Private Speedboat to Orange Bay, Hurghada

About this trip

The private speedboat exists because the standard Orange Bay group boats are popular enough to feel crowded by 11:00. A private 8-seat speedboat (your group only, no sharing) reaches the same island in 35 minutes flat, you arrive at 09:30 instead of 11:00, and you have the white sand to yourselves for the first hour. The whole 4-hour trip stays private. We use rigid hull boats with twin Yamaha 200s, captained by working fishermen who know which reef is current-free that morning.

The hour that makes the difference

The private speedboat exists for one reason: the standard group boats reach Orange Bay around 11:00, and by then the bay is full. A rigid-hull speedboat covers the same distance in about thirty-five minutes and puts you on the sand at roughly 09:30. That hour and a half is the whole product. The sand is empty, the water has not been stirred by a hundred pairs of fins, and the shoals of unicornfish are still on the reef rather than pushed off it. Photographers care about this more than anyone, because the light before ten and the absence of other people in frame are not things you can recover later. The boat is yours. Up to eight guests, your booking party only, no sharing with strangers. There is no queue for fins and no waiting for forty people to finish getting changed before the boat moves.

What a small hull means in practice

A speedboat rides waves harder than a large group boat. On a calm morning the crossing feels like a glide. On a choppier day it slaps a few times crossing the wake of bigger boats, and thirty-five minutes of that is fine for most people but genuinely unpleasant for a few. We cancel rather than push through real chop, which means two things. If you are sailing, conditions are safe. And your booking is more likely to move dates in winter than a group boat booking would be, because the threshold for calling it off is lower. Between October and May the sea is usually kinder, which is when this trip is at its best. If you are prone to seasickness, the short crossing works in your favour compared to a slow ninety-minute boat. Take something thirty minutes before boarding, sit toward the stern and watch the horizon.

What is included and what is not

Included: the whole boat for four hours, hotel pickup can be added, snorkeling gear, snacks and drinks on board. Not included, and worth planning for: there is no full buffet lunch on a four-hour speedboat trip, only snacks and drinks. If you want a proper meal on the water, the eight-hour group boat is the trip that has it. The island entrance fee is charged per person by the island authority and appears as its own line at booking. Hotel transfer is a per-car add-on rather than being bundled, so a group of six pays for it once between them rather than six times. A private speedboat also becomes better value as your group grows, because the price is for the boat rather than per head. Two people pay the same as eight.

Trip highlights

• Private boat, only your group
• One price for the whole boat, up to 8 guests
• Orange Bay in ~35 min
• 4-hour trip, snacks & drinks on board (no full lunch)
• Island entrance fee €10 per person, added at booking

What you will see underwater

Same reefs, same fish, less competition for space in the water. The early arrival means you swim with shoals of unicornfish before the bigger boats stir the silt.

What's included

• Hotel pickup & drop-off
• Snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, vest)
• Snacks on board
• Soft drinks, tea & water
• Certified captain & crew
• Full lunch on board (not offered on speedboats)
• Underwater camera (extra)
• Tip for captain & crew (optional)

Daily itinerary

Approximate. Subject to weather and sea conditions.

1. 1
   Hotel pickup
2. 2
   Speedboat departure

   Small group, fast cruise. Reach the snorkel spot in 30–40 minutes.

3. 3
   First snorkel stop
4. 4
   Second snorkel stop
5. 5
   Snacks & drinks on board
6. 6
   Return cruise
7. 7
   Hotel drop-off

Trip-specific questions