Yachts and Dive Boats for Sale in Egypt

Egypt's Boating Economy Runs on the Red Sea Charter Trade

Most of what moves in Egypt ties to dive and day charter operations out of Hurghada and Marsa Alam rather than private owners keeping a boat for personal cruising. The brands that actually turn up in brokerage listings tell the story: Custom builds, Princess, Azimut, Sunseeker and Fairline dominate, with 18 power listings against zero sail boats in one snapshot. Hurghada area asking prices in that same snapshot ran from $347,354 to $14.25 million.

That charter first character is worth planning around rather than fighting: a boat bought here earns its keep faster if it can also work a charter schedule between your own trips out.

Where to Berth: Abu Tig, El Gouna and the North Coast

Abu Tig Marina in El Gouna was the Red Sea's first yacht marina, opened in 2005 and expanded in 2009 to add megayacht capacity. It now runs more than 130 original berths plus 154 added berths for vessels to 60 metres, two ship lifts to 30 metres and 250 tonnes, a diesel fuel station and a maintenance centre. The wider El Gouna cluster, Marina El Gouna, Fanadir Marina and Abydos Marina, has welcomed leisure and commercial vessels since 1990.

Hurghada Marina and Port Ghalib are the official ports of entry for Red Sea clearance and the operating base for most of the dive and day charter fleet. If the Mediterranean side appeals instead, Marassi Marina and Yacht Club berths more than 245 yachts up to 155 metres, and Porto Marina bills itself as the first international yacht marina in eastern North Africa, capacity for over 1,400 yachts, though both run a seasonal, resort driven calendar rather than year round liveaboard harbours: verify current operating status directly with each marina. Our best marinas in Africa guide sets Abu Tig's lift capacity against Cape Town and Tangier.

Yacht Prices in Egypt: What Your Budget Buys

The figures are 2026 asking ranges for used boats, weighted toward the motor yacht brands that actually list in this market.

For day trips out of Hurghada or El Gouna rather than a liveaboard cruiser, a Jeanneau Cap Camarat 9.0 center console suits dive and snorkel charter work at a fraction of the cost, though its own pricing comes from a single sourced comparable, so treat the figure as indicative. A Sunseeker Portofino 53 or Princess V58 puts you in a hull from the brands that dominate Red Sea brokerage listings, though both are now fifteen to twenty year old designs with thin pricing data, so budget for a proper survey, a possible engine overhaul, and treat the bands as a starting point to verify. The Azimut 55 is a more direct match for the current market: Azimut is one of the five brands that actually appear in Egypt's listings, spanning a wide range depending on engine configuration and age.

Dive and Safari Liveaboards for Sale in the Red Sea

A large share of the boats that change hands in Egypt are not private yachts at all but working dive boats: day boats running reef trips out of Hurghada and El Gouna, and safari liveaboards that spend a week at a time on the southern reefs from Port Ghalib and Marsa Alam. Many were built in Egyptian yards, in wood or steel, and fitted out for divers rather than for private owners.

Buying one is closer to buying a small tourism business than a yacht. The questions that decide the price are commercial:

• Operating permits: which licences the boat holds, whether they belong to the vessel or to the operating company, and whether they transfer with a sale. Check this with the port authority and the Chamber of Diving and Water Sports before you negotiate.
• Hull and structure: wooden hulls need a surveyor who knows timber, fastenings and rot; steel hulls need thickness readings and a close look at corrosion around the waterline.
• Machinery and safety kit: engines, generators, compressors for diving air, liferafts and fire systems, with service records.
• Trading history: bookings, seasonality and the crew who come with the boat.

We do not publish a price band for liveaboards, because value depends on length, hull material, age and above all on whether the permits go with the boat. Send us the type of trip you want to run and we will tell you what is realistic, and then line up a surveyor who knows that type of hull.

Import, Registration and Clearing a Yacht in Egypt

Egypt made registration of all maritime imports mandatory from 1 October 2021. No published duty schedule specific to pleasure yachts turned up in our research, so get current HS code specific duty figures from an EAMS licensed agent or an Egyptian customs broker before you rely on a number, and the same caution applies to VAT: confirm the current rate and how it applies to a yacht import with a licensed broker rather than assuming a figure.

Foreign yachts must make first landfall at an official port of entry, Port Said, Alexandria, Suez, Hurghada, Port Ghalib, Safaga, Sharm El Sheikh or Taba, and complete customs, immigration and health formalities before visiting another Egyptian harbour. In practice a licensed maritime agent coordinates all of this with the port authority on your behalf.

Registration sits with the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safety, EAMS, under the Ministry of Transport. Foreign yachts clear through Egypt's Yachts Single Window, which requires vessel, crew and prior port clearance data submitted at least 72 hours before reaching the first Egyptian port of entry. Most cruising foreign yachts keep their home country flag and clear in via temporary admission rather than re-flagging, and long stay or liveaboard owners typically renew that temporary admission on each re-entry: confirm with a licensed maritime agent whether repeat renewal still suits your pattern before assuming it is indefinite.

How Buying Through Us Works in Egypt

We start with where you actually want to keep the boat, Red Sea for year round diving and charter potential, or the North Coast for a summer only Mediterranean season, since the two run on completely different calendars and marina networks.

From there we shortlist against the brands that genuinely move in this market, Custom, Princess, Azimut, Sunseeker and Fairline, arrange viewings, and insist on a full survey before any money changes hands: engine and generator hours, gelcoat and hull blister inspection, running gear condition. A licensed maritime agent then handles the Yachts Single Window submission and port of entry formalities.

For the wider picture start with our yachts for sale hub page, our yacht service in Egypt page for what happens after delivery, our Egypt overview, and if you are weighing import costs against South Africa or Nigeria, our importing a yacht guide is a useful comparison even though Egypt's own duty schedule remains unpublished. Buyers also cross shopping the Mediterranean should see our yacht for sale in Morocco page.