Only 2 hours to the south of Hurghada,
Al-Quseir, the oldest port on
this part of the Red Sea, creates a totally different feel to the hustle
and bustle of the resort of Hurghada. It's remoteness and lack of
development is it's huge attraction. The town's narrow streets are
lined with colourful bazaars which have a decidedly Bedouin accent. An
ancient caravan trail, to Qift in the Nile Valley, leads from Al-Quseir
through the mountains, passing several Pharaonic and Roman sites. A new
road, directly to Luxor, opens soon.
You’ll
find possibilities for entertainment such as tennis / snorkelling,
nightlife in Al-Quseir Town, excursions to Luxor to see the Valley of the
Kings and the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Al-Quseir
Dive
Experience |
These
days’ people are coming to Al-Quseir for the beaches and the waters
and tourism officials are eager to make it as easy as possible for them
to do so. "If we are going to increase tourism to this city, the
Ministry of Interior is going to have to open the road to Luxor through
Wadi Al-Hammamat and Qift," said Amin, explaining that at present,
tourists are not allowed to travel this road. Instead, they have to take
another road from Safaga and wait for a convoy to take them through
-- a precaution intended to safeguard tourists, but in practice only
forces them to wait for hours to continue their journey. Alternately, the
airport that has been built at Marsa Alam, approximately 65 kilometres
away, provides easy access to Al-Quseir.
Centred
around Ras Allased Bay, the fringing house reef has a shallow lagoon plus
a slow fall to 30 metres, the perfect spot for novice to advanced divers.
Local exciting features are intact stone coral, coral rock and table
coral; for marine life there are schools of jacks, Napolean wrasse and
profusions of puffer fish. The diving centre is managed by Sub Aqua, which
organises boat or jeep safaris selected
by divers the previous day and paid for locally. Sharm Fugani, a protected
bay with a shallow lagoon shelters anemone fish and clownfish. Along the
outer edge the reef falls away to 30 m. A wide variety of big fish,
schools of masked bannerfish, spotted eagle ray and blue spotted lagoon
ray populate to local waters. Ras Maheleg is a reef with severe drop off
to 40 m, home to myriads of snappers and a wide variety of fish plus a
spectacular coral garden. The variety of options makes this the perfect
area to explore and recharge the batteries.