Egypt Excursions Online in Hurghada: who runs it and what it costs

Egypt Excursions Online Hurghada is a booking website, not a boat operator: it sells day trips run by local suppliers and takes your card as agent. The trips themselves are fine, but you pay more than on GetYourGuide for the same-titled days and get far less flexibility if your plans change.

Who runs Egypt Excursions Online

The site's terms name Excursions Online LLC FZ as the company behind it, the merchant of record and the name on your card statement. The terms say it acts as an agent for travellers; the local providers, drivers and guides are chosen by the company. Egyptian law governs the contract. No street address or licence number is published, and the "about" page claims 15 years in tourism without naming a company.

The brand has changed domain: the old egyptexcursionsonline.com now redirects to the hyphenated egypt-excursionsonline.com. It sells tours across Egypt — Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Sharm, Soma Bay, Marsa Alam — and 32 in Hurghada, in English only.

The clearest clue to who runs the boats is on the 6-islands speedboat page: it says you are collected by a bus with the GoShalabi logo. That trip is Go Shalabi's own day, resold.

What it sells in Hurghada

The Hurghada range mirrors the best-selling platform titles: an Orange Bay yacht with breakfast and lunch, the 6-islands speedboat, a speedboat with dolphin watching and two islands, a "panoramic" semi-submarine, a water-sports day, and a longer yacht to Orange Bay, Giftun and Magawish with a dolphin search.

What the main trips contain, from its own pages:

• Orange Bay yacht (5 or 8 hours, $40): Hurghada hotel transfer, food, unlimited soft drinks, snorkel gear, island entry fees and marine tax, a guide for non-swimmers and 1 hour at Orange Bay. Towels, photos and tips are extra, as is food and drink on the island, which a separate vendor sells.
• 6-islands speedboat ($63, Go Shalabi): entrance fees for Orange Bay, White Island, Magawish and the Abu Minqar sandbank are included; lunch on the island and parasailing are extra. "6 islands" counts beaches and sandbanks of a few islands, not six islands — see Hula Hula, Magawish and the small islands.
• Yacht to Orange Bay, Giftun and Magawish with dolphins ($69, 8 hours): about an hour's sail to Orange Bay and 40 minutes to an hour there, a Giftun snorkel stop, a 40-minute dolphin search and an hour at Magawish, with breakfast and a seafood lunch. Dolphins are wild and never guaranteed.
• Water-sports day ($23): 15 minutes of banana boat, 15 of tube and about an hour of snorkeling; the site says it is not for pregnant women or people with back problems.

The comparable trip you can book on a platform today is the same Go Shalabi day:

◐ Speedboat

GetYourGuideFull day

Hurghada: 6 Islands Speedboat, Dolphin watching & Snorkeling

4.8 (2,710)

from $45Check dates

◐ Full day

GetYourGuideFull dayOrange Bay

HRG: Orange Bay Island with Snorkeling, Lunch and Drinks

4.9 (6,122)

from $26Check dates

Prices checked on 20 October 2026

These are not Egypt Excursions Online listings: Hurghada: 6 Islands Speedboat, Dolphin watching & Snorkeling is the Go Shalabi 6-islands trip it resells, and HRG: Orange Bay Island with Snorkeling, Lunch and Drinks is a GetYourGuide Orange Bay day with the same title as its Orange Bay yacht (same supplier not proven).

Egypt Excursions Online prices vs GetYourGuide

The headline comparison is simple:

Part of the gap is what is bundled: its Orange Bay price includes island entry and marine tax, which some platform listings leave as a cash extra — the park fee is USD 5 per foreign visitor, and sellers usually ask about €5 in cash. That covers a few dollars, not the whole difference. On Go Shalabi's own 6-islands page, lunch ($20) and a €5 reserve fee are extra, so read the inclusions on whichever listing you compare.

Pick-up from Makadi, Safaga, El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh and Soma Bay costs €10 per person on the 6-islands trip. For the full price ladder of Hurghada boat days, see what boat trips cost.

Egypt Excursions Online Hurghada reviews and complaints

The trip pages for the Orange Bay yacht and the 6-islands speedboat showed no reviews of their own. The underlying 6-islands day is rated 4.8 from 2,710 reviews on GetYourGuide, which tells you about the boat and crew, not about this agent's service. The site quotes a company rating elsewhere that you should check for yourself.

When you read Trustpilot or Tripadvisor comments about any reseller, look for three things: pick-ups that went wrong, refunds after a port closure, and arguments about the cash balance on the day. Those are where an agent, rather than the boat crew, makes the difference.

How booking and pick-up work

You pay by Visa, Mastercard or American Express online. On many tours a balance is then paid in cash to the local supplier — in pounds, dollars, euros or Egyptian pounds at the day's Egyptian rate — so bring small notes.

The pick-up time arrives at 22:00 the night before by email or WhatsApp. Expect a window of up to an hour in Hurghada and up to 90 minutes from the outer resorts. Wait at your hotel's main road entrance: the driver waits only about 5 minutes. Carry your passport or a clear copy, because passenger names go on a coast-guard list.

Is Hurghada safe for these trips? The UK Foreign Office advises booking excursions through your resort or approved agents and tour operators, notes that safety standards of Red Sea boats vary, and recommends travel insurance that covers air and sea rescue, which can cost over US$4,000 an hour (FCDO safety advice). Whoever you book with, you can look up the boat company in the CDWS directory of water-sports centres.

Alternatives to Egypt Excursions Online

• Book the boat company's own listing on a platform. The Go Shalabi 6-islands trip is on GetYourGuide for less, with the platform's cancellation terms. Our booking platforms guide explains the differences.
• A pay-on-the-day local agency such as Hurghada Lovers — cash to the guide, free cancellation up to 24 hours, but less paperwork. Hurghada Excursions lists Orange Bay from $27, though its terms are not published.
• Your hotel's excursion desk. TUI's desk sells a Giftun island cruise from £41 plus about €5 in cash, with insurance and a 24-hour refund.

For an overview of every company we review, see the operators directory; for the trip formats, Hurghada boat trips.