| Safaga | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Country |  Egypt |
|---|---|
| Population | 28 261 hab. () |
| Spindle | UTC 02:00 |
| Location | |
 26 ° 45 ′ 6 ″ N 33 ° 56 ′ 4 ″ E | |
Safaga is a city ofEgypt on the Red Sea coast south ofHurghada.
Understand
Safaga is a quiet, yet industrial, small town. It has a port from which ferries leave to Saudi Arabia and a marina for diving. It is a city that stretches along the sea and also, to a lesser extent, towards the mountains.
To the north, coming from Hurghada, you will find isolated from the city, the hotel complexes that you will find on the internet. A few kilometers (05 min by mini-bus) you have the center of the "new" Safaga where the marina, the mosque and a few shops are located. Further south, you will come to "old" Safaga, more industrial with the port and some shops for the local population.
Safaga is not a tourist city, unlike Hurghada. Compared to Hurghada, Safaga has few shops, is dirty and cheap. More anecdotal, you will see many stray dogs there and also some crow-type birds, animals that you do not see in Hurghada. The behavior of the Egyptians is totally different, much more sympathetic, perhaps because they suffered less from the arrogance of the tourists.
While it is common to see a woman being picked up by an Egyptian elsewhere in Egypt, here you will be surprised to also see men being approached by women in the street to ask them their first name, and try to talk a little with them. .
To go
By plane
via Hurghada or Marsa Alam, Hurghada having more flights and being much closer. You will then have to make the trip by road to reach Safaga (more or less 3/4 of an hour by road). There is also a way to land in Luxor (transfer from 3 h via the desert)
By train
no train goes through Safaga
By car
fast road connecting Hurghada to Safaga or in the other direction Marsa Alam to Safaga via El Quseir. Take a taxi or a mini-bus, price 5-10 Euro (for direct trip, therefore being the only passengers) depending on the time of arrival, more expensive in the middle of the night.
By bus
take the bus to Hurghada right in the city center at the bus station. Frequent and inexpensive buses (5LE but this price may be doubled if there is a lot of luggage). We must arrive 30 min normally in advance to make sure you have a seat. You will arrive at the Safaga bus station located in "old" Safaga, completely south of the tourist complexes. Take a mini-bus from there to your hotel, 1 to 2LE (Egyptian pound worth approximately 1/7 Euro). Note: contrary to some reports on the spot, mainly tourists or Europeans working there, the buses are clean, air-conditioned, only stopovers in large cities.
On a boat
Possibility of making different boat trips from the port of Safaga (among others trip to Mecca).
Circulate
Safaga is a long city, so the mini-bus is usually a good idea to get around. Mini-buses crossing the city from North to South all day for 1 to 2 pounds.
To see
In the city itself, nothing. Aside from seeing a city not transformed into a tourist spot. On the other hand, at the diving level, it's something else. While Hurghada's dive sites are heavily destroyed by thousands of people diving daily, Safaga is relatively unspoiled. At the Marina, you will mainly find 3 Turtles, United Divers, Calypso or Dune as French-speaking diving centers, in centers with their own boats. In terms of dive sites, you will sometimes have sites with less than 10 meters deep along the side (near the golf course) but thousands of fish, sometimes reefs plunging hundreds of meters deep. Apart from the usual small fauna, you can almost certainly see in Safaga (near the golf course) jacks en masse, barracudas, big tunas only 4-6 meters deep. Possibility also on this side to see a white tip shark. More at sea, possibility of seeing turtles, dolphins (during trips), and more exceptionally a hammerhead shark or a passing manta ray.
To learn
To work
Possibility of working in diving centers as a helper if you have an interest in diving.
To buy
The majority of the shops are along the hotel complexes in the north of the city. Since they are adjacent to these hotels, the prices are obviously overpriced, negotiation being possible but not easy both because of the tourists negotiating little and the non-existent competition. It will not be uncommon to get a better price in Hurghada where the competition is tougher. Little choice, just memories.
Eat
Cheap
An excellent address, the Ali Baba opposite the mosque in the city center near the Marina. He has his double near the hotels north of the city. You eat well for cheap (water, starter, main course for 2 people = 10 LE). There is another restaurant opposite the hotels to the North but a little more expensive and less tasty (15-20LE).
As for the daily food, for example if you have decided to stay in an apartment, go to the grocery store which is on the corner of the street on the left just after the roundabout of the mosque. He will give you the local prices and offers both fresh and dry products as well as drinks in the freezer (water, cola).
Have a drink / Go out
Non-touristy city and therefore not offering any special event.
The Joker, a bar opposite the hotels in the north of the city (therefore near the restaurants and shops mentioned above) offers juices with squeezed fruit, of which you can choose the mixture. We can obviously also have a shisha there as everywhere. 5LE for a squeezed fruit juice. Bar also next to the Ali Baba in front of the mosque in the center.
Housing
Cheap
Possibility to contact the Dune diving center to provide you with an updated "backpacker" address. Either you contact the owner of the Joker (bar opposite the hotels) who can get you an air-conditioned apartment behind his bar for a low price. There is a nice apartment for rent 3 min walk from the marina www.appartsafaga. be
Average price
One of the hotels in the North, less expensive than the competitors but less well rated and also a hotel located a few hundred meters south of the Marina and with a small swimming pool (Hotel Amira). Names to be specified.
Luxury
Hotels in the north of the city. Holiday Inn, Sham's, Lotus Bay, Ménaville.
Communicate
Internet café near the Ali Baba in front of the mosque, relatively expensive and not very fast during rush hour. Otherwise, faster and cheaper but harder to find, in a small gallery, near a hairdresser, after the mosque (coming from Hurghada) on the left in the middle of the houses under construction.
Health
Doctor not found. Pharmacy either slightly south of the mosque along the main road, or opposite the hotels to the north, near the Joker.
Manage the day-to-day
The pharmacy is just to the left of the entrance to the mosque. If closed, wait calmly for the arrival of the attendant.
Around
Take the bus at the bus station or a mini-bus to Hurghada either for comfort or for an unsuitable schedule. Possibility to call on its dive center or better, the owner of the Joker, much cheaper (count 10 € instead of 30!)
Nearby, Hurghada if that's not where you've come from. A Roman camp to possibly visit in the nearby mountains. The road leading to Luxor goes through Safaga, so the journey is logically shorter from Safaga than from Hurghada.
