cover an area that consists of about 40 different dive sites including coral gardens, drop offs and some excellent wrecks out on Abu Nahas.
El Gouna has the advantage of being much nearer to the sites of the Northern Red Sea than Hurghada and if you are planning a hotel based holiday - especially with non divers - then this may well suit you. It is a compact resort that you can walk around but has plenty of activities to keep you amused.
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El Gouna is a popular spot for technical divers as well as sports divers because of the specialised training available there. The resort is entirely man made but designed in a sympathetic manner to emulate a traditional Egyptian village.
El Gouna - Diving with Dive Tribe - by Sarah Lee
It's All In The First 12 Metres
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