Giftun Island and Orange Bay from Hurghada

Giftun is a pair of islands in the Red Sea off Hurghada, Giftun el Kebir and Giftun el Saghir, and Orange Bay is a beach on them where most snorkelling boats stop. The nearest shore of the large island is 5.5 km from Hurghada Marina in a straight line. If the beach is what you want, Zanetta Tours’ HRG: Orange Bay Island with Snorkeling, Lunch and Drinks gives you 2 hours of free time there, with two snorkelling stops and the entry fees included, from US$28 a person (checked November 2026; the option list started at US$34.50 without hotel transport on the dates we read).

The calendar shows the price for the date and option you pick: the cheapest option meets at the Moreno Horizon hotel, and hotel transport is a dearer option. You can cancel free until 24 hours before.

Where the islands are

Giftun el Kebir, the large island, faces Hurghada across a channel; its nearest shore is 5.5 km from Hurghada Marina in a straight line and its far end 12.8 km. Giftun el Saghir, the small island, lies east of it, 12.6 km from the marina to its nearest shore. Nobody drives there: you go by boat, on a trip.

Both islands are protected. Ministerial Decree 92 of 1999 provides for collecting a visit fee on Greater and Lesser Giftun, in the Red Sea Northern Islands protectorates, and the environment ministry’s Decree 202 of 2019 still cites it (the 2019 decree’s text on FAOLEX, read November 2026). We found no current amount published by an Egyptian authority, and the listings handle the fee in different ways, so check each one’s includes.

Is Orange Bay the same as Giftun?

No. Orange Bay is a beach the boats stop at, and Giftun is the islands it is on. The trips call it Orange Bay, Orange Island or Orange Bay Island, and none pins it to a point we could map, so the map above shows the islands only. Go Shalabi’s yacht day sails about an hour out to the Giftun islands for its hour at Orange Bay, then snorkels off Giftun.

How long each trip stays

From the listings’ itineraries and descriptions, GetYourGuide checked November 2026, Viator checked November 2026. The 2 hours of boat time on the Orange Island cruise may include its snorkelling stops; its itinerary does not say.

So the beach days give you twice the time at Orange Bay that the three-island day does, and the three-island day gives you a second island and a second reef.

Check dates for the Orange Bay day

What the beach is like, from the reviews

Zanetta Tours’ Orange Bay day has 6,333 reviews on GetYourGuide. Of the 350 most recent, dated 30 September to 7 November 2026, 27 give three stars or fewer. Among those, three call Orange Bay overcrowded, two describe dirty seat cushions on the island, two complain about the price of drinks and snacks, and three describe a crowded first snorkelling spot with many other groups. One, on 7 November, says the boat takes up to 50 people. Drinks on the island are not in Royal Cruise Hurghada's price either.

On Go Shalabi’s yacht day, one three-star reviewer on 29 October found little to do at Orange Bay, and another, on 6 November, notes there is no snorkelling site at the beach itself. If you mainly want to snorkel, a day with more reefs than beach suits you better; which island to pick sets them side by side.

Getting there

Every listing here sells the boat, the stops and lunch as one trip. Zanetta Tours’ cheapest option needs you at the Moreno Horizon hotel in Hurghada; its transport option collects you from a Hurghada hotel, and from Makadi, Sahl Hasheesh, El Gouna, Soma Bay or Safaga for more. Pickup outside Hurghada compares what the trips charge for each area.