Hotel excursion desks in Hurghada: TUI, Travco and Anex reviewed

TUI excursions in Hurghada are the hotel-desk option for TUI's British guests: sold by your holiday company, supplied by a large Egyptian travel group, with insurance and a simple refund rule. The desk is a sound, low-hassle choice for a first boat day or for families who want insurance included, but it is not the cheapest way onto the same kind of boat.

Who runs the hotel desks

When you book an excursion from your tour operator in Hurghada, the boat is not the tour operator's. TUI UK sells its Hurghada trips through its "things to do" shop, and the supplier named on its sea trips is Travco Group for Tourism, an Egyptian travel group that also owns the JAZ hotel chain.

Anex Tour, a tour operator for the Russian and CIS market, sells excursions on its website and through its local guides in the hotel. It names its Hurghada trips online but shows no prices.

The UK Foreign Office advises booking excursions through your resort or approved agents and tour operators — the desk fits that advice by design (FCDO safety advice).

TUI excursions Hurghada: what the desk sells

The main TUI sea trips from Hurghada:

• Full-day snorkeling cruise to Mahmya and Giftun — from £41, 7 hours. Boats leave Hurghada Marina at 09:00 (pick-up about 07:30) or 10:00 (pick-up about 08:30). Lunch, water, soft drinks with lunch, air-conditioned transport, hotel pick-up and drop-off, mask, snorkel and fins and insurance are included. Towels and an environmental fee of about €5 per person, paid in cash at the marina, are not.
• Elite VIP snorkeling cruise with BBQ and seafood lunch — from £67, 7 hours, with Hurghada city pick-up, the same €5 fee on site and the same 24-hour refund.
• Full-day Paradise Island tour — 8 hours, Mondays and Wednesdays, boarding at the marina of the Mashrabia Hotel rather than Hurghada Marina. About an hour's sail, then a shuttle boat to the beach; €5 environmental fee in cash; your passport may be asked for. The page shows no price.
• On the Giftun page: a "Red Sea trip and island with lunch" from £24 (6 hours), an Eden Island snorkeling day from £34 (7 hours) and a private boat with snorkeling and lunch from £93 (6 hours).

Note that TUI's Mahmya cruise sails from Hurghada Marina. Mahmya's own beach-club boats leave from Mahmya Beach Marina by Sheraton Beach and sell their own day tickets from €38 — see our Mahmya guide. Eden Island is a beach spot between Paradise and Mahmya on the south tip of Giftun Kebir, not a separate island; see Giftun Island and Paradise Island.

TUI excursions Hurghada prices vs booking online

TUI prices in pounds and the platforms in dollars — compare the totals on the day you book:

The trade is simple: on a platform you can often find a cheaper seat on a comparable boat; at the desk you pay for insurance, a 24-hour refund and one company to deal with.

These listings are comparable trips, not TUI's own — TUI does not sell its excursions on the platforms:

◐ Full day

GetYourGuideFull dayOrange Bay

HRG: Orange Bay Island with Snorkeling, Lunch and Drinks

4.9 (6,122)

from $26Check dates

◐ Yacht

GetYourGuideFull dayOrange Bay

Hurghada: Luxury Cruise Trip to Orange Bay with Lunch

4.9 (7,075)

from $53Check dates

◐ Yacht

GetYourGuide6 h

Hurghada: Elite vip snorkeling cruise with BBQ buffet lunch

4.5 (42)

from $80Check dates

◐ Sailing boat

GetYourGuideFull dayMahmya

Mahmya Island: Red Sea Sailing Experience

4.7 (229)

from $105Check dates

Prices checked on 20 October 2026

The supplements for outer resorts

TUI charges pick-up supplements on site: El Gouna €8 adult / €4 child; Safaga and Soma Bay €10 / €5; Magic Life Kalawy Bay €14 / €7. Add it before comparing. More on pick-ups from each resort in our resorts guide, and the whole price picture in what Hurghada boat trips cost.

TUI excursions Hurghada reviews and complaints

TUI shows customer ratings on each excursion page; read the recent ones for pick-up timing, crowding and beach time. If something goes wrong, two things help a desk customer:

• You bought from TUI. A complaint about a missed pick-up or a cancelled day starts with the company that sold you the trip, not with a boat crew you cannot reach.
• Bad weather. The Red Sea Ports Authority, not the operator, closes the port in strong wind — occasionally, usually for one to three days. With a 24-hour refund rule and insurance you lose little; with a cash seller you may have to chase your money yourself.

Anex excursions in Hurghada

Anex publishes its trip names, not its prices. On its site you will find, among others:

• «Эдем» (Eden) — the Eden Island beach day on Giftun, with food, soft drinks, masks and fins included.
• «Блю Бомба» (Blue Bomba) — a yacht day from 09:00 to 16:30 with snorkeling, a dive stop, kayak and banana rides, and a buffet lunch.
• «Морской экспресс» (Sea Express) — a yacht with a "bathyscaphe" viewing stop, 08:45–17:00, with snorkel and dive gear and a seafood buffet.
• A pirate yacht, the Nefertari glass-bottom boat and a "bathyscaphe" trip; photo sessions and souvenirs are extra.

Prices are given only by the hotel guide or the call centre. Ask for the total in writing, including any environmental or coast-guard fee and the supplement for your resort, then compare. Whatever the name, no real submarine runs in Hurghada: underwater viewing means a semi-submarine, which never dives, or a glass-bottom boat — see our semi-submarine guide.

How to book a desk excursion well

Alternatives to the hotel desk

• The platforms. GetYourGuide sells a wide range of Hurghada boat days, with free cancellation more than 24 hours before as its default. How the platforms work is in our booking platforms guide.
• A boat company you can name. Zanetta Tours sells its Orange Bay day at the same price direct and on GetYourGuide, with about 2 hours on the beach.
• An online agent. Egypt Excursions Online resells local trips, at prices above same-titled platform listings and with strict refunds.

Every company we review is listed in the operators directory.