After a long 5-hour drive from Luxor we finally arrive into Hurghada, a beachside resort town located on the Red Sea. It used to be a small fishing village, and is now one of Egypt’s main tourist spots thanks to beautiful weather, watersports and fun nightlife. We pull up to the Caves Beach Resort, our home for the next 3 nights. It is a huge hotel, and we have an all inclusive stay.
Since it’s getting late, we need to head over to the restaurant right away so we can catch dinner. It’s decent, and consists mostly of Western cuisine.
I’m ready to head to my room and unfortunately there are no elevators so I need to lug my humongous suitcase up a few flights of stairs. Either that or wait for the bellhop guy to bring it up in an hour. The rooms are designed to look like you’re in a cave, and it’s one of the more unique places I’ve ever stayed in.
The room is spacious and comfortable – the hotel is not super fancy, but the value of this for what I paid is pretty unreal. Then I head down to the main bar for a few drinks with the gang before heading to bed to prepare for yet another early morning…
A 7:30am start, and a surprisingly long van ride to pick up our diving gear. I squeeze into my wetsuit – I have never been in one before and I feel a bit claustrophobic. Haha. Another drive over to the boat, and we hop on, ready for a day of diving, snorkeling and relaxing on the Red Sea.
We get a quick briefing about the dive, and this is where I’ll tell you how much diving makes me nervous. I’ve been snorkeling before, but something about fully breathing underwater freaks me out. I think, how are they going to take me on this dive when I have zero training? Is this safe? I will be going in with a scuba guide and Dai, so if there’s any issues he’s right there with me.
Next, it’s time to strap on the heavy vest with the air tank, slide on my flippers and goggles and jump into the Red Sea. Scuba guy shows me how to use the mouthpiece – just shove it in there and breathe in and out…simple, right? I get a little bit of practice before we dive and I’m still not 100% but he assures me it’s easy. So I try to keep myself calm and breathe in and out as we dive down deeper, but the bubbles that come out during exhale are throwing me off and it feels like the mouthpiece will let in water next time I breathe in. I give him the panic signal and we head up out of the water. And he assures me again that I’ll be fine. This happens a few more times because I just can’t get super comfortable. Another issue is my ears – they are not popping properly and he’s showing me how to do it but it’s just another procedure that makes me feel like I’m gonna take in water. Side note: I’ve always had ear issues, so forcibly popping them is not as easy as it sounds. I decide I’ve finally had enough and we head back to the boat. I am scheduled do another dive after lunch but I decide that it’s best to skip it and the other girls can go enjoy it without my paranoid-ass interrupting their experience.
Now it’s time for lunch, and it’s a decent spread of food but I don’t want to eat too much because I’m not sure if I will feel seasick – I’ve had some seasickness issues in the past and I didn’t bring any pills with me so I’m hoping for the best. So far, I feel fine and I settle in to relax on the boat.
Poor Paul is not so lucky though..he is very seasick and his wife Romana takes care of him until he finally falls asleep. I feel like that’s the best cure – puke it out and then have a nap. Haha. Now it’s time to get back in the water; this time I choose to snorkel instead. But the water is way too choppy to enjoy it, and I must be careful when coming up that I don’t get a mouthful of water from the waves. I cut it short, and that’s ok because I’ve been to one of the best snorkeling spots in the world – Belize – and this just does not compare. Sorry, Red Sea!
Back to the hotel for a quick swim and drinks, and then a final dinner with the group. Some will be leaving tomorrow, and some of us stay one more day. I’m really not feeing well – I feel like I’m still on the boat, with some dizziness and uncomfortable ears. Ugh. After dinner I sneak off for a nap before I join the group again later. But when I wake up from my nap and go down to the bar, no one is there. I can’t find anyone! So it kinda sucks that I don’t get to have a proper goodbye with some of my new friends……But goodbye to Libby, Claudia, Ryan, Marcelo, Shelby, Aaron, Brittany, Ramez and Meena!! Lots of love to you all!
The next day is perfect for a sleep in because I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. It is a relax at the resort kind of day! There are 5 of us left – me, Romana and Paul, and Kamali and Dai. I meet Romana and Paul for breakfast, and then we head to the pool with cocktails in hand.
And lucky for us, aquafit is starting so we join in for some ridiculous exercises.
Kamali and Dai join us midway, and then it’s time for lunch. That’s what we do all day…eat and drink.
Next we head down to the beach to take a dip in the Red Sea. The water is nice and fresh, and it’s another gorgeous day in Egypt.
The crazy thing about this part of the sea is it is so shallow. Like you have to go way out before it even gets remotely deep…we go as far as we can, and it’s a bit of an uncomfortable walk around all of the rocks…like you think they’d clear it out a bit so people can enjoy the water without breaking an ankle or something.
I head back to my room because the combo of heat and cocktails is exhausting..haha time for a nap before dinner. After dinner we enjoy more cocktails at Fred’s bar, but they must water down their booze because I don’t really feel any effects of the drinks.
To cap off the evening, there is a show in front of the hotel that features a fire breathing dude and a guy that puts a nail bed on his chest and has a bunch of girls stand on top of him.
It is entertaining enough, but not super exciting. And now it’s time to head to bed because tomorrow is another early morning as we head back to Cairo. This has been a really nice stop to unwind and relax after the intense schedule we experienced over the last 5 days. But I still have 2 more places to explore……
Everywhere On Earth With Erin 