What It’s Like on a Desert Safari – Hurghada
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When we visited Egypt, the desert safari Hurghada was actually one of the best experiences that we had of the whole trip! It was really amazing to get out into the desert, see some different scenery, meet the community of the Bedouin village and try a new experience.
One of the highlights of visiting Egypt is to take a trip into the desert and Hurghada is one of the best destinations to do this. When you’re out in the desert, you will get to enjoy some Egyptian tea whilst speaking to the villagers of the Bedouin village, learning more about their life and culture.
If you want to take a step off the beaten track and enjoy a new experience in Hurghada then make sure to stick with us as we’ll share all the tips, tricks and our experience of the tour.
Is Doing a Buggy Tour in Hurghada Worth It?
In our opinion, it is absolutely worth doing a desert tour in Hurghada because it is a way to open up your eyes, see some beautiful scenery and try a new experience. It really is a fantastic day trip from Hurghada especially for families and couples.
For Liam, this was a dream come true because he got to go wild on a buggy driving it around the desert. It’s safe to say it wasn’t exactly Amy’s dream come true as she was nervous about driving the buggy but in the end it was totally worth it!
Whether you’re someone like Amy and nervous driving the buggy or you’re like Liam and a child in a toy shop, you will still love this experience!
How Much Does a Desert Safari in Hurghada Cost?
There are quite a few different variations of the desert safaris in Hurghada so it really does depend on what you choose to be included and what time of year you’re travelling.
We visited Hurghada in December, due to this, it was a really quiet period and so prices were a little cheaper than during peak seasons such as July & August. As it was also a quieter season, there ended up being no one else on our tour so we actually got a private buggy tour in the end.
For a group buggy tour, you will be looking at between £10 – £20 GBP / $14 – $27 USD per person for quad biking in the desert, a camel ride and a trip to the beach as well.
To bag yourself a private tour, you would be looking at more around the £60 – £70 GBP / $80 – $105 USD mark for desert safari in Hurghada.
What is Included in the Desert Safaris Hurghada?
It does depend on which variation of the Desert Safari that you decide to book as they can vary. In general, they all include driving a quad, buggy or ATV in the desert and riding a camel.
However, you can get some that visit the beach as well for some chill time, some include a BBQ dinner or lunch or stargazing so there are quite a few different variations.
The option we chose included a visit down the beach where we had a little photoshoot and meeting the community of the Bedouin Village.
What to Wear for a Desert Safari
Most importantly, don’t wear anything that you are frightened will get spoiled because as expected, when you’re driving through the desert, it can be dusty so you will be caked in dust when you finish the tour.
Make sure that you bring a form of eye wear such as sunglasses to not only protect you from squinting but to stop getting sand in your eyes too. It’s worth checking the best time to visit Hurghada before you go if you’re planning to do this excursion as you will want to avoid any crazy desert storms!
You will usually be given the option to buy a scarf to cover your nose and mouth again to protect sand from getting into places that you don’t want. One tip for visiting Hurghada if you’re going to do this tour that we can give you is where possible, purchase these before you visit Hurghada to save a little bit of cash!
Generally speaking, you will want to wear clothes that feel comfortable and protect you from the sun because as you’ve probably guessed, there is no protection from the sun in the desert.
We’ve popped a little packing list for your desert safari in Hurghada below:
– Suncream
– Clothes to cover your skin & protect you from the sun
– Scarf for nose, mouth & neck
– Sunglasses
– Water
– Camera
Best Hurghada Desert Safari Tours
We booked our Hurghada desert safari when we were in Egypt but to be honest, I think it would have been cheaper if we had booked it online in advance. This is especially true as haggling is such a common practice in Egypt and at the time we had less understanding of the exchange rate.
Below, you will find a few different options that are perfect to book for your Hurghada vacation
- Desert Quad Bike, ATV, Camel Ride & Optional BBQ
- Star Watching Desert Adventure by Jeep with Dinner
- VIP Buggy & Camel Safari + BBQ & Stargazing
Desert Safari Hurghada: Our Experience
We’ve given you all the facts for booking your quad desert safari in Hurghada but we really want to share with you what our experience was like. This includes things that we enjoyed during the trip and also the things that we didn’t enjoy so much.
Our trip started meeting our guide and we were given the option to purchase scarfs for the tour. In hindsight, we could have got these much cheaper at home so if you can purchase them beforehand, we recommend doing so. However, we still have them to this day and they’re a good reminder of our romantic trip to Hurghada.
There was a little bit of confusion as Amy was hoping for Liam to drive and for her to be on the back. The guide did keep pushing for Amy to drive her own quad bike but it’s just not within her comfort zone after having a 12 year old have to take over driving because she was too slow in Mexico!
Then we headed off from the hotel to the desert. We did have to go on a couple of normal roads before reaching the desert but it was nothing too crazy. Then Liam just let rip and drove us through behind the guide.
Now, let us tell you, this guide was crazy, he was driving one-handed with his phone in hand taking videos and photos of us the whole way. A++ for effort!!
We drove to the Bedouin village where we sat in some shade for awhile and got to meet some people from the Bedouin community which was really interesting. They kindly offered us some Egyptian tea which was delicious and a nice break from the sun!
Once we had finished our tea, we were asked if we wanted to ride a camel. Amy had done this experience in Marsa Alam when she was younger and didn’t particularly enjoy it so opted out. However, we did find that they were quite pushy to get us to ride a camel.
Liam did try this experience as it is something that he had never done before. With this in mind, after seeing how the camels were treated, it is something that he will never do again. As the guides kept pushing Amy, she eventually agreed but felt disappointed that she gave in because it didn’t feel right to her morally.
This is the only part of the tour that we didn’t enjoy because it just wasn’t a nice experience to see how the camels were treated and something that we wouldn’t recommend to be honest!
Thankfully, after this experience was over, we jumped back on the quad bikes and headed to a beach. There was no one else around so it was a truly private experience for us.
We got to spend some time just to ourselves before our guide gave us a full on photoshoot with the quad bikes. He was ever so sweet and also made Amy a seashell necklace which we still have to this day and it is even hanging on one of our photoframes in our house!
Another cool part of this was that the guide also showed us the hermit crabs and Liam got to hold one of them too which was really interesting.
After spending about an hour at this beach, we were back on the quad bikes driving back to the hotel. It was truly an amazing experience, except for the camel section but everything else we absolutely loved!
Not to mention that the guide didn’t even try charging us for the photos and videos he took, which is really nice of him as often there are extra charges for this.
Ready for your Desert Safari in Hurghada?
We had an absolute ball in Hurghada and going on this desert tour was one of the biggest highlights for us because it was exciting, slightly adrenaline filled and we got to see a different side to Egypt too!
For anyone that is considering doing this tour when they visit Hurghada, we would highly recommend it. We also really enjoyed that it was a private tour for us as well because it made it that much more of an intimate experience to appreciate a romantic vacation.
