”Marhaba“ is the Egyptian word for ”welcome“. Those travelling to the land of the Nile for the first time dive into a foreign, oriental world. Life takes place in the streets, at bazaars and in the coffee houses. There, the men are among themselves, drink tea with mint or sweet arabic coffee and smoke shisha. They play “tawla”, backgammon, and talk, scold and laugh a lot. The expression “Insha’allah” – God willing – is used frequently and reflects the laid-back mentality of the Egyptians. Everything is just “Mish Mushkella” – no problem.

Surrounded by Culture – Egypt as a classic cultural Destination
Due to its rich history, its pulsating capital Cairo which represents a hub between Africa, the Orient and Europe and its unique beaches, today Egypt offers unforgettable moments to culturally interested visitors as well as beach lovers and aquatic athletes. The list of superlatives with which the country on the banks of the Nile comes up almost seems never-ending. It is considered the cradle of both civilization and burocracy, the birthplace of stone structure architecture, and here you find the last preserved wonder of the antique world, the Pyramids of Giza.

The Sinai peninsula already belongs to Asia. And right there, one of the most popular and famous windsurfing spots of the world can be found – “Dahab”, which in Arabic means “gold”. However, the gold of this tiny village is not the precious metal, but the reliable wind of the region.  

First of all, though, some general information on the holiday destination Egypt: The majority of the Egyptians live along the Nile, which is the longest stream on earth with 6671 km length. The national language is the Egyptian-Arabic “Armeya”, the state religion is Islam. The beginnings of the Egyptian civilization date 7000 years back. This uncomparable heritage can be marveled at on many places along the valley of the Nile – in the Egpytian Museum that treasures the burial chamber of Tutankhamon or in the sand dunes that expand directly behind Cairo, for example. The world-famous Sphynx and the Pyramids of Giza are located there. Luxor with its countless temple complexes, burial chambers and the Valley of the Kings is situated about 500 km south.

Birthplace of Modern Tourism
Hence, it is not surprising that people have been travelling to Egypt from all corners of the globe throughout Centuries either as educational travellers, adventurers or tourists. Given this background, it is nothing but consequent that Egypt is considered the birthplace of modern tourism. It was the British Thomas Cook who in 1869 was the first to take advantage of the touristic potential of the sights along the Nile and came up with the Nile cruise – the package holiday was born. Since a couple of years, tourism is also displacing from the Nile to the East more and more, to the dream-struck coasts of the Red Sea.

Within living memory, the Nile is Egypt’s lifeline. Every square metre of its banks is used for agriculture: cotton, wheat, millet, sugar cane, vegetables, oleiferous fruits and other fruits are the most important products. The regulation of the Nile through the Assuan Dam permits up to four harvests a year. However with the tourism also emerging at the Red Sea, more and more Egyptians live from tourism, which has brought the until then economically orphaned coastal landscape an unforeseen boom.

From the Nile to the Red Sea – New Touristic Destinations in Egypt
Pioneers of this movement are neither beach tourists nor sun worshippers, but alternative tourists and adventurous aqua athletes, first and foremost divers and, above all, windsurfers. Some years ago, the search for undiscovered bays with abounding wind and waves already led them to the coasts of the Sinai and the remote beaches of the Red Sea.

The region does not only profit from the consistently summerlike climate, the beautiful beaches and the clear water, but also from the proximity of the tourists. From an European point of view, the Red Sea is the closest tropical water and therefore the ideal place for holiday for windsurfers, divers, snorklers, seaside vacationers and sunbathers from Central and nowadays East Europe as well.

The Wind, the Gold of the Red Sea
The coasts of the Red Sea are also called oases of wind, and rightly so. The topography of the region explains this special wind favourableness. The trade wind coming from north blows almost parallel to the two big terrain cuts of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aquaba which are flanked by the Sinai rock mass and the Arabic coastal mountains. The unique landscape works like a huge natural tunnel.

By channeling the wind between the ranges, it reaches its top speed at the southern exits of the two narrow foothills. Both massives later join in the northern part of the Red Sea. Mountain ranges that to some extent loom more than 2000 metres form the hinterland of this area’s windsurf spots. They are not only situated on the Sinai, but by now are lined up along the Egyptian Coast of the Red Sea like pearls on a necklace up to the South of the country.

