El Gouna

Around 22km north of Hurghada lies the vast tourist resort of EL GOUNA (w elgouna.com), popular with the Egyptian jet set and Western package tourists. Built on a series of islands linked by purpose-built bridges and canals, El Gouna covers 37 square kilometres and packs in a lot, including an eighteen-hole golf course, casino, two shopping centres, (the main one with an open-air cinema), cafés, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, banks, travel agencies and a post office, plus a museum, aquarium, winery, a cheese factory and an international airport. Most hotels have dive centres attached – for a list of nearby dive sites, see the Hurghada account – and watersports, horseriding, go-karting, tennis, squash and microlight flights are also available. El Gouna’s state-of-the-art private hospital (emergencies t 065 354 0011, w elgounahospital.com.eg) has a decompression chamber (t 0122 218 7550).