Hubbly Bubbly Prices in South Africa (2023)

If you want to know hubbly bubbly prices in South Africa, this guide is the perfect place for you to start. Whether you’re new to the scene or simply looking for your next big hookah upgrade -you’re in the right space. This article covers general pricing on all available hookahs, which of those are worth buying and which would be a mistake for different kinds of hookah users.

Read on to find out more!

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Hubbly bubbly prices in South Africa

Contrary to popular belief, not all hookahs are the same and not all operate with the same ease. People often refer to traditional hookahs as the “ultimate go-to for hookah enthusiasts”, however this is hardly the case – especially among youth or people who enjoy hookah for its social effect.

Traditional hookahs mostly come with one draw pipe, making it ineffective for groups larger than 2. They’re also designed to work with traditional shisha (hookah tobacco) which is drier and sticky in comparison with modern hookah tobacco, which is juicy and often bright in colour.

Modern hookah tobacco is sweetened using honey or molasses, and will cause all kinds of discomforts when used in a traditional hookah. (Such as leaking, burning and clogging)

If you’re looking to enjoy hookah with friends (total of 3 people including yourself or more) and like to switch up flavours often, a modern hookah will definitely be a better fit.

Modern hookah mechanisms have up to 4 draw pipes and often have adjustable airflow settings – meaning you can adjust the tightness of your drags while you smoke. This was something completely impossible with traditional hookahs – the only way of experiencing different drag tightness was to use a completely different cultural hookah (Egyptian, Turkish, Syrian, Persian etc.) or for seasoned shisha smokers, to stack the next session differently in terms of tobacco tightness and the air vents manually poked into the foil.

Traditional Hubbly Bubbly Prices

Important: The average price ranges listed below are just that: an average calculated across easily accessible hubblys of each type. These prices can differ from supplier to supplier, although we have attempted to keep the pricing scale as accurate as possible.

Egyptian

Egyptian hubbly prices range anywhere from R200 – R700 in most cases, but can cost up to R2500 or more. They’re available in all sizes and are the most common type of hookah pipe available today.

Examples of quality affordable Egyptian hookahs would be the Amaren Egyptian Premium hookah which retails for R300 for small pipe and R600 for a large pipe.

Amaren Premium Egyptian Hookah – Medium

At the higher end of the price range, you have Khalil Mamoon hookahs, where the small ones like the Khalil Mamoon Karmana Narguile Hookah (Mini) retails for R3350 and the larger and more ornate pipes like the Khalil Mamoon Sadaf Gold Hookah sells for R7650.

Khalil Mamoon Sadaf Gold Hookah (Large)

Syrian

Syrian pipes are extremely rare and potentially the most expensive of all hookahs, ranging up to R7000 or more. This is due to recent and ongoing turmoil in Syria; hence Syrian hookah production and export is massively halted. Syrian hookahs are meticulously designed and hand-crafted with the most opulent forms of engravings, being more of a collectors item than your average smoking hookah pipe. Hubbly enthusiasts view Syrian mechanisms as the utmost rare and, for what they’re more commonly known, their super sophisticated draw. Somewhere between a tight and a loose draw, Syrian pipes provide a drag that hookah enthusiasts often refer to as the “perfect, and most incredible hookah experience”

Persian

R150 / R250 – R5000 or more. Persian hubblys are arguably the source of all other hookahs, the first hookah water pipe ever invented being in the 1600’s by a Persian physician of Akbar, named Abdul-Fath Gilani. Today, Persian pipes are available in cheap entry level ranges as well as highly sophisticated luxury hookahs.

Turkish

Turkish hubbly pipes range from R150 / R300 – R6000 or more. Turkish hookah pipes lie somewhere between the popularity of Egyptian hookahs and the exquisiteness of Syrian pipes, making them well worth their price. Another term for a Turkish hookah is “Narghile”

Modern Hubbly Bubbly Prices

Modern hookah pipes prices range anywhere from R150 for a small one pipe with entry level materials up to thousands of rands for large, luxury hookahs. Modern hookahs take the concept of traditional hookahs with the added benefit of modern technology, which can cost in excess of R7000 per piece.

Sizes, extras, materials used and the companies who produce them along with the country of origin (as they are produced globally, although mostly in the US) all contribute to the long list of factors that make modern hookahs the biggest and most varied section of hubblys available today.

It is simply too great a market to break it down into segments that give an estimate on pricing.

Modern hubbly bubbly prices depend largely on the country of origin, the materials used and the technology used to manufacture them. These materials include:

Wooden
Metal
Glass
Porcelain
Stainless steel
Brass
Copper

Combining these materials that can be used to make hookah pipes with all the different sizes, the amount of drag pipes and the level of detail on each mechanism will all have an impact on the price.

Hookah bowl materials and prices

And just when you thought the customizability of modern (and traditional) hookahs ended there, there’s more.

The bowl used to pack your tobacco flavour in can be one of many, each having their own effects on your smoking experience:

Silicone
Clay
Glass
Ceramic
Stone
Metal

Silicone – If you’re looking for something extremely durable, a silicone bowl is your go-to. They’re long term options, can withstand extreme heat and can also bend in any way – making them quite versatile as well. They do not give off a taste of plastic, however seasoned hookah enthusiasts might notice the difference in comparison to, say, a traditional clay hookah bowl. Silicone bowls range anywhere from R80.00 upwards to R150.00 on average.

Silicone & glass – These are silicone frames with the actual bowl being glass and inserted into the silicone pocket. They’re naturally less durable than pure silicone bowls, but are a great option for those who prefer smoking from glass with the added durability of silicone bowls. Silicone & glass combined hookah bowls cost R125.00 on average.

Clay – This is the material mostly used in traditional hubblys and has their own set of pros and cons. For starters, it’s worth noting that clay bowls chip and shatter very easily, but are also very affordable. They also do an excellent job at retaining the heat needed to warm up your tobacco. So while they’re not all that durable, they sure are easy to come by and won’t cost you much either. Clay hookah bowls are available for as little as R50.00 per piece, anything more than double the price is either meticulously decorated or simply inaccurately priced!

They’re also compatible with a large number of hookahs and have an even heat transfer to your shisha.

Ceramic – Ceramic bowls are one of the best-selling shisha bowls