El-Ain El-Sokhna (El-Sokhna) is an Egyptian city located on the coasts of Gulf of Suez. The literal translation of El-Ain El-Sokhna is “The Hot Spring”, the name is originated from the sulfur springs in the nearby mountain “Gebal Ataqa”. Being only one hour away from Cairo, it is considered as the closest beach area to Cairo. El-Sokhna stretches from south of Suez for about 60 km down the coast. It consists, mostly, of a port, resorts, restaurants, gas stations and other facilities along the road. Other than tourism, El-Sokhna has an industrial importance in Egypt. It has a big share of Egypts’ natural gas and oil reserve. It also has a lot of factories. Mostly, the factories are oil refineries and ceramic factories.
El-Sokhna is a rising star for the Egyptian tourism. Currently it’s an Egyptian getaway but, it started to become an international destination. In fact most of the resorts there consist of beach houses owned by Egyptians. However, many of the resorts offer hotel accommodations, which makes it very convenient for both Egyptians and tourists. Another thing that makes El-Sokhna convenient for tourists is it’s location. Whether the primary interest is a beach vacation or a classic tour, El-Sokhna is very convenient. If the main interest is a beach vacation, you can fly to Cairo to visit it’s main attractions then take this short drive to El-Sokhna and spend the rest of the vacation there, and if the main interest is a classic tour you can fly to Cairo then travel to El-Sokhna overday.
Few years ago, El-Sokhna was just desert with some factories and residence for the workers. Now it is one of the biggest attractions in Egypt. It can, now, accommodate large groups, providing excellent facilities for them. There are two large resorts in El-Sokhna now, Stella Di Mare & Porto El-Sokhna, These two beautiful resorts provide excellent accommodation and facilities to their guests, starting with a standard room up to a private villa. Also El-Sokhna started to develop very quickly in the last two years. It has one of the largest and finest spa & therapy centers in the Middle East. Also there are seven restaurants and four bars spread between the two hotels.
Finally, there are some disadvantages in El-Ain El-Sokhna. Firstly, there is no facilitation for scuba diving in any of the hotels, though, there is snorkeling equipment. Secondly, there is a lack of independent restaurants as you will only find two independent restaurants which are KFC and Pizza Hut. We imagine(expect) that within the next few years El-Sokhna will develop but, for now, visitors have to depend on the facilities offered by the hotels. After the completion of the new road from Cairo, there are some new facilities that are under construction that will definitely make El-Sokhna one of Egypt's biggest attractions.