Private Speedboat to Hula Hula, Hurghada

About this trip

The 33 nautical miles to Hula Hula take 65 minutes on a group boat and 40 minutes on a private speedboat. The whole 4-hour trip is private to your booking (up to 8 guests, no sharing) and the faster crossing gives you an extra hour at the sandbar. Recommended for couples, photographers, and small groups who want the spot before the day-trip fleet arrives at midday.

A sandbar that is not always there

Hula Hula is not an island. It is a sandbar thirty-three nautical miles north of Hurghada that appears at low tide and is underwater the rest of the time, typically surfacing for about three hours between roughly 11:00 and 14:00 from May to October. That is the whole logic of the trip and the reason most public boats skip it: the timing demands a route planned around a tide chart rather than a fixed schedule. Turn up at the wrong hour and there is nothing to stand on. When it is out, it is one of the strangest places on this coast. Shallow turquoise water in every direction with a strip of dry sand in the middle of open sea and no land in sight. People come back describing it as the part of the holiday they did not expect.

Why the extra hour matters more here than anywhere else

A speedboat covers the thirty-three miles in about forty minutes against roughly sixty-five on a group boat. Everywhere else that saving is a convenience. Here it is most of the product. The sandbar is only exposed for around three hours. Losing fifty minutes to the round trip is not a small inconvenience against a three-hour window, it is a sizeable fraction of the entire reason you came. Arriving early also means you are photographing dry sand before dozens of footprints cross it. The boat is private to your booking, capped at eight guests, which matters on a strip of sand this size. A sandbar does not absorb a crowd the way a beach does.

There is no shade out here at all

This needs saying plainly, because people underestimate it every season. A sandbar in open sea has no trees, no buildings and no natural shelter. The sun arrives from above and again off the water and the white sand from below, and you are usually there during the strongest hours of the day. Bring a rash vest, a hat you will not lose to the wind, and more sunscreen than you think. Reapply after every swim rather than once on arrival. The boat has shade to retreat to, and you should actually use it rather than staying out for the full window. Also bring water. Between the sun, the salt and the excitement, dehydration on this trip is more common than sunburn.

Trip highlights

• Private boat, only your group
• One price for the whole boat, up to 8 guests
• Fastest route to Hula Hula
• 4-hour trip with maximum island time
• Island entrance fee €10 per person, added at booking

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