Egypt for a short holiday

[3sixty]

Morning the good folk of P&P.

I've done a search and found a variety of topics on egypt here, but my own is a little more specific than just a "How good is egypt?"

I am looking to fly to Cairo in mid October/November and spend a day there sightseeing and then a day in Alexandria. I would then like to hop on a plane, go to Sharm El Sheikh and do 2 scuba dives (I have Open Water cert only, so no deep wrecks etc.) and possibly camel ride and jeep safari for the last few days before flying back to Cairo to head home.

I've emailed a few people for a price on this, with 2 people coming back at £700 for this (excluding flights to Egypt) and this is 2/3* hotel. This to me seems a little on the expensive side as I've found the sightseeing and diving to be less than £50 each.

So I am looking to the good folk of PH for some advice on some hotels to go, dive schools to visit etc. where I can get it a little cheaper - or perhaps someone knows of an inclusive package?

[anonymous-user]

I expect you are better off basing yourself in Sharm for you holiday and then going on a short trip to Cairo from there.

[3sixty]

I was going to do that, but put Cairo first as the flights seem to match my times more from the airport I'd prefer to go from and are slightly cheaper. But I will consider going to Sharm first as well, thanks.

[bazking69]

We got a last minute to SES in May 2007 for less than £500 each all inclusive.
Couldn't fault the hotel; it genuinely was the 4* at quoted (Concorde El Salam, next to Hilton) but despite what was a luxury hotel and holiday by our standards, we didn't like it enough to want to ever go back. The hotel, the area, the experience, the food. Very nice, great holiday and well worth the £500, but not us.
SES is still a Work in Progress. We didn't get why they put an airport right next to a resort (you could see the runway and were on the boundary fence from the back of the Concordes sister hotel...) and the whole place still looked like a third world building site outside of the numerous hotel complexes, and most of the SES coastline is a building site with cranes and drills going all day and piles of eyesores scattered everywhere.
Diving wise I couldn't comment as ours was limited to a dip off a pontoon, but it looked good. But as a resort, not very polished. But that was 2007...

[GPSS]

You cannot fly for a minimum of 24Hrs after your last dive. Very very important rule this. DCI or DCS is not a good thing, especially if you have to pay to have the flight turned round. Do not fly for at least 24hrs after your last dive.

[BAHN-STORMA]

For Cairo, I would recommend Le Meridien Pyramids (I've stayed there 4 times).

Great hotel & food and surprisingly reasonable prices - I think there is some work being done at the moment, but should be finished by the time you are looking to travel.

[Asterix]

Only problem with Egypt is that it is full of Egyptians.

[3sixty]

GPSS said:

You cannot fly for a minimum of 24Hrs after your last dive. Very very important rule this. DCI or DCS is not a good thing, especially if you have to pay to have the flight turned round. Do not fly for at least 24hrs after your last dive.

I know, had this drilled into us about 5 times a day by my initial instructor, he knew someone who had done this, hence his severe warnings about it. The diving will take place 2 days before I fly back, leaving time for the jeep safari etc.

[DamoLLb]

BAHN-STORMA said:

For Cairo, I would recommend Le Meridien Pyramids (I've stayed there 4 times).

Great hotel & food and surprisingly reasonable prices - I think there is some work being done at the moment, but should be finished by the time you are looking to travel.

Pool side bars, not a fan. They look nice, but after a few cocktails who can be bothered to get out to go to the loo

[3sixty]

What are peoples opinions of booking the hotels myself and then trying to get on a tour guide for Cairo and Alexandria? Will it be easy to book there on the day or am I opening myself up for problems and just pay for the package and have it 'sorted'?

DamoLLb said:

Pool side bars, not a fan. They look nice, but after a few cocktails who can be bothered to get out to go to the loo

[BAHN-STORMA]

DamoLLb said:

Pool side bars, not a fan. They look nice, but after a few cocktails who can be bothered to get out to go to the loo

[BAHN-STORMA]

3sixty said:

What are peoples opinions of booking the hotels myself and then trying to get on a tour guide for Cairo and Alexandria? Will it be easy to book there on the day or am I opening myself up for problems and just pay for the package and have it 'sorted'?

First time I booked through an agent, all other times direct through one of the hotel managers - definitely worth it!

[driverrob]

3sixty said:

What are peoples opinions of booking the hotels myself and then trying to get on a tour guide for Cairo and Alexandria? Will it be easy to book there on the day or am I opening myself up for problems and just pay for the package and have it 'sorted'?

I don't know about booking hotels yourself. In our experience, package deals are always cheaper.
Instead of a guide, just walk out of the hotel to the taxi rank and say you're after an english-speaking driver for a day's guided tour. We did this 18 months ago and got one for 250LE. Make sure you have a list of places you want to see and DO NOT, under any circumstances, accept his suggestion that you visit his brother's shop or his cousin's stables for a camel ride .....
Walking anywhere at any time in Cairo is not for the faint hearted or first time visitor.