The Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge

A house for enthusiasts

The Breakers describes itself as Egypt's first watersports lifestyle hotel. Everything revolves around the water: the dive centre at the end of the jetty, the kite school a few minutes away, and in the evening large round tables where guests eat together. Solo travellers easily find company.

Guests are loyal: more than 60% return regularly, and some have stayed over thirty times. The lodge has 173 rooms, all renovated in early 2023 in a boho style, and more than three quarters look out over the reef and the open sea.

The reef at the end of the jetty

A 420 m jetty leads to the house reef in a few minutes. The ORCA Dive Club, based at the lodge, describes the reef as one of the finest in Egypt: reef fish, rays, turtles, barracudas, a coral canyon and, now and then, a whale shark nicknamed "Wally". It suits experienced divers as well as beginners and snorkellers.

The centre has 60 complete rental sets and a shop. Its instructors are SSI and PADI certified (Scuba Schools International and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the two main dive-training organisations), and courses run in the pool and then at sea. Every day there are early-morning and night dives and, when the current allows, drift dives from a Zodiac along the reef. The centre also teaches freediving, rebreather, sidemount (cylinders worn at the sides) and underwater scooter diving.

Half-day and full-day boat trips leave daily for the reefs around Tobia Island, Panorama Reef and the wreck of the Salem Express.

The wind, eight minutes away

The 7 Bft KiteHouse school, partnered with the lodge, is about eight minutes away by a free shuttle that runs several times a day. The main spot has flat water in a protected lagoon, with more than 300 windy days a year, between Force 4 and 8 on the Beaufort scale. A shuttle also runs to Tobia Island, with large launch and landing zones for kites and wings, and daily downwinders (long runs with the wind).

Lessons are given by instructors licensed by the VDWS (Verband Deutscher Wassersportschulen, the German federation of watersports schools), with German-speaking staff available. The rental fleet has 120 kites and 60 boards from Core, Carved and goodboards. A motorboat provides rescue cover, with live tracking of riders. Wing foiling, SUP, wakeboarding and wakesurfing complete the range.

After the water

The restaurant changes theme every evening, from Arabic and Nubian cooking to barbecue; you can also book a Bedouin dinner, a six-course seafood dinner, a "Tomahawk" steak dinner or a romantic dinner on the beach. For a drink, choose between the Reef Bar, the Beach Bar, the Skybar and the rooftop bar, which also hosts open-air cinema and DJ nights. On Saturdays and Tuesdays, a boat heads out at sunset with a DJ and cocktails.

The pool, in the inner courtyard, stays open after sunset. For tired muscles: a panoramic sauna facing the sea, aromatherapy sessions, yoga, a gym, massages (hot stone, herbal, Thai) and a beauty salon.

Which room to choose

All rooms are about 28 m², with a balcony, rain shower and extra-long 220 cm duvets, welcome for tall guests. The Standard is enough if you spend your days in the water. The Lifestyle adds a direct sea view, a coffee machine, a bathrobe and a hammock on the balcony. The six XL Lifestyle rooms are more spacious, with a freestanding bath facing the sunrise or sunset, breakfast in the room once a week and a bottle of wine.

Sabaro's view

Who it suits: divers and kitesurfers, solo, as a couple or with friends; travellers who like being among watersports enthusiasts.

Strengths: a house reef at the end of the jetty; kitesurfing on a flat-water lagoon; a loyal following of regulars; a score of 9.0/10 on Booking.com from 526 reviews.

Good to know: rooms come in one size, around 28 m²; the lodge does not provide extra beds, which limits it for families.