El Quseir (spellings vary: Kosseir, Al Qusair, Quseir, Qusseir, Qosseir; Arabic: القصير el oSēr) is a fishing town 100 km north of Marsa Alam on the Red Sea Coast of eastern Egypt.
El Quesir is one of the few cities on the Red Sea with some sort of history. It was a crucial harbour for goods from the far east (silk, spices) which got transported with caravans to the nile. On the way back the caravans brought pilgrims and wheat to ship them to the Arabian peninsula.
Today the city of around 18,000 people is surrounded by coral reefed beaches, and hotels. This is probably the early stages of this coast becoming another Sharm. It still retains its charm with the locals, and the hotels are impeccable.
See also: Egypt#Climate
The climate is sunny and very dry. Rainfall is almost non-existent. Summer days are very hot and summer nights are quite hot. Winters are warm with mild nights. It has one of the warmest night temperatures of any other city or resort in Egypt.
The City is an old harbour for pilgrims, goods from far east and trade to the Nile valley.
There is a fortress which the French enlarged around 1800 (LE15).
The underwater life is very attractive and diverse, with visibility on a calm day about 20 m. The diving and snorkelling is excellent, with a good number of PADI-registered dive centres in the hotels.
- Nemo Tec, 66 El Kornesh, + 20 653336478, +20 122453369. A local one owned by Egyptians.
- Pharaoh Dive Club, KM14, Safaga Road, Abu Sauatir, Hamawein, Red Sea, Egypt (On the main cpast road, north of town., +20 1006822000. European run club and dive centre. BSAC affiliated, with discounted packages for BSAC members and offers both BSAC and PADI training out of their Roots Red Sea eco-resort north of town. The centre also hosts an array of marine conservation volunteer and citizen science programmes, as well as offering marine biology short taster courses (coral identification, reef surveying etc.) Accommodation on site, from "eco-huts" up to mid-range comfortable bungalows.
Nemo Tec, 66 El Kornesh, + 20 653336478, +20 122453369. A local one owned by Egyptians.
Pharaoh Dive Club, KM14, Safaga Road, Abu Sauatir, Hamawein, Red Sea, Egypt (On the main cpast road, north of town., +20 1006822000. European run club and dive centre. BSAC affiliated, with discounted packages for BSAC members and offers both BSAC and PADI training out of their Roots Red Sea eco-resort north of town. The centre also hosts an array of marine conservation volunteer and citizen science programmes, as well as offering marine biology short taster courses (coral identification, reef surveying etc.) Accommodation on site, from "eco-huts" up to mid-range comfortable bungalows.
Around the fortress you can find the normal Egyptian souvenirs
- There is a good and cheap Koshery place at the corniche, north of the old police station.
- Right in front of the Koshary place is a nice and good priced seafood restaurant.
There is a good and cheap Koshery place at the corniche, north of the old police station.
Right in front of the Koshary place is a nice and good priced seafood restaurant.
Tea is the drink to have. It's pretty hard to find any restaurant or shop to buy alcoholic drinks.
- Safaga, Hurghada – The Upper Egypt Travel runs two buses a day in this direction (north), 5AM and 10PM. Next to the Upper Egypt Travel Bus Station is the local station where you can find shared Peugeot taxis for LE10 to Safaga and LE20 to Hurghada. The taxi driver might try to convince you to take the special tourist taxi for LE100 to Hurghada.
- Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam, and the high-end resorts, beaches and dive spots along Marsa Alam
[[Port Ghalib]] in Marsa Alam, and the high-end resorts, beaches and dive spots along Marsa Alam