Ain Sokhna is a resort on the shores of the Gulf of Suez of the Red Sea, almost unknown to Russian tourists. Charters do not fly there, package tours to this region are a rarity, it is mainly interesting for independent travelers. Its main advantage is its location: only 150 km from Cairo, so a transfer along a direct highway from the Egyptian capital will not be as tedious as to Hurghada or Sharm el-Sheikh. Check ANDYEDUCATION.COM to learn more about the country of Egypt.
The resort is very popular among the Egyptians themselves, there are still few foreigners there, but the region is rapidly developing and plans to take its rightful place among the flagships of the country’s beach tourism.
How to get to Ain Sokhna
From Moscow, direct flights by Ural Airlines, Aeroflot and EgyptAir fly to Cairo daily. On the way – 4-5 hours, the price of a round-trip ticket is 400-680 USD. Aeroflot and Nordwind Airlines have rare direct flights from St. Petersburg for the same 400-680 USD RUB round trip. The rest of the options are only with a transfer in Moscow Sheremetyevo. In this case, it will take 8-9 hours to get there, or even 20-22 hours if the transfers are long. Round trip ticket: 545-610 RUB. The prices on the page are for May 2021.
From airport to city
Buses run from the parking lot of Terminal 1 of Cairo Airport to the Egyptian capital to the central Tahrir Square and to the Ramses railway station. The ride takes 30-50 minutes, the fare is 5 EGP.
A taxi from the airport to the city will cost 60-80 EGP on the meter, but often – welcome to Egypt! – local carriers refuse to carry a foreigner for less than 120 EGP. And their counter is always “broken”.
Buses depart from Tahrir Square and from the Ramses railway station to Ain Sokhna 4-5 times a day. Usually these are transit flights to Hurghada, which stop in the Porto el Sokhna resort area. The fare is 100-200 EGP depending on the class.
Beaches
The resort area of Ain Sokhna is located quite far from the port city itself and stretches along the coast of the Gulf of Suez for several kilometers. It consists of autonomous hotels with their own infrastructure. By the way, unlike many local hotels, they do not have an all-inclusive system; they offer their guests only breakfasts and dinners.
The sea in Ain Sokhna is clean, transparent and shallow. You won’t swim with a mask there and you won’t see the beauties of the underwater world, as in the same Hurghada, but it’s safe for children to swim. Navigation in the Gulf of Suez does not pollute the water and does not interfere with a relaxing holiday. Large sections of the beaches are covered with fine golden sand, they do not have stones and cobblestones, as in other parts of the Red Sea coast. But rocky places come across.
The entire infrastructure is located on the territory of the hotels, only guests can use it.
There is also a kitesurfing center in Ain Sokhna called Infinity Kitesurfing Sokhna (official site in English), which is considered one of the best in the region, and according to some surfers, in the world.
What to see in Ain Sokhna
In Ain Sokhna there are no noisy discos, wild entertainment and fun parties – people come here for a relaxing holiday. Animators in hotels do not let guests get bored, but one should not expect any grandiose shows from them.
On the territory of the Swiss Inn Teda Hotel & Aqua Park hotel complex, there is a Teda Fun Valley theme park with water attractions and a dinosaur park.
There are exactly two entertainments that can, albeit with a stretch, be called extreme in Ain Sokhna: camel riding and ATV rides in the rocky desert. Two hours drive from the resort are the ancient Christian monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul, usually visited as part of one trip. You can get to Cairo or Alexandria on your own by municipal transport – special excursions are not yet offered there due to lack of demand (most Egyptian tourists arrive in Ain Sokhna from these cities).
