• Traveling independently or through a travel agency?

  • Alan273

Hello, friends! I have a dream - to go for 2 weeks with my wife to a country with great snorkeling. We are planning the vacation for around June. Please recommend specific places you have been to, how much money you spent, etc. Will it be possible to save money if we buy tickets ourselves and find a hotel on-site? Is it difficult to find a hotel on your own without knowing English? (You can use a translator, roughly...)

Kimberly

Egypt - June, very hot and without a travel agency or organized group, it is problematic to find a hotel, at least it used to be that way. In other countries, the places you need, travel agencies haven't even heard of, just the word snorkeling will put them in a bit of shock. Here it might be useful. There are some topics with information about hotels and places, as well as photo albums. It's better to book hotels in advance (less hassle), then conversational English is not necessary.

Ross

Raising the level. Who is diving, who has plans? As for snorkeling - the reef near the Savoy hotel in Sharm is amazing, several kilometers long. Huge moray eels, Napoleon fish - and there is an incredible amount of marine life, with corals in excellent condition and variety.

Jacqueline6670

Unfortunately, we are not planning to. I completely agree. I relaxed and swam. I was at SolSirena - now I see a new name there, which means a new owner - the latest reviews about the hotel are bad. However, the reef there is beautiful. There is (was) a diving club on the premises - no need to go anywhere, everything is on site.

Michael826

In Sharm, all the good hotels are Hilton, Savoy, Four Seasons, near a beautiful reef, but they are expensive. I stayed a couple of times at AA Grand Resort, which is near the Seasons, but much cheaper, and I swam everywhere with a mask. In the evening, you can take a walk in Soho, which is nearby, we walked there. June is certainly warm, but you get used to it, and if you start your morning at 6:00, a week is enough to get to know all the inhabitants of the reef. June is nice in Montenegro, but there is no reef as we understand it, although you can still dive.

Joshua

Don't worry, it's not the nineties anymore; you can book everything like flights, airport websites, car rentals, and more without getting up from your chair in half an hour. We've been doing it this way for about six years. Or you can overpay travel agencies, depending on their appetites, from 30% and up.

Bryan1851

better in Marsa Alam, a new direction, 400 km from Hurghada down, the sea is untouched, turtles, moray eels, etc. right on the hotel beach.... Sharm compared to Marsa is poorer in wildlife

Justin9867

There is a place called Makadi Bay, about 30 kilometers south of Hurghada. There is a hotel called Al Nabila there. Once you go there, you won't want to go to Hurghada or Sharm again, especially when it comes to the reef. I've seen the reefs of Hurghada, Sharm, and I've dived in the Indian Ocean more than once, but I keep coming back here for the fifth time... Three kilometers from the hotel is the Sharm El Naga reserve, which is worth searching for. The reef at the hotel is just as good as the reserve... If anyone is interested in photos of the underwater world of this reef, I can look for them...