The best time to visit Hurghada
Hurghada works all twelve months, but not the same way: in winter the sea is 22 and the afternoon wind chills, in summer it is 35 with the sea like soup — April–May and October–November are when both are right.
- Best
- April–May and October–November
- Winter
- December–February: 20–24 by day
- Summer
- June–September: 33–38 by day
Hurghada has no dead season, and that is what sets it apart from the Mediterranean: charters fly all year and the sea never drops below twenty-two. The difference is wind and air — winter afternoons on the beach are cooler than the thermometer says, summer noons hotter — so the real choice comes down to two windows: April–May and October–November.
Rain in Hurghada does not exist — a day or two a year — so the season is measured not by rainfall but by wind and sea temperature. Below, the months are sorted by that wind and by the sea, not by the holiday calendar.
The two windows
Air between twenty-seven and thirty-two, sea between twenty-four and twenty-seven, and warm nights. Everything works: the beach all day, the boat to Giftun without rolling, Luxor in a day without heat. Prices sit below the holiday winter and above the summer; charters fly in both windows. If you choose once, you choose here.
Warm, but windy
Twenty to twenty-four degrees by day, sun every day and a sea of twenty-two — better than anything in Europe in January, which is why winter is the peak here. The catch is the wind: the northerly blows most afternoons and the beach is cooler than the forecast says, so you take a sunbed in the lee, swim in the morning and carry a jacket at night. Around New Year hotels are full and expensive; mid-January and February are the same weather at a lower price.
Hot and cheap
Thirty-five and more by day, not below twenty-eight at night, a sea like soup and humidity you do not feel in the desert but do by the sea. The beach works in the morning and towards evening, noon is the pool or air conditioning; diving works all year and in summer the water is clearest. Prices are the lowest, and in August it is full of Egyptian families from Cairo. Luxor is not done — forty-five degrees in a shadeless valley — and that is the only thing summer takes away.
Month by month
If you only get one — October
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
When is the best time to visit Hurghada?
April–May and October–November: air 27–32, sea 24–27 and prices off peak. November is best if Luxor is also planned, because it has no holiday crowds and no summer heat yet.
Can you swim in Hurghada in winter?
Yes — the sea is 22 degrees in January, warmer than the Adriatic in June. The problem is the afternoon wind, not the water: you swim in the morning, take a sunbed in the lee, and need a jacket at night.
How hot is summer?
Thirty-five to thirty-eight by day, twenty-eight at night, the sea twenty-eight. The beach in the morning and towards evening, noon in the pool. Prices are the lowest; Luxor is not done in summer.
Ready for Hurghada?
Where to next
Day trips from Hurghada
→Giftun by boat, Luxor in fourteen hours, the desert with Bedouins, El Gouna for an afternoon and a Cairo not…
Sharm el-Sheikh · 89 km
→The tip of Sinai where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet, with the reefs of Ras Mohammed twelve kilometres from town and a Sinai stamp instead of a visa
How well does Hurghada suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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