Hurghada: Golden beaches and clear seas at 'Maldives of Egypt'

Hurghada, with its miles of sandy beaches, crystal-clear turquoise waters and several small islands, has been called the Maldives of Egypt and it’s easy to see why.

During the brief ride from the airport to the hotel, it is clear this place is going to be something special. It looks and feels like paradise.

Our home for the next few days is the Jaz Casa Del Mar Resort, an all-inclusive resort that has its own private beach that overlooks the Red Sea.

The resort itself is beautiful and very modern. Upon arrival, we are made to feel as if we were royalty. Handed cold towels, which are very welcome with the 32-degree heat and a delicious cooling cocktail which is fruity and refreshing.

After handing us our welcome pack and extending us an invitation to a special dinner for staff and guests, we are whisked upstairs to our room for a well-needed rest.

Our room features an assortment of goodies such as cake, cheese and a cold-style buffet – more than enough to tide us over for a couple of hours.

But the view from the balcony is the real star. Our view is of one of the largest of the six pools in the hotel, the infinity pool, which enjoys a glorious backdrop of beach and Red Sea.

After a much-needed night’s sleep, we pull on our shorts and head off to explore the hotel. Our first stop is breakfast. The hotel offers various options for food. We have chosen to go all-inclusive, meaning both food and drinks are available 24 hours a day. The hotel offers buffet-style food, several a la carte restaurants and pool-side bars. There’s no shortage of choice.

Tropical coral reef and fish in the Red Sea. — Tropical coral reef and<br />fish in the Red Sea.

We head to the buffet in the main restaurant then to the pool for a quick dip. I have booked a treatment and I am soon whisked off to the on-site spa for a full, 50-minute medical massage, before heading back to one of the main pools to spend the afternoon swimming under the warm sun.

Later, during a walk along the beach, I have my first encounter with a very friendly camel.

We head to the room for a quick change and then it’s downstairs to the a la carte dinner we were invited to on arrival. As a vegetarian, the variety and quality of food can be a bit hit and miss on foreign holidays, but I’m suitably impressed when the chef conjures up my very own vegetarian menu – which is absolutely delicious.

After dinner, we take a long walk along the main street outside our hotel and we’re greeted with yet more camels. There are a number of small gift shops to peruse and there are opportunities for photos along the way.

There is a later start the next morning and after breakfast, we pack our bags and head into the desert for an afternoon of quad biking which eventually takes us down to the Red Sea. The full experience lasts around two and half hours, and is spectacular.

Back at our hotel, we head to one of the Italian restaurants, the Pomodoro which is located inside the hotel. After dinner, there is a karaoke evening and after listening to a few of the guests belt out some familiar tunes, we retire to bed for an early(ish) night as a result of some very exciting plans for the following day.

Having slept a grand total of two hours, we both emerge at 1am and head to the reception where a driver is waiting to take us on an excursion to the see the ancient pyramids. Day trips to Giza and Cairo are a common staple for holidaymakers who choose Hurghada as a destination. The trip comes highly recommended from several other British tourists who we have spoken to at the hotel. It’s the middle of the night and we have 12-hour round trip ahead of us but it is undeniably worth it.

The Great Sphinx in front of a pyramid in Giza, Egypt.

We sleep for most of the journey to Egypt’s capital, and thankfully awoke less tired to see the bustling and hectic world of Cairo, where drivers enjoy dashing between lanes, blasting their horns instead of using indicators and picking people up on the side of the road – a real-life version of the Mario Kart video game.

The day flies by as quickly as a Cairo native in a souped-up sports car. First, we visit in the Pyramids of Giza in the morning, even getting to climb inside one. Then it’s a chance to see the Sphinx, before heading up the Nile in cruise boat before a visit to the Egyptian museum – where we see the famous gold mask of Tutankhamun before the long journey back to Hurghada.

The next day, safe to say, is a slower one, due to the lack of sleep. After a leisurely breakfast, we opt for a short game of tennis before it become too warm and from there I head off to enjoy a luxury facial at the spa before a quick swim and lunch before we are picked up and taken back to the airport.

In typical Scottish fashion, it was raining when we landed back in Scotland.

P.S. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. The statue faces directly from west to east and stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza.

The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre, who was an ancient Egyptian monarch circa 2700 to 2200 BC). Khafre who was the fourth king of the Fourth Dynasty, during the earlier half of the Old Kingdom period.

He was son of the king Khufu, and succeeded his brother Djedefre to the throne. Khafre’s enormous pyramid at Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, is surpassed only by his father’s (the Great Pyramid).

Factfile

Emma Lawson stayed in one of rooms overlooking the infinity pool and onto the Red Sea and the hotel’s own private beach. For more information or to book, visit here.