Three islands in one day, and the first is Orange Bay – worth knowing up front, because Orange Bay is also sold as a full-day trip on its own. This yacht trip gives you about an hour there, then Giftun Island for snorkeling and dolphin watching, then Magawish. It is the most-reviewed boat trip in Hurghada by a wide margin, and the one to book if you only have a day for the Red Sea.
What you get at each of the three stops
The itinerary is published stop by stop, which is unusual for a Hurghada boat trip and makes it easy to check against the alternatives. The eight hours break down into roughly three hours ashore or in the water, with the rest spent sailing between islands and on hotel transfers.
| Stop | Time there | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Orange Bay | ~1 hour | Beach and shallow lagoon time on the sandbar |
| Giftun Island | ~40 min snorkeling, ~1 hour dolphin watching | The reef stop, and the search for dolphins |
| Magawish Island | ~1 hour | A quieter final stop before the run back |
That Giftun block is the part worth reading twice. It is the only one of the three stops with dedicated dolphin-watching time built into the schedule rather than left to whether the captain happens to spot something on the way past.
Dolphins are a possibility here, not a fixture
Be clear-eyed about this before you pay. No Hurghada boat trip can guarantee dolphins, and this one does not claim to – the listing's own wording is that if dolphins are spotted and sea conditions allow, you may have the opportunity to swim. That is an honest hedge and you should read it as one.
What the trip does guarantee is roughly an hour of looking, in an area boats work daily, with a crew who know where the animals tend to be. Some days that produces a long encounter. Some days it produces nothing.
So book this for the three islands and treat dolphins as the upside. If a sighting is the entire reason for the day, you are buying a lottery ticket at full price, and no operator in Hurghada can sell you a better one.
Three islands, or a long day at one?
This is the real decision, and it is not about price – the two trips cost within a pound or two of each other. Book the 3 Islands trip if you want to see more of the Red Sea; book the dedicated Orange Bay cruise if you want a slower day on a more comfortable boat.
The difference is not the amount of Orange Bay time, which is what most people assume. Both trips put you on that beach for roughly an hour. What changes is everything around it: this one adds a third island and a scheduled dolphin hour, while the Orange Bay cruise adds a longer buffet, a second reef snorkeling stop and an included onboard massage.
One is a touring day. The other is a lounging day. Pick on that, not on the island names.
What is included, and what to bring
More is bundled here than on a typical Hurghada boat trip, which is part of why it outsells the cheaper listings.
Included: breakfast onboard (eggs, cheese, butter, honey and bread), a seafood lunch, unlimited soft drinks, hot drinks and water, snorkeling equipment and a life vest, a snorkeling guide, entrance fees for all three islands, and hotel pickup and drop-off. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours ahead.
Bring: a towel, sun protection you have already applied before boarding, and something with sleeves. Eight hours of Red Sea glare off open water burns people who thought they were fine at hour three. Small notes in Egyptian pounds are useful for anything bought ashore.
One gap worth naming: we could not confirm a published minimum age or swimming-ability requirement for this trip from the operator's own listing. Snorkeling is optional and life vests are provided, so non-swimmers can do the day comfortably, but if that applies to someone in your group, treat the terms printed on your own booking as the binding ones.
When to go
Red Sea high season runs September through May, and it is a genuinely long window – the water stays warm well past the point where the Mediterranean has given up for the year. Hurghada's winter is mild and dry, which is why it fills with northern European package travelers from October onward and why flights are easy to find.
June to August is the trade-off month set. The sea is at its warmest and the boats still run, but daytime heat ashore is severe and eight hours on open water in it is endurance rather than leisure.
Take the earliest departure available in any month. The wind builds through the afternoon on this coast, and a flat morning sea makes both the snorkeling and the dolphin watching better.
Check availability and departure dates before you close this page – Hurghada boat trips are booked ahead rather than arranged at the marina, and the popular morning slots go first as the season builds.
Which Hurghada boat trip is right for you?
| What you want | Book | Roughly | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| The most water covered in one day | 3 Islands yacht trip | ~£38 per person | Eight hours, and dolphins are never promised |
| A slower day on a better boat | Orange Bay luxury cruise | ~£39 per person | Fewer islands, more comfort |
| The reef without getting in it | Royal Seascope semi-submarine | ~£16 per person | Two hours, and you view through glass |
The honest read: this is the default Hurghada boat day and it earns that position. It covers three sites, feeds you twice, and costs about the same as the single-island alternative. The reason to book something else is not that this trip is weaker – it is that you want a different kind of day.
If anyone in your group cannot swim, or is traveling with very young children or older relatives, the semi-submarine cruise solves a problem this trip does not. It is two hours instead of eight, and nobody has to get in the water.
For a base near the marinas these boats leave from, our guides to Hurghada's swim-up rooms and private pool villas both cover the resort strip south of town. The full water activities index covers the other destinations we write about.
FAQ – the Hurghada 3 Islands trip
Images: Dewi König / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
