thinking about holidays in egypt?

[kiteingcolin]

i am , but due to work it will be next january, and i am booking into this hotel below, if anyone has been report back please,

i was feeling a little low today checking the wind stats for the next 4 days, then i looked in my doc's and read my old report on this hotel , it got me all excited, so i thought i would share the feeling with you,

Pauline and myself were staying for 3 weeks at hurgarda and staying at the sofitel hotel next door to colana watersports, on one of the few windless days we splashed out and hired a brand new Mitsubishi with a smart as you like driver who was told not to drive over 90 k/ph, we were charged a lot as we asked to be driven all over the place all day,, £28 felt like a lot of money but when he showed us the car we said ok, the main purpose was to visit the intercontinental hotel at the new find location- soma bay, 39 k south of the colana set up,

The hotel is new and is set on the beach in a massive horse shoe bay (aprox 2 miles across),there is one other hotel on the opposite side of the bay, a quality operation; (Sheraton 5 star hotel) the bay is very shallow in places, coral free but a few muscle beds scattered around, with sand banks way out in the bay, a truly beautiful location, the hotel itself is so ornate, so opulent, so disgustingly posh, the guy who built it has far too much money, his yacht is in it’s own marina next to the hotel, it’s a complex that has had money thrown at it , gold leaf, marble, coy carp, rich furniture, 2 gold lifts in the massive fountain laden reception glide up to the floors in full view of the gob smacked guests, there is a swimming pool that starts at the edge of reception and you swim through well lit caverns with carved rock roofs out into the blinding sun and a gorgeous pool bar, under a massive rope bridge and into a larger ornate pool, it is unbelievable, winding our way through the spaced out sun beds to the soft sand beach we view the luxurious hotel rooms which all look out to sea, all have big patio’s, full length sliding windows and sun beds, we found a water ski / wake board, centre, then a dart catamaran centre, with new 16 ft darts (a top class racing cat) (I had one), then a dingy cte with canoes and laser dinghy’s, then round the bay to the windsurfing centre, further round is the kite surfing cte, we realised by then this was a Mark Warner run water sports beach, and when we asked for a full run down of the deal, it turns out that when you book with mark Warner then all the sports are free, apart from kitesurf tuition, and waterskiing, but then the bombshell.

Due to kite surfing being a risky sort of sport, they run you out on a boat to a jetty in shallow water half a mile out and it’s there you blow up your kite and set off, shiit, not good, it put a right damper on things, but then what was that big building on the beach 300 yards away??

Bingo!! its an independent kitesurf /windsurf/kite buggy, activity centre, and it’s superb, German owned and run, www.surfmotion.com or peter@surfmotion.com the exact spot is called Abu soma-Egypt (the cte has been open for one year)

Peter speaks perfect English and showed us round his superb set up, café, changing rooms, sun bed rest area, covered bubble pipe rest area, equipment wash off area, private gear storage area with full time 24 hr security guard with a side arm, showers, loos, storage rooms, rigging area with air line, north hire equipment, buggy things, massive windsurf range, and the sailing area, the wind is cross off , but the sailing area is 2 ft deep on average and massive, the wind being off shore leaves the surface flat, speed sailing and boosting heaven, the windsurf area is further out in the deeper water, so kiters get the best conditions, half way across the windsurf area is a sand bar, so if you get blown away you end up on this, windsurfers have to dismount to walk across it to deeper water, it’s a true kiters dream, heaven in the dessert,

remember this, the Intercontinental hotel next door makes the movinpick at el gouna look like a dusty shoe box, and the Magawish look like a condemned rubbish tip, I have a full memory card with the images of this paradise,

But this luxury comes at a cost! Food and drink are outrageous, by Egyptian prices, but still cheaper than an English city cte café, cappichino-£1.50. beer is £2.50 -500cl, 12% service and 2%city tax goes on every thing, the hotel itself is trying to build business, it has over 600 garden rooms and there were only 150 guests in house, so to us it looked like the hotel was empty, the Warner staff said you can book for late deals on the web and get silly deals outside kids holidays,

you have to try this level of luxury once in your life, you could only afford it in Egypt, a

