El Gouna

A town built on water

El Gouna means "the lagoon" in Egyptian Arabic. The name describes the place: a town created from scratch on some twenty islands separated by lagoons and canals, along about 10 km of coast. Work began in 1989, led by the Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris; the town is now developed by his group, Orascom Development. It started as a few beach houses and a private marina; the town followed, because the nearest shops, petrol station and hospital were in Hurghada.

The architects, among them the American Michael Graves and the Italian Alfredo Freda, took rural Egyptian architecture as their model: low houses, domes, earth colours. The result looks more like a small town than a hotel strip. It has a mosque and a Coptic church, a branch of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a campus of the Technical University of Berlin, an open-air cinema, and year-round residents.

Three districts shape the town:

• Downtown, the centre, with its restaurants and bars;
• Tamr Henna Square, another place to go out and meet;
• Abu Tig Marina, with its cafés, shops and more refined restaurants.

Hotels are spread between these districts, the golf courses, the lagoon and the hill ("The Hill").

Getting around without a car

You can easily do without a car in El Gouna. Tuk-tuks, motorised three-wheelers, handle short trips between districts, from early morning until late at night depending on the company. A shuttle boat links Downtown with Zaytouna Island and offers guided lagoon tours in English and German. For Hurghada and the airport, 25 km away, the Go Bus coach company and chauffeur-driven car services run the connection.

Distances are short, but every trip involves a tuk-tuk or a boat: Sabaro therefore recommends choosing your hotel according to what you have come to do, by the lagoon for kitesurfing, on the golf courses to play, near Downtown or Abu Tig to go out in the evening.

Kitesurfing: the lagoon and the wind

El Gouna is the coast's main kitesurfing centre. There are dozens of schools, the oldest, Kite Power, dating from 2004.

The water. Teaching areas are on the lagoon: flat water, from knee to waist deep. You can stand during your first attempts, which suits beginners.

The wind. It blows from the north at an average of 15 to 20 knots. Kite Power's weather station counts about 77% rideable days a year. The wind is thermal, meaning it builds with the heat of the day: it is most reliable from May to September. In summer it often shifts around midday, from side-offshore to side-shore.

The schools. Several are certified by the IKO (International Kiteboarding Organization) and the VDWS (Verband Deutscher Wassersportschulen, the German federation of water sports schools), two labels that set a level-by-level syllabus and supervision standards. Some limit lessons to two students per instructor, with radio helmets. The Duotone centre at Casa Cook accepts riders who bring their own gear, for a day-use fee.

How many days. A week leaves time for a full course and a few days of riding on your own, with some margin for windless days.

Golf, film, squash: the other calendar

El Gouna has two 18-hole golf courses: the Steigenberger Golf Resort course, designed by Gene Bates and Fred Couples, and Ancient Sands, designed by Karl Litten. The two hotels in the Sabaro selection that sit on them let you play without a transfer.

Two events draw a crowd that comes for more than the beach:

• The El Gouna Film Festival, founded in 2017 by Naguib Sawiris. Its 9th edition runs from 15 to 23 October 2026; Sabaro recommends booking early for those dates.
• The El Gouna International squash tournament, every year in April.

Who it suits, and where to stay

El Gouna appeals to couples and to travellers looking for smaller hotels than in Hurghada. In the Sabaro selection:

• La Maison Bleue, thirteen suites and a chef's table, awarded a Michelin Key in 2026, the Michelin Guide's hotel distinction;
• Casa Cook, 129 rooms, suites and villas, for guests aged 16 and over, by the lagoon, with its own kitesurfing centre;
• The Chedi, on the hill, with a private beach and spa;
• Steigenberger Golf Resort and Ancient Sands, on the golf courses, the former with 54 m² rooms that also suit families.

At sea, El Gouna's dive centres head for the Abu Nahas wrecks in the Strait of Gubal and for the Giftun Islands. El Gouna has a decompression chamber.