Hurghada - Fish Market

Fish for Sale!

Boat Making

My life took a fairly fishy theme once Lena arrived. Just behind the mosque, there’s the fish market. It’s quite an interesting place so we dived in there (not literally!) for a quick visit.

We arrived quite late in the day so, by the time we strolled round, quite a few stalls had packed up and the place smelled of its produce. Here, as pretty much anywhere in Hurghada, a few wild cats were strolling about or just hiding from the sun among the stalls.

There is a huge variety of fish for sale, including parrot fish (I provided a photograph of a live one in an earlier blog). I remember Brigitte reporting back from her trip to the market feeling distressed that people could kill and eat these beautiful fish. But there they were, rows of them, covered in ice, ready for purchase.

It’s hot and it’s open air, so flies were buzzing about. It’s a market, so you have to barter the price – I heard one local arguing over the price of a parrot fish. Towards the back, there’s even a place where the fish are cooked directly from the stalls and you can eat it at the counter. I believe it’s very good, but I’m not that brave. Similarly, there is a fish restaurant opposite the market, which is reputed to be excellent. If you are a fish person, food-wise, it would be a good thing to have this restaurant at the top of your list to do.

Also to the back of the fish market, at the right, is a small harbour for all the fishing boats. Presumably, they come here, offload the fish, which then go directly to the market stalls. You can’t really get fresher than that. However, these small boats make a stark contrast to the luxury liners in the Marina situated just next door.

You get a good view of the mosque from the fish market and at the back, to the left, there’s also a boat yard, where you can see boats in various stages of construction. The boats are all made of wood, on land, in the backdrop of the mosque to the left. It’s quite a sight and gives you an idea of how all the trades (fishermen, boat maker, market trader, chef) come together.