Special birthday gift for my mother, so my brother and I are taking her on the Emperor Asmaa out of Hurghada this winter to see the wrecks. This is our first time in Egypt, and we have a funky flight to get there but thats okay.
Milan -> Sharm, switch airlines, then Sharm -> Cairo -> Hurghada; was not originally supposed to go to Cairo but route changed likely due to trying to fill the plane. Only 1 hour in Cairo so if I'm not mistaken we are not deboarding, just picking up new passengers and luggage.
So we will hit immigration and passport control in Sharm, we have roughly 3 hours (landing at 12:15, leaving at 3:30pm).
First question: Is that enough time for VOA/immigration/customs/passport control and recheck in with luggage? I figure we will be rushing. Does it make sense to go through the eVisa or VOA?
We get to Hurghada that evening, and don't depart on the LOB until about 23 hours later so we have some time to explore. When we finish the LOB we chose to leave the boat and spend the last night at a hotel as well (so we can all have our own room), so we will have another night there as well.
Second question: Any restaurant recommendations? Staying both near the Golden Sun and the Palm Inn so we are in 2 different areas of Hurghada.
Third question: We have until 6pm for our LOB departure, and all day in Hurghada. Thinking about anything touristy that'll have us back in mid afternoon, or maybe just 2 local check out dives. What/where/who do you recommend?
Lastly, what are some must have things we should bring? I'll be having a hard suitcase with my dive gear ( I know, I've read they prefer soft cases...) but also bringing a few cameras and whatnot. Hooded rashguards, changes of swimwear, a spare towel, a water bottle.. anything else specifically a must have?
The day after our LOB we are all flying back to Milan, so no Cairo layover planned.
Thanks all! Looking forward to it, as most of my diving the past 6 months have been in cold Canadian lakes, and my past experience is generally Asia and Mexico.
Milan -> Sharm, switch airlines, then Sharm -> Cairo -> Hurghada; was not originally supposed to go to Cairo but route changed likely due to trying to fill the plane. Only 1 hour in Cairo so if I'm not mistaken we are not deboarding, just picking up new passengers and luggage.
So we will hit immigration and passport control in Sharm, we have roughly 3 hours (landing at 12:15, leaving at 3:30pm).
First question: Is that enough time for VOA/immigration/customs/passport control and recheck in with luggage? I figure we will be rushing. Does it make sense to go through the eVisa or VOA?
We get to Hurghada that evening, and don't depart on the LOB until about 23 hours later so we have some time to explore. When we finish the LOB we chose to leave the boat and spend the last night at a hotel as well (so we can all have our own room), so we will have another night there as well.
Second question: Any restaurant recommendations? Staying both near the Golden Sun and the Palm Inn so we are in 2 different areas of Hurghada.
Third question: We have until 6pm for our LOB departure, and all day in Hurghada. Thinking about anything touristy that'll have us back in mid afternoon, or maybe just 2 local check out dives. What/where/who do you recommend?
Lastly, what are some must have things we should bring? I'll be having a hard suitcase with my dive gear ( I know, I've read they prefer soft cases...) but also bringing a few cameras and whatnot. Hooded rashguards, changes of swimwear, a spare towel, a water bottle.. anything else specifically a must have?
The day after our LOB we are all flying back to Milan, so no Cairo layover planned.
Thanks all! Looking forward to it, as most of my diving the past 6 months have been in cold Canadian lakes, and my past experience is generally Asia and Mexico.
