Best hotels in Makadi Bay for families

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Makadi bay is a beach resort on the red sea near to Hurghada in Egypt. In my opinion it’s the perfect area for a family holiday and has plenty of all inclusive options to choose from.

We chose the Makadi bay area mostly because of the snorkelling straight from the beach, which we never got bored of! We loved our stay at Jaz Makadina, but if you’re looking for an onsite waterpark Grand Waterworld Makadi Hotel is the place to be. We’ve rounded up some of the best hotels in Makadi bay for families.

Makadi bay beach, on the beach people can be seen in the water and the beack is lined with sun loungers and straw parasols, with palm trees visible in the background.

Table of Contents

What is Makadi bay like?

Makadi bay is a purpose built resort area. It consists of a string of hotels (mostly all-inclusive) fringing a sandy beach in a large bay.

There is a promenade along the beach which is a nice place for a stroll or early morning run.

I think pretty much all the hotels have their own area of private beach. Even the hotels that aren’t directly on the shore tend to have their own beach areas which are all signposted.

There are house reefs that are easy to get to right from the beach. We loved this and Chloe and I went snorkelling at least twice every day! It’s worth taking your own mask and snorkel to give you the freedom to go snorkelling whenever you want.

There is a tourist-orientated ‘souk’ which is nice for a little evening wander but isn’t really like any of the real souks in other Egyptian towns.

View from the end of a jetty at Makadi bay. We can see the jetty to the right, curving towards the beach, the azure waters of the red sea are in the foreground, with the beach, hotels and palm trees in the background.

We combined our stay in Makadi bay with visiting Luxor and Cairo meaning that we had experienced souks in both of those cities already. This meant that we weren’t worried about Makadi bay being a purely purpose-built resort. We were visiting there for relaxing, swimming and snorkelling.

If the red sea coast is the only stop of your Egypt holiday and you would like to experience more Egyptian culture you may prefer to stay in other areas near Hurghada instead.

It is possible to do day trips to Luxor to see the incredible Valley of the Kings and Karnak temple, amongst other ancient sights. If it’s your only chance to visit those places I would highly recommend but if you have more time, Luxor is worth spending a few days in since there are loads of brilliant things to do (our hot air balloon ride was our favourite).

Is Makadi Bay safe for families?

Makadi bay is a gated tourist area with checkpoints for any people or vehicles coming in and out. It’s generally very safe for families, we felt totally secure the whole time.

Our top picks for Makadi Bay hotels:

There are plenty of great hotels to choose from in the area.

Best for waterpark fans: Grand Waterworld Makadi Hotel

This is a huge all-inclusive hotel which is directly on the beach. The main feature that sets it apart from other hotels in the area is the large onsite waterpark.

The waterpark at Grand Makadi Waterworld features loads of slides for kids (and adults) of all ages as well as a lazy river, splash area for young kids and wave pool.

It’s a great option for those that want to keep busy!

Best smaller beachfront hotel: Jaz Makadina

We stayed at the Jaz Makadina and loved it. It’s a relatively small hotel compared with many others in the area but for us this was a benefit as we could let the children wander freely and not be worried about them getting lost!

View of the swimming pool at Jaz Makadina hotel, palm trees are dotted around, in the foreground is a grassy area and the hotel restaurant and buildings are in the background.

It’s right on the beach and has a diveshop on site as well as a jetty for boat trips. We didn’t go on any boat trips but the jetty makes a lovely evening stroll and a great place to look down on the reef and see the sealife without getting wet!

I’ve written a full review of our experience at Jaz Makadina.

Best larger all-inclusive: Fort Arabesque

Fort Arabesque was on our shortlist when choosing where to stay. Having wandered through the grounds of the hotel it looks beautiful with gorgeously manicured gardens and hammocks swinging from palm trees.

Wooden sign next to the beach at Fort Arabesque hotel in Makadi bay. A coconuts swings off one end of the sign and the sign described what the wheather is depending on what the coconut is doing.

Fort Arabesque also has one of the best house reefs in the bay. We went and snorkelled from there one morning and decided the coral was more impressive here than at Jaz Makadina. Having said that we would have been perfectly happy with our snorkelling from Jaz Makadina had we not done both.

There are some adult-only areas at Fort Arabesque, which is what put us off but since the hotel complex is so large there would still be enough areas and activities for families too.

Other top-rated hotels for families:

Iberotel Makadi Beach

Another lovely beachfront hotel with a beautiful private beach area. The Iberotel was slightly more expensive than Jaz Makadina when we priced it up.

Coral and fish in the red sea at Makadi Bay. — Screenshot

If you’re looking for a family holiday at the Red Sea, then Makadi Bay is a great option. We bookended our stay with a visit to Luxor and Cairo to see the pyramids.

If you would like to include a visit to Luxor in your Egypt itinerary, check out our posts on where to stay in Luxor and things to do in Luxor. We highly recommend where we stayed at Villa Belzoni for a brilliant budget option.

When is the best time of year to visit Makadi Bay?

Generally autumn and spring are the best times to visit the red sea coast near Hurghada. The temperatures aren’t too hot but it’s plenty warm enough for time on the beach and in the sea.

Having said that, Hurghada tends to not get quite as hot as Sharm El Sheik as there tends to be a cooling breeze. For us in April the temperatures were perfect.

How do I get to Makadi Bay?

Makadi Bay is only around 20-30 minutes in a taxi from Hurghada airport. You can fly direct to Hurghada from many airports in Europe or it’s a short one hour hop from Cairo if combining with a trip there.