Near Dahab, the elevations of the Sinai work like an enormous tunnel. Further south at Hurghada, Soma Bay, Safaga and Lahami Bay the Egyptian coastal mountains take over this function. Its mountainsides are hardly overgrown and therfore don’t constitute much resistance. At large, all of these attributes guarantee perfect wind conditions for the windsurfing sport in Egypt.

 
The Conquest of the Wind Oases – The Beginnings of Windsurfing Tourism
The discovery of the Red Sea for windsurfers already occurred at the end of the 1980ies around the former fishing village Hurghada, the most vivid touristic centre of the Red Sea these days. The conquest of the Sinai then followed in 1993 with the almost simultaneous finding of Dahab by Ibi, an Egyptian surf instructor and the German Franz Schlittenbauer, the veteran of the windsurfing travel industry.

At that time, Dahab could be reached only by an adventurous trip from Israel. Today, it’s the most famous surfing spot at the Red Sea and attracts surfers from all over the world. It owes its unique flair to its exceptional situation as an idyllic peninsula in front of the mighty, red-brown mountains of the Sinai. The once dozy bedouin village offers an ideal playground for each surfing level with its three different surf areas, a speed slope, a beginners’ bay protected by a spit of land and a groundswell zone for wave addicts.

However, Dahab is not only blessed with lots of wind. In the meantime, the hotel industry offers a great range of four and two brand new luxurious five star hotels, and the close, picturesque hamlet “Masbat” open up the right holiday environment for non-surfers too. At the same time, Dahab is popular with divers in the whole world and gives fantastic insights in its underwater world. The insidious terrorist attacks of April 2006 could not change that, either.

Even though Dahab is still the most popular spot these days, the expeditions have continued southwards. The next highlight was Soma Bay discovered in the beginning of 2000, being south of Hurghada and offering extraordinary conditions for wind and kitesurfers with its fantastic flat water slopes: white sand, turquoise water and perpetual, warm wind. Today, a whole bunch of five star hotels are seaming the marvellous bay.

Even further south are more travel destinations for windsurfers like Lahami Bay, for example, that provide summerly warm surf pleasure even in the cooler Egyptian winter months. Here you also find the right temperatures for wearing a t-shirt during christmas holidays. Beside dreamlike wind conditions, some of the most beautiful and to a large extent still untouched diving spots can be found here.

The expedition continues South
Meanwhile the list of windsurfing spots is continuously growing. Places like Ras Sudr or El Tur on the Sinai, the artificial desert city El Guna or Zaafarana near the famous Paulus monastery, Makadi Bay south of Hurghada, Marsa Alam and El Naaba further down in the South and, not to be overlooked, Lahami Bay which is located almost at the Sudanese border – all are known and melodious names in a surfer’s ear.

Nowadays, almost all the coastline up to the verge of Sudan has been explored and you may be anxious to find out which new areas will still be discovered by the windsurfing pioneers. Egypt as an oriental travel destination has become an institution amongst the dream destinations of aquatic athletes long since. With comparably cheap prices, the country represents a diversified alternative to the so popular Canary Islands that are still considered the European equivalent to the windsurfing mekka Hawaii.  

Culture, Ambience, Wonderful Beaches and Hospitality
Egypt does not only stand out with an uncomparable mixture of culture, history, oriental flair, wonderful beaches with turquoise water and, of course, lots of wind and everlasting summer temperatures. The unmatched hospitality of the Egyptians that can especially be found at the remote surf spots off the hotel complexes, is downright heartwarming und leaves a lasting impression. Those who don’t want to pass their whole holiday at the beach can comfortably take a day trip to Cairo, the pyramids or to the Valley of Kings in Luxor.

The unforgettable feeling of stretching out the tired limbs on a traditional arabic couch in a beach bar after a long and hard, yet indescribably great surf day, enjoying a cool beer and the sea view while smoking an apple-flavoured water pipe with pleasure gets most of the surf travellers to come back, to Egypt, the land of oases and wind.  

Link
Find more information on the four most important windsurfing destinations in Egypt at Surf & Action Company. Founded by windsurfing pioneer Franz Schlittenbauer, the organization is now lead by his son Markus with not less enthusiasm. The search for new spots in all corners of the world is still an inherent part of the enterprise’s philosophy.