It’s a 40 min drive from hurgarda airport, or 12 us dollars one way taxi, a bus to hurgarda town goes twice a day from the hotel but a taxi can be booked at any time for not much money,

Think of a new Marriott hotel then gold plate it, this would be only good enough to be the beach restaurant, it’s that mind-blowing,

Anyways back to reality, from there we went to hurgarda for late lunch, picked the best seafood restaurant ordered the dearest seafood grill £3.50, and premium Stella beer 6,4% £1.40, fresh orange juice 70 pence,

Then we called in at the duty free for 2 bottles of gin and a litre of whisky, total cost £15, Inc city tax,

A holiday can be made a lot cheaper by mixing what you buy from the hotel with what you can get from the town, your room mini bar is around 4x the cost of town price’s, beach price’s are around twice the price of town price’s

apart from the taxi fares we spent around £14 a day, compare that to the £120 a day we were spending in south Africa ,we were only b+b there and half board here in Egypt,

[Blue Ice]

Come on then how much it cost to stay there? i bet its a fortune... I was thinking about taking my girlfriend and 2 girls aged 10 and 11 yrs old in the beginning of next year sometime.

How much roughly would i be looking at and how much would a late booking be you reckon? roughly ofc

We would probably want to go all inclusive but if it is way to expensive, we would go self catering and buy out as you did.

 

Whats the wind speed like from month to month? any good around Feb time?

 

Cheers

[Mark of Loxley]

To Blue Ice,

 

colins place sounds great, but if you want to take the 'family' somewhere safe then i can recommend El Gouna. You fly into Hurghada just the same but its a quick 20 minute coach transfer up the coast. Its a private resort with loads of hotels to choose from.

The best in my opinion is the Movenpick. Late in the year you can get all inclusive for £350 on a late deal. Its only about £550 if you book up. It has its own private kite beach and is a really well laid out hotel for non kiters. I have been 2 times to there as well as staying at the Captains Inn which is much cheaper and ok for kiters or the Three Corners Ocean View which is a 4* and more family oriented.

 

Do a search for El Gouna on the net, you will find its a great place to take a family.

 

Mark

[kiteingcolin]

its a mark warner hotel,and cost includes half board, breakfast and dinner, late bookings in early season are around £500 all in flights hotel food and all water sports, check the web site, and wind is the same as all the resorts on that length of coast, thermal, so the hotter it is the stronger the wind,

but what i like is the free water sports that would be great on the no wind days,

 

and the sand is that fine soft stuff, and the beach is huge, i mean massive!

[joe90nine]

I stayed in the Magawish which is where colonal watersports are based. Its on the beach, half board (well breakfast & evening meal buffets, so stuff your face and you wont even spend on lunch!). The hotel is MASSIVE and very family friendly. I went mid september last year. The wind was good for 75% of it and it was still roasting.

 

Waveriders http://www.waveriders.biz are doing some really good late deals on the Magawish. I was quoted for one week at the Magawish, flights Kite pass thing, transfers the lot for £339. Im going to hold on til later this year and im sure it will still be low. They also do deals on the Sofitel hotel next to the Magawish.

 

As previous have said, you really dont need much to spend, especially with the 2 buffet meals.

[ned1710]

me and the missis are going there for crimbo this year. we're splitting the trip between diving and kiting and hopefully a bit of sailing too. can't wait to go kitesurfing on christmas day:)

we're going 2 weeks all inclusive for about £800 each over christmas.

[gillstah]

can also recommend magawish. friendly place, nice and cheap too for those on a budget but it's all very well looked after so you don't feel you are in a cheap place by any means. go half or full board if you go.

 

we went in may and will probably return in october.

 

colona is a great place, wind a bit shifty close to shore and restricted launch/land space but fab staff and well organised rescue service.

 

the people who run the diving / snorkelling at magawish (also called colona) are great too. know their stuff and safety conscious. some of the best diving i've had in the red sea.

 

in fact my avatar is a friendly dolphin we met in the aquarium (dive site off giftun island, bout 45mins from Magawish).

 

paul.

