El Qoseir (Arabic: القصير, romanized: el-Qoṣēr, pronounced [elʔoˈsˤeːɾ]) is a city in eastern Egypt, located on the Red Sea west coast. Populated for approximately 5,000 years, its ancient Egyptian name was Tjau, while its ancient Greek name during the Ptolemaic era was Myos Hormos. Historically, it was the endpoint of the Wadi Hammamat trail, an important route connecting Egypt and the Red Sea.
El Qoseir is located 138 kilometers south of Hurghada, 130 km north of Marsa Alam and 68 km north of the Marsa Alam International Airport. In 1986, its population was approximately 20,000. Today, the population of El Qoseir is around 50,000.
The city is an old harbour for pilgrims, goods from far east and trade to the Nile valley.
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.
Tea is the drink to have. It's pretty hard to find any restaurant or shop to buy alcoholic drinks.
Around the fortress you can find the normal Egyptian souvenirs.
There are Buses from the Upper Egypt Bus Company twice a day. From Hurghada and other neighbouring cities you can get the old Peugeot Taxis (shared between 7 passengers) for about LE20. and from Marsa Alam airport.
It is a pretty small town where you can walk everywhere within half an hour. There are some microbuses as well.
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.
The city of around 18,000 people is surrounded by coral reefed beaches, and hotels. We probably live in the early stages of this coast becoming another Sharm. It still retains its charm with the locals, and the hotels are impeccable.
