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Boat tripsParasailing · banana · sea scooter

Water sports in Hurghada: parasailing, banana boats, sea scooters and jet skis

Parasailing in Hurghada costs from about $19 with hotel transfers on Headout and from $32 on GetYourGuide; short banana and tube rides start from about $10. They are cheap add-ons, not a day out; the wind decides whether they run, and a few simple rules decide whether they are safe.

Where on the coast

Hurghada Marina

Parasailing
from about $19 with transfers; GetYourGuide from $32
Banana, tube, "Twister"
bundles from $10
Typical flight
about 5 minutes in the air on one listing
Lifejacket
mandatory for every water sport
Children
minors need written consent from a parent
Jet skis
only after training, inside a buoyed one-way circuit
Strong wind
smaller canopy or no parasailing that day

Updated 20 October 2026Facts checked against official sourcesContains affiliate links

Water sports: what you can book

9 options · Prices checked on 20 October 2026

Boat

Length

Platform

See all trips on GetYourGuide →Also on Headout →Also on Tiqets →

Parasailing in Hurghada is the water sport most visitors actually book: you sit in a harness, a speedboat with a winch lets you out on a line behind it, you hang under a canopy for a few minutes and are reeled back to the boat. No skill is needed. The rest of the menu is banana boats, inflatable tubes, sea scooters and jet skis, sold at hotel beaches, as add-ons on snorkel boats, or as short bundles with a hotel pick-up.

This page sorts out what each one is, what the cheap listings leave out, and the rules Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS, the licensing body for snorkel and water-sports centres) sets for them.

Hurghada water sports: what is on offer and who may sell it

CDWS groups water sports in two classes. The first covers windsurfing, sailing, kitesurfing, wing foiling, water-jet "flying" boards and jet skis. The second covers anything towed behind a boat (banana boats, inflatables, water-skiing), parasailing, pedal and electric floats, glass-bottom and glass-side boats, paddle sports and amateur fishing.

Centres that sell them must be CDWS members, hold a licence from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and a navigation licence for each boat. Parasailing and glass-bottom boats in particular may only be sold through a centre licensed by the ministry that owns the boats and gear. In practice you meet three sellers:

  • The water-sports centre on your hotel beach, usually the simplest option: no transfer, and you can watch the conditions before you pay.
  • Snorkel boats with add-ons. Some Orange Bay days include a banana-boat ride; Go Shalabi's "6 islands" speedboat sells parasailing (about 5 minutes) as an extra; one GetYourGuide listing bundles parasailing into an Orange Bay day.
  • Short bundles with pick-up on the platforms, typically parasailing alone or banana plus tube plus a snorkel stop.

You can check any centre or seller in the CDWS water-sports directory and make sure it is not on the CDWS black list.

Hurghada Marina1Orange Bay2Makadi Bay3Soma Bay4Safaga5
  1. 1Hurghada MarinaMarinaMap ↗
  2. 2Orange BayBeach · 20 min by speedboat · 45 min by yachtMap ↗
  3. 3Makadi BayResort · 40 min by roadMap ↗
  4. 4Soma BayResort · 50 min by roadMap ↗
  5. 5SafagaTown · 50 min by roadMap ↗
Circles: islands and beaches; diamonds: reefs; squares: marinas; round squares: towns and resorts. Coral pink: reefs. · © OpenStreetMap contributors

Parasailing in Hurghada: prices and how it works

The CDWS rules describe the set-up: a special speedboat with a take-off and landing platform and a winch, a harness, and a canopy. You take off from the boat and land back on it. In strong wind the centre must fly a smaller canopy or postpone or cancel, and Hurghada is a windy place, so morning slots are the safer bet.

What the listings say:

  • GetYourGuide sells a parasailing trip from about $32 with hotel pick-up; the activity runs about 25 minutes in all, and you can fly alone or with up to three friends. It is rated 4.2 from more than 500 reviews, lower than most boat trips here.
  • Headout lists parasailing with transfers from about $19, but that listing is non-cancellable, promises a flight of about 5 minutes and excludes "National Park fees and VAT", €10 per person in cash. Like the other Headout variants (one without transfers from about $9), it has no reviews yet.
  • Tiqets has a guided parasailing slot with transfer from about $20, with very few reviews.
  • Direct: Zanetta sells parasailing on its own site, and hurghada-excursions.com lists it from $20.
Price check Parasailing over the bay on more than one platform Difference: $13
PlatformListingRatingPriceWhere
Headout Hurghada Parasailing with Hotel Transfers · 1.5 h — $19 Lowest See on Headout
Tiqets Hurghada: Guided Parasailing Experience + Roundtrip Transfer · 1 h 4.3 (3) $20 See on Tiqets
GetYourGuide Hurghada: Parasailing Adventure on the Red Sea · 0.5 h 4.2 (528) $32 See on GetYourGuide

Lowest price per person in US dollars, checked on 20 October 2026. Boat, island, lunch, pick-up area and what is included differ between listings: open each one before you pay.

On the day we checked Headout was the cheapest of the three, but add the €10 cash line and the no-refund rule before you call it a saving. A GetYourGuide booking falls under its cancellation rules (free up to 24 hours before unless the listing says otherwise), and the listing has a long review record. Ask the operator about weight and age limits before you book, especially for children or a tandem flight.

Parasailing on a snorkel day. If you are going to Orange Bay anyway, the Orange Bay + parasailing listing folds a flight into a full snorkel day with lunch, from about $47. The title says Orange Bay, but the listing lets you choose the island, so check which one you are booked for. More on the beach itself in our Orange Bay guide.

Banana boat, tubes and "Twister": the cheap bundles

The cheapest water-sports listing in Hurghada starts at about $10 and bundles a banana boat, an inflatable tube, a "Twister" ride and a snorkel stop, with a speedboat ride as an option. At that price the rides are short: think minutes, not hours. A comparable bundle sold online by an agency gives an idea of the scale: 15 minutes of banana, 15 minutes of tube and about an hour at a snorkel stop for $23, with a 20-minute sea-scooter ride as a paid extra.

These rides are towed fast over chop and bounce hard. The sellers' own warnings are worth taking literally: not suitable for pregnant women or people with back problems. A lifejacket is mandatory on every ride.

If you only want one ride, check your snorkel day first: some full-day boats to Orange Bay include a banana-boat ride, so there may be no need to book a separate trip for it. For a whole day on the water with snorkeling at its centre, see our snorkeling trips guide.

Sea scooter in Hurghada: what it is and where not to use it

A sea scooter is a small hand-held underwater propeller: you hold the handles, it pulls you along the surface or just below while you snorkel. In Hurghada it is almost always an add-on to a snorkel stop or a speedboat trip rather than a trip of its own.

One firm rule: no sea scooters near dolphins. HEPCA, the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association, forbids them in its mandatory dolphin code of conduct. Two listings combine dolphins and water toys: a private speedboat with dolphins and sea scooters from about $286, and a Dolphin House speedboat with a banana ride from about $266, both priced for the whole boat. Use the scooter on a reef stop, never with dolphins in the water; if a crew hands them out at Dolphin House, it is breaking the code. Our Dolphin House guide explains how a good boat handles a dolphin encounter.

Jet skis and kitesurfing in Hurghada

Jet skis. CDWS allows jet-ski rides only after a training course, on a stretch of water marked off from other activities, along a circuit ridden in one direction. A legal jet-ski ride is therefore a loop in a buoyed zone off a licensed centre. A beach tout offering a "jet ski to the island" is offering something outside those rules, with no rescue boat watching you.

Kitesurfing and windsurfing. The same steady north wind that cancels parasailing makes Soma Bay and Safaga kite and windsurf country. For snorkelers staying there it means waiting for a no-wind day to swim the house reef; the Safaga and Soma Bay page covers the reefs.

Wind, water temperature and when water sports stop

Hurghada has no calm season. A north to north-west wind averaging around 11 knots blows in every month; on average May and September are the windiest months and November and December the calmest, and afternoons are windier than mornings. For parasailing that means two things: book a morning, and leave a spare day in case the flight is cancelled or flown with a smaller canopy.

In stronger wind the Red Sea Ports Authority closes the port and every boat stays in, usually for one to three days, mostly in winter and spring. Below that level each centre decides for itself whether to fly or tow; a cancellation for wind is a safety call, not bad service.

The sea is coldest in February and March at about 22–23 °C and warmest in August at about 29 °C; November, at about 26 °C, is warmer than May. On a banana or tube in winter you spend more time wet than you think, so a rash guard or shorty helps. Month-by-month figures are on our best time to go page.

Safety, children and what to check before you pay

The CDWS rules for water-sports centres are a good checklist:

Before you get on a banana boat or into a harness

  1. Ask whether the centre or seller is a CDWS member; check its name in the directory if you booked with a stranger on the beach.
  2. Wear the lifejacket: a flotation vest is mandatory for every water sport.
  3. For anyone under 18, a parent or guardian signs a written consent.
  4. Tell the crew about heart or chest problems, pregnancy or back trouble; providers must warn you about these.
  5. Look for the rescue boat, first-aid kit and emergency oxygen a licensed centre must keep.
  6. Ask about weight and age limits for parasailing, and whether wind will change the canopy or cancel the flight.
  7. Check that your travel insurance covers water sports and sea rescue.

UK travel advice from the FCDO notes that safety standards of Red Sea boat operators vary considerably and asks travellers to request a safety briefing; that applies to a 10-minute banana ride as much as to a day on a yacht. Alcohol and water sports do not mix, and drinking outside licensed venues is illegal in Egypt anyway.

For small children the better water day is usually a calm boat with a semi-submarine view of the reef or a shallow house reef; our family guide covers those. Teenagers who want more than a banana ride can try an intro dive with a 1:1 instructor (see snorkeling with a try dive).

Our picks for water sports in Hurghada

Water sports worth booking

1

Parasailing with a track record

The most-reviewed parasailing listing, with hotel pick-up. Fly in the morning, when the wind is usually lighter.

2

Parasailing inside a snorkel day

A full Orange Bay-style day with snorkeling, lunch and a flight, from about $47. Confirm which island the boat goes to.

3

The cheapest taste of everything

Banana, tube and "Twister" plus a snorkel stop from about $10. Short rides; not for back problems or pregnancy.

See all trips on GetYourGuide →Also on Headout →Also on Tiqets →Prices checked on 20 October 2026

Booking on a platform gives you a voucher with the supplier's contact and the listing's own cancellation terms; check them, because several Hurghada water-sports listings are non-cancellable. Our platforms guide compares GetYourGuide, Headout and local sellers.

Hurghada water sports questions

How much is parasailing in Hurghada?

On the platforms it starts from about $19 on Headout, $20 on Tiqets and $32 on GetYourGuide, usually with hotel pick-up. The cheapest listing is non-cancellable and adds a €10 cash fee, so compare the full price. On a snorkel boat, parasailing is sometimes sold as an extra of about 5 minutes in the air.

Is parasailing in Hurghada safe?

It needs no skill and is run from a winch boat with a harness and lifejacket. Under CDWS rules only centres licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities may sell it, and in strong wind they must fly a smaller canopy or cancel. Fly with a licensed centre, ask about weight limits and accept a cancellation on a windy day.

Can you do parasailing from Makadi Bay?

The platform listings collect guests from hotels, so check the pick-up areas and any surcharge for Makadi before you book. If your hotel has a water-sports centre on its beach, ask there first: it saves the transfer.

What is a sea scooter and can I use it with dolphins?

It is a hand-held underwater propeller that pulls you along while you snorkel, usually an add-on to a reef stop. HEPCA's dolphin code forbids sea scooters near dolphins, so use one on a reef, never at Dolphin House with dolphins around.

Can you rent a jet ski and ride to the islands?

No. CDWS rules allow jet skis only after training, inside a buoyed area, on a one-way circuit. An offer to ride a jet ski out to an island is outside the rules.

Is it safe to swim in Hurghada?

Swim in the marked areas, wear a lifejacket for every water sport and obey red flags and beach closures, which come from the authorities. Shark attacks are rare but have happened off resort beaches in the region, and the beaches were closed afterwards. On a reef, wear fins or shoes and never stand on coral.

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