[kiteingcolin]

which hotel? the one at abu somer?

me and the missis are going there for crimbo this year. we're splitting the trip between diving and kiting and hopefully a bit of sailing too. can't wait to go kitesurfing on christmas day:)

we're going 2 weeks all inclusive for about £800 each over christmas.

[ned1710]

which hotel? the one at abu somer?

 

we're going to the sofitel in hurghada. looks v good in the brochure and i think the kitesurfing centre is right next door!

http://www.tommy-friedl.de/eng/kitecenter_e.htm

if you haven't booked yet we went through longwood holidays

roll on december

[guppy]

From the Sofitel Colona is within 10 minutes walking distance[or a downwind ride] TommyFriedls would have to be a taxi:p Stayd at the Sofitel at Easter..nice hotel but full of French!!

Guppy

[Sandslide1]

Colin, the soma bay does sound great, but I was wondering what it would be like for beginners, and from a purely ksurfing point of view, when compared to Hurghada, Safaga and El Gouna, any other thoughts?

 

I remember passing it on the boat that funkites operate out of Safaga, was last year and I wondered who ran it and why funkites didn't use that spot, now know why!!

 

I've stayed at El Gouna and everything the rest of the guys say is true, and think have read comments you had put on about it before, I just found El Gouna a bit too close to the hotel swimming area and kept getting blown downwind into it, frustrating when tide was out as well.

 

As for safaga, their spot when really windy would almost immediately put me out on the reef!! I'm considering heading back out to Egypt in August, but wasn't sure where to go, as am trying to find somewhere with loads of space and something to do when no wind, though the water sports package there sounds cracking.

[kiteingcolin]

it has to be the best place to learn anywhere due to the shallow water, but be aware there might be a problem in mid summer with low tides, so give the kite center a ring to check the situation, winter time there is no problem, but he told me there were a few weeks in summer that were very shallow, click the link and speak to him,

i cant wait, yes its dearer but with all the other sports to have a go at and the sheer luxury of the hotel, i'm going!!

Colin, the soma bay does sound great, but I was wondering what it would be like for beginners, and from a purely ksurfing point of view, when compared to Hurghada, Safaga and El Gouna, any other thoughts?

 

I remember passing it on the boat that funkites operate out of Safaga, was last year and I wondered who ran it and why funkites didn't use that spot, now know why!!

 

I've stayed at El Gouna and everything the rest of the guys say is true, and think have read comments you had put on about it before, I just found El Gouna a bit too close to the hotel swimming area and kept getting blown downwind into it, frustrating when tide was out as well.

 

As for safaga, their spot when really windy would almost immediately put me out on the reef!! I'm considering heading back out to Egypt in August, but wasn't sure where to go, as am trying to find somewhere with loads of space and something to do when no wind, though the water sports package there sounds cracking.

[kiteingcolin]

o and be careful, i have been to egypt in july and august, its ssooo hot!, good job it is also the windy season, as it cools you down, just hope you dont get it to strong, but there are no saftey isiues if its very windy.

 

it has to be the best place to learn anywhere due to the shallow water, but be aware there might be a problem in mid summer with low tides, so give the kite center a ring to check the situation, winter time there is no problem, but he told me there were a few weeks in summer that were very shallow, click the link and speak to him,

i cant wait, yes its dearer but with all the other sports to have a go at and the sheer luxury of the hotel, i'm going!!

[noelpilot83]

sorry to piggy back the thread!!

 

Looking to book for a week or two for october for hurghada, prob magawish, mate and I are competent at water starting, cruising, just starting to get upwind working ish! depending on conditions over the summer may have this nailed and get assessed for iko level 3 but may not,

 

If we don't has anyone any idea what we'll have to do to be able to kite out there? I think i remember seeing something saying you had to be level 3 but what do you do if you're not but you're past the having lessons bit and just need lots of practice?!

 

Hope someone can help

thanks

Noel

[mph8873]

I stayed at the InterContinental at Abu Soma twice last year - once in June with Planet and once in late September with Mark Warner.

 

The hotel is fantastic - I've been to the Sinai a few times and can honestly say it's a mile ahead of anything else. All I can say is, it's the only hotel I've stayed at in Egypt where I didn't get the $h!ts - 'nuff said!

 

You are definitely better off kiting with SurfMotion as you can kite the lagoon as the tide comes in and launch from near the centre. The Mark Warner guys weren't really geared up for kiting last year, they have too many rules etc to cover their insurance which is a pain - the instructors were quite p!$$ed when I was there as they had no where near enough kit or the facilities to repair it. Even if you take your own kit with MW, you still have to be taken out to a different part of the beach by boat which is the designated MW launch area.

 

That said, the hotel is a real winner - especially if taking family, girlfriend, boyfriend(!) etc. if you can get a deal with MW for the family, then grab it but if it's you and your mates, then I would go Planet and kite from Surf Motion as it's a bit more flexible and chilled.

[kiteingcolin]

sorry to piggy back the thread!!

 

Looking to book for a week or two for october for hurghada, prob magawish, mate and I are competent at water starting, cruising, just starting to get upwind working ish! i remember seeing something saying you had to be level 3 but what do you do if you're not but you're past the having lessons bit and just need lots of practice?!

 

Hope someone can help

thanks

Noel

 

colana at magawish might be a little frustrating at your level, you either need to be a beginer or able to get upwind well, the main beach is only for upwind guys as the wind is off shore, the laggon beach is only realy good enough for people with instructors,

have a look at abu somer, their laggon is massive and right next to the kite cte, but don't book your gear with mark warner, take your own or hire from surf motion,

mark warner saftey rules are to restrictive to enjoy a day out on the water,

 

(You are definitely better off kiting with SurfMotion as you can kite the lagoon as the tide comes in and launch from near the centre. The Mark Warner guys weren't really geared up for kiting last year, they have too many rules etc to cover their insurance which is a pain - the instructors were quite p!$$ed when I was there as they had no where near enough kit or the facilities to repair it. Even if you take your own kit with MW, you still have to be taken out to a different part of the beach by boat which is the designated MW launch area) (quote by mph 8833)

 

they had good gear when i was there for the day in feb this year, but going out in a boat to a jetty in the middle of the laggon, and setting up there is not for most guys, the problems are many with that set up,surf motion are on the shore 20 ft from the water, with air line , cafe, shade and sun loungers,kit hire and gear store, nice group of guys there,

no brainer fo me, but if you book with planet the other water sports are not free, i should have looked at the cost of hireing the catamarans at the cte, and the windsurfers,

[muppetdude1]

where is the place alib goes?

 

ali post that photo of the lagoons

 

that looks proppa bo

 

looks pretty superb on the freebie fatsands video so if u aint viwed it be quick and see the colour of that w ater

 

quality but alas i will never go

 

edit - my post count had quadrupled since forum went back up

[noelpilot83]

hmmm thanks colin, are there any other accomodation options at abu somer?! that 5 star pushing it for us a touch me thinks!

 

shame on colona area, hmmm decisions!! LOL, what do we think about el gouna?! obviously lack of water a slight consideration from what I've read but is it that big an issue for october time?!

 

thanks all

noel

[AliB]

ras sudr and moon beach

[Mr X]

I've just got back from a 1.5 weeks in Ras Sudr and wow was it amazing - over 1 sq km lagoon to kite in!!

 

Really excellent spot but there is really nothing else to do there but kite!

[noelpilot83]

who did you book with?!! how much did you pay if you don't mind me asking,

still fly into hurgada or are we talking totally different area?!

[AliB]

differnt area. for ras sudr u fly into cairo or sharm el skeik

[Mr X]

I booked through waveriders as if I'm going away for a week and a half I dont want to waste time faffing around sorting out things.

 

The flight is either to Cairo or Ras Sudr and it is a 2 or 3.5 hour transfer from either. Check out photos from the waveriders website - its really quite an excellent spot and the centre is really well staffed and friendly. There really is nout else to do but kite though.

 

Most definitely recommended!

[RaufD]

There really is nout else to do but kite though.

Bummer..

[Mr X]

It was a tough old week Rauf