Excursions from Sahl Hasheesh, El Gouna and Soma Bay: what is really tied to your resort
Updated October 7, 2026 · 6 min read
In short. For most people, “Sahl Hasheesh: Quad Bike Desert Safari with Hotel Pickup” fits best: from €21 per person, rated 4.8 from 1,730 reviews, with hotel pick-up right in the title: see dates and prices for the quad safari. If you want a day at sea, take “Hurghada: Premium Orange Island Cruise with Lunch & Transfer”, eight hours from €29.36, 4.8 from 973 reviews: see prices for the Orange Island cruise. If the rating matters most, take “Hurghada: All-Inclusive Elite VIP Dolphin House & Massage”, 7 hours 30 minutes from €42.98, 4.9 from 842 reviews: see prices for the VIP Dolphin House cruise.
If you are staying in Sahl Hasheesh, El Gouna or Soma Bay, the hard part isn’t choosing between sea and desert but working out whether the operator will pick you up from your resort at all. The GetYourGuide page assigns the excursion to one place, while the title and description may name another.
Five offers side by side
| Offer | What the title says | Duration | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sahl Hasheesh: Quad Bike Safari | Sahl Hasheesh, hotel pick-up | 2 to 5 hours | €21 | 4.8 · 1,730 reviews |
| Sahl Hasheesh: Desert & Sea Horse Ride | Sahl Hasheesh | 2 hours | €22.50 | 4.9 · 192 reviews |
| From El Gouna: Royal Seascope Submarine | departure from El Gouna | 2 hours | €15.47 | 4.3 · 124 reviews |
| Elite VIP Dolphin House & Massage, all-inclusive | Hurghada (El Gouna on the page) | 7 h 30 min | €42.98 | 4.9 · 842 reviews |
| Premium Orange Island Cruise | Hurghada (Soma Bay on the page), transfer | 8 hours | €29.36 | 4.8 · 973 reviews |
Title versus the label on the page
Three of the five offers name your resort directly: the quad safari and the horse ride, both in Sahl Hasheesh, and the submarine “from El Gouna”, whose departure point is in the title. The other two are different. The VIP Dolphin House cruise has Hurghada in the title and description, but the page places it in El Gouna. The Orange Island cruise is the same: Hurghada in the text, Soma Bay in the location label, and the transfer in the title is given without a zone.
That doesn’t mean nobody will collect you. It means you can’t tell from the title whether your particular hotel is on the route. Give the operator your hotel and departure time before paying, ask for the answer in writing, and don’t book an excursion just for the label on the page.
See prices for the Orange Island cruise
Sahl Hasheesh: desert and horses
The quad safari is the only one of the five with both the resort and “hotel pick-up” in the title and plenty of reviews as well: 1,730 at a rating of 4.8. The description names a desert drive, viewpoints and the return to the hotel. Minimum age and driving licence requirements aren’t given in the description. We won’t invent them: ask the operator.
The horse ride from Sahl Hasheesh is two hours for €22.50, rated 4.9, but with only 192 reviews: the description mentions a gallop over sand and a ride through shallow water, and swimming is optional. That’s no reason to turn it down, but it isn’t something you can call proven by thousands of guests either. We have a separate comparison of the riding programmes: horse riding in Hurghada.
El Gouna: sea without a long transfer
The submarine departing from El Gouna is two hours for €15.47, rated 4.3 from 124 reviews. It is the Royal Seascope programme, as in Hurghada, with an underwater viewing deck and a snorkel stop; the boat itself is covered separately: Royal Seascope: the semi-submarine. There is also a full-day snorkelling trip, “El Gouna: Red Sea Snorkeling Adventure with Transfers”, eight hours for €49, rated 5, but so far with only 19 reviews.
Quad bikes labelled “El Gouna” on the page cost €8.97, rated 4.2 from 478 reviews, but in the text it is Hurghada. If you need to start from El Gouna, ask.
Sea: Dolphin House and Orange Island
The two most popular sea offers in this table are the VIP Dolphin House cruise at €42.98 (4.9, 842 reviews) and the Orange Island cruise at €29.36 (4.8, 973 reviews). The price difference is €13.62 per person. For the first, the description mentions wild dolphins, snorkelling, a buffet lunch and a back massage; nobody guarantees dolphins, and we have a separate guide on that: dolphins in Hurghada. The second has two snorkel stops, lunch and transfer.
Who this isn’t for
If you need an excursion that starts from your own hotel and don’t want to correspond with the operator, take only offers where your resort is in the title – there aren’t many in the table. If you came for a calm day without travelling, bear in mind that an eight-hour cruise with an unknown pick-up zone isn’t the quietest option. With children, the breakdown by age is here: Hurghada with kids. How to get from the airport to your resort is covered separately: Hurghada airport transfer.
Our recommendation
If you are staying in Sahl Hasheesh, take the quad safari: the resort and transfer are in the title, rated 4.8, 1,730 reviews. If you want a day at sea, take the Orange Island cruise: 4.8 from 973 reviews, lunch and transfer are listed, but ask about the pick-up zone before you pay.
See dates and prices for the quad safari
For El Gouna, the only dependable choice is one that names it in the title: the submarine or the full-day snorkelling trip, though both have few reviews so far. Take the VIP cruise at €42.98 if you’re willing to pay extra for the 4.9 rating and the massage and the operator has confirmed pick-up from your hotel. The remaining offers are collected on the page things to do in Hurghada.
