Question Egypt Safety due ongoing War in the region

[ReefHound]

Our group just returned from Sharm and we didn't have any security threats or issues. When you think of the millions of dollars pumping into the area every week you have to know that Egypt doesn't want this interrupted. We were advised to have our passports on the day boats as the coast guard was randomly stopping boats and checking passengers but we didn't experience or observe this. We were advised not to go outside Sharm so we canceled our plans to visit Mt Sinai. The only time I *momentarily* was concerned was the flight out from Sharm to Istanbul, flying over Sinai. Airplanes and airports are prime targets for terrorists wanting to make a statement.

The risk isn't really about what has happened or what is happening but what could happen. You just don't know if things could spiral out of control and engulf a larger area next week. This war is a news story for us but more personal for those living in that region, who may have relatives and friends directly affected. For that reason, we didn't talk about our political views and opinions on what is happening.

 

[buster243]

It's a tough call. I was on a liveaboard from Hurghada this year in March, well before the current situation developed. One of the things I noticed, and I've seen other people use this as a reason for asserting it is safe there: members of our group who went on various tours in Egypt by hired car had police escorts for the full length of daytrips that venture from Hurghada to the more traditional Egypt tourist sites. To me it's troubling that the trip operators and the police (no doubt money changed hands in return for the official police escort, but still) thought that was a necessary precaution. In fairness, there may also be an element of using the police escort to partially overcome the traffic chaos when the route goes through more dense areas.. Nonetheless there is a high level of abject poverty in Egypt, aggravated significantly by 50+ % inflation and other manifestations of the current economic situation that leaves a very large number of natives right on the edge of basic survival. Add to that some religious fervor (regardless of which, if any, side of the fervor you may be) resulting from war in the Middle East and I believe that increases the risk of travel there. If I were in your situation and had "cancel for any reason insurance", I might wait a little longer since I think you can cancel up to or pretty close to the departure date, but I would certainly strongly consider cancelling and going elsewhere.

 

[buster243]

It's a tough call. I was on a liveaboard from Hurghada this year in March, well before the current situation developed. One of the things I noticed, and I've seen other people use this as a reason for asserting it is safe there: members of our group who went on various tours in Egypt by hired car had police escorts for the full length of daytrips that venture from Hurghada to the more traditional Egypt tourist sites. To me it's troubling that the trip operators and the police (no doubt money changed hands in return for the official police escort, but still) thought that was a necessary precaution. In fairness, there may also be an element of using the police escort to partially overcome the traffic chaos when the route goes through more dense areas.. Nonetheless there is a high level of abject poverty in Egypt, aggravated significantly by 50+ % inflation and other manifestations of the current economic situation that leaves a very large number of natives right on the edge of basic survival. Add to that some religious fervor (regardless of which, if any, side of the fervor you may be) resulting from war in the Middle East and I believe that increases the risk of travel there. If I were in your situation and had "cancel for any reason insurance", I might wait a little longer since I think you can cancel up to or pretty close to the departure date, but I would certainly strongly consider cancelling and going elsewhere.

During our visit to Egypt in September 2019, armed escorts accompanied us throughout our journey on buses. It is worth noting that this practice was not a recent introduction, as armed escorts were already a common sight. According to local authorities, this precaution is specifically enacted to ensure the safety of tourists. While it's important to approach such information with skepticism, we personally never experienced any sense of threat during our time there.

 

[ReefHound]

Just one thing to add, if you think it can't happen in Sharm, think again. In 2015, ISIS blew up a plane departing from Sharm killing all 224 on board. That was on my mind as we departed Egypt.

How safe is Egyptian resort Sharm El Sheikh

EGYPTIAN resort Sharm El Sheikh, the once bustling holiday paradise that attracted thousands of Brits a year, now looks like a ghost town. The Red Sea resort is surrounded by a ring of steel after …

www.thesun.co.uk

And that's not all. In 2004, three hotels in Taba were bombed, collapsing the Hilton and killing 34 people. In 2005, there were bombings of a market and a hotel in Sharm, killing 34 people. In 2006, there were a series of bombings in nearby Dahab, killing 23 people. Security is better now but it's a dangerous region, there are lots of terrorist groups, and you can never know the timings or intentions of them. It might be statistically at any given place or time but don't ever think it can't happen. Don't mock anyone who is not comfortable with that risk.

 

[jborg]

Security is better now but it's a dangerous region, there are lots of terrorist groups, and you can never know the timings or intentions of them. It might be statistically at any given place or time but don't ever think it can't happen. Don't mock anyone who is not comfortable with that risk.

This is true, but I think it needs to be kept in perspective. And I'm not talking to you specifically here, ReefHound, you clearly have perspective since you wrote this coming back from a recent trip to Egypt.

It's too easy to fall into the trap of seeing violence, scariness, and otherness in places you are not used to or comfortable with. I see US guys being scared of going to Egypt because of the violence, and I think, eh, weren't there like 57 school/church/mall shootings in the US just last weekend and some dude in a nightclub who killed 50 people in one go the other day? But that's what you're used to, and it's factored into your daily life, and it's just background -- even though, to me, it seems rather scary.

Conversely, I sit in what used to be roughly one of the safest countries in the world and now read about gang murders roughly every day, and I meet people from abroad who are so fascinated that I even dare drive into the city. Meh, it's all just background noise...

I get roughly the same feeling when someone hears about diving and googles shark attacks -- there are so many of them! People die! Aren't I scared?! Right...

Maybe I tend to downplay risks, but I find most places I go to feel much as safe as home, regardless of which hemisphere it's in. Obviously I'd avoid a warzone, the ghetto, etc, but most of Egypt is not that; certainly Sharm isn't.

 

[berndo]

And that's not all. In 2004, three hotels in Taba were bombed, collapsing the Hilton and killing 34 people. In 2005, there were bombings of a market and a hotel in Sharm, killing 34 people. In 2006, there were a series of bombings in nearby Dahab, killing 23 people. Security is better now but it's a dangerous region, there are lots of terrorist groups, and you can never know the timings or intentions of them. It might be statistically at any given place or time but don't ever think it can't happen. Don't mock anyone who is not comfortable with that risk.

As it was said before, non of this was in the the tourist areas by the cost in mainland Egypt but Sinai. You list killings over a span of 20 years... calling it a dangerous region while you're from a country that had 620 people killed in random shootings (that is an insane amount) in the last 10 month alone is crazy!
If you're calling that region dangerous, what are you calling the US? Your home state of Texas is more dangerous than even the Sinai area.

 

[ReefHound]

As it was said before, non of this was in the the tourist areas by the cost in mainland Egypt but Sinai. You list killings over a span of 20 years... calling it a dangerous region while you're from a country that had 620 people killed in random shootings (that is an insane amount) in the last 10 month alone is crazy!
If you're calling that region dangerous, what are you calling the US? Your home state of Texas is more dangerous than even the Sinai area.

Serious? It absolutely was in tourist areas. The incident in Dahab collapsed ten floors of hotel Hilton. The incident in Sharm involved hotel Ghazala. These are prime tourist diving locations.

It's relative and we have a choice of destinations. How many terrorist bombings and deaths have there been in Cozumel or Caymans or Roatan or Bonaire or Belize in the span of 20 years? The discussion was about the risk due to war/terrorism not random crime.

And if you think I was calling that region dangerous then you have reading comprehension issues. I just visited that region. The point was that there is a recurring risk of terrorism even if it's small so someone shouldn't be dismissed for being concerned. I'm sure people like you would have dismissed anyone having concerns about visiting southern Israel a few months ago.

Another reason people may be concerned, regardless of risk, is being 10,000 miles away from any support structure in the event something does happen.

 

[crofrog]

If you're calling that region dangerous, what are you calling the US? Your home state of Texas is more dangerous than even the Sinai area.

Please cite some sources...

 

[Lorenzoid]

As it was said before, non of this was in the the tourist areas by the cost in mainland Egypt but Sinai.

Serious? It absolutely was in tourist areas. The incident in Dahab collapsed ten floors of hotel Hilton. The incident in Sharm involved hotel Ghazala. These are prime tourist diving locations.

berndo said "by the coast in mainland Egypt." In other words, in Red Sea port towns like Hurghada where there is some diving and most liveaboards depart from. Taba, Dahab and Sharm are in Sinai, not the "mainland" as berndo uses the term. Sinai--I suppose the well-touristed coastal towns included--has long been perceived as more dangerous than the rest of Egypt. Then again, in 1997 there was an attack against tourists in Luxor, one of the most touristed places in Egypt.

 

[ReefHound]

berndo said "by the coast in mainland Egypt." In other words, in Red Sea port towns like Hurghada where there is some diving and most liveaboards depart from. Taba, Dahab and Sharm are in Sinai, not the "mainland" as berndo uses the term. Sinai--I suppose the well-touristed coastal towns included--has long been perceived as more dangerous than the rest of Egypt. Then again, in 1997 there was an attack against tourists in Luxor, one of the most touristed places in Egypt.

And I clearly was talking about Sharm. I said I just returned from Sharm and started my post with "if you think it can't happen in Sharm, think again." If someone is only interested in the mainland there was no need to respond to my post.

There have also been incidents in Hurghada. What is concerning for tourists is that tourists were specifically targeted.

"On 8 January 2016, two suspected militants, armed with a melee weapon and a signal flare, allegedly arrived by sea and stormed the Bella Vista Hotel in the Red Sea city of Hurghada, stabbing two foreign tourists from Austria and one from Sweden."

"On 14 July 2017 Abdel-Rahman Shaaban, a former university student from the Nile Delta region, swam from a public beach to each of two resort hotel beaches at Hurghada on the Red Sea and stabbed five German and one Czech tourists, all women, killing two German women. "