# Best Time to Visit Egypt: Weather Month by Month in 2026 > You can swim in the Red Sea all year, but the sweet spot is October to April. We break down the weather and water temperature month by month and who each period suits. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/koly-ikhaty-v-yehypet/ - Language: en - Published: 2026-04-01 - Categories: Holidays, Beaches, Hotels, Egypt, Relaxation, Seas & Oceans --- ## Can you swim in Egypt all year round Yes, the swimming season on the Red Sea never really closes. The water off Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh stays above **21 degrees** even in the coldest part of February, and in summer it warms up to 28-29. So the real question of "when is the best time to visit Egypt" is not actually about whether it will be warm. It almost always will be. The real question is different: what exactly are you coming to do, and how much are you willing to pay. In short, the ideal window for most travellers is October to April, when the air is no longer (or not yet) scorching and the sea holds a comfortable 22-27 degrees. July and August give you the warmest water and the lowest prices, but the trade-off is heat pushing 40 on land. Below I go through each month and show who each period suits. ## Which month to pick for your goal The best month does not come from some abstract ranking, it comes from the kind of holiday you want. Here is how it plays out in practice. - **Beach and swimming without suffering in the heat**: October, April, May. The water is warm, the air sits at 28-32, and the evenings are not stifling. - Diving and snorkelling: September to November and March to May, when the sea is calm and underwater visibility regularly reaches 30 metres. - The warmest possible water for the least money: July and August, if heat of 38-40 does not scare you and you plan to spend most of your time by the pool or in the sea. - Excursions, the pyramids, Luxor, Abu Simbel: November to March, when you can walk the ruins during the day rather than only at dawn. ## Air and water temperature month by month The figures are averaged across the Red Sea resorts (Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh). Air is given as the daytime high, water as the typical range for the month. The numbers are approximate: in any given year a deviation of 2-3 degrees is normal. MonthDaytime air, °CWater, °CWho it suitsJanuary20-2222Excursions, quiet, swimming for the hardyFebruary21-2321-22Coldest water of the year, but empty beachesMarch24-2622-23Start of the dive season, water still coolApril28-2923-24Comfortable beach, possible khamsinMay32-3325-26Perfect balance of warmth and seaJune35-3627Hot, but the sea is not yet too warmJuly37-3828Peak heat, low prices, warm waterAugust3828-29Warmest water and cheapest toursSeptember34-3528Best month for divingOctober31-3227The all-round favourite: warm everywhereNovember26-2825Gentle warmth, excursion seasonDecember22-2423Swimming still doable, cool evenings![Air and water temperature month by month](/storage/image/new/koly-ikhaty-v-yehypet-1.jpg) ## Why July and August are both the worst and the best value In summer something odd happens on the Red Sea: the water becomes warmer than pleasant. The very same 28-29 degrees that feel ideal in October no longer refresh you much in August, because the air is scorching at 38-40. You step out of the sea and feel no cool at all. On top of that the sun is so fierce that you can burn in 20 minutes even under a thin cloud. In return, summer rewards you with two things. First: tour and hotel prices drop by 20-40 per cent compared with October, because in this heat Europeans barely come. Second: the sea is calm and warm, which is bliss for anyone planning to spend the whole holiday in the water or by the pool. So August is honestly a good fit for families with small children who are not planning distant excursions anyway, and for anyone watching their budget. But sunbathing for hours during the day and trekking around the pyramids at this time is a bad idea. ## When to go diving and whether the wind gets in the way Divers and snorkelling fans live by a different calendar than beach-goers. The best months underwater are **September to November** and March to May. In autumn the water still holds its summer warmth (27-28 degrees), the air no longer punishes you with heat, and the sea stays calm, with visibility close to 30 metres. Many experienced divers call autumn the best time on the Red Sea. Wind is the main factor tourists underestimate. Hurghada sits on an open coastline, and in spring a strong wind regularly kicks up here, making the sea choppy and cancelling the dive boats' departures. That is exactly why Hurghada became one of the world's centres of windsurfing and kitesurfing: what bothers a diver is a gift for a surfer. Sharm el-Sheikh is better sheltered by the terrain and is usually calmer, so if you are coming purely to dive and worry about waves, it is the safer choice. In summer the water turns slightly murky in places as it warms and stratifies, but visibility still stays decent, at 20-25 metres. ![When to go diving and whether the wind gets in the way](/storage/image/new/koly-ikhaty-v-yehypet-2.jpg) ## The pyramids and Cairo: why summer is best avoided there Here is a mistake first-timers make: they book a beach package in July and pay extra for a day trip to the pyramids of Giza. Cairo lies inland, and the summer heat there is drier and harder to bear than at the resorts, over 40 in the shade and no sea anywhere near. The Giza plateau is open stone with no shade, and in summer Luxor with the Valley of the Kings turns into a furnace, where guides lead groups at six in the morning because by midday there is physically nothing to breathe. The cultural side of Egypt, meaning the pyramids, the Egyptian Museum, the temples of Luxor and Aswan, a Nile cruise, is best planned for **November to March**. In these months it is 20-25 degrees during the day, and walking the ruins is pleasant rather than heroic. If your trip is above all about history, with the sea as a bonus, aim for winter rather than the summer beach peak. ## Khamsin: why May is trickier than it looks May has earned its place on the list of ideal months, but it hides a catch. In spring, roughly from March to May with a peak in April, the khamsin blows over Egypt, a hot sandy wind from the desert. Its name comes from the Arabic for "fifty", because these winds can appear across roughly 50 days after the Coptic Easter. The khamsin is not constant weather but short bouts: it arrives for a day or two, carries a yellow haze, can raise the temperature by some 20 degrees in a couple of hours and cuts visibility. On the Red Sea resorts it is felt more weakly than in Cairo, but dive trips are cancelled on such days and desert excursions lose their point. There is no way to predict the exact date in advance, so if you are travelling in spring, simply build some flexibility into your plans and do not tie your main excursion to a single free day. ![Khamsin: why May is trickier than it looks](/storage/image/new/koly-ikhaty-v-yehypet-3.jpg) ## Where to start when choosing a month If you are coming mainly to swim and soak up the warmth and heat does not scare you, look at August and September: warm water, a calm sea, and in August the lowest prices too. If you want a comfortable beach without the draining sun, your months are October, April and May. And when the main goal is the pyramids, the Nile and the temples, take winter, from November to March, and treat the sea as a pleasant extra rather than the reason for the trip. The Red Sea beats its rivals precisely because it offers options for every request and every budget, rather than one perfect answer. The key is to decide honestly what you want from a week in Egypt, and from there the calendar will guide you on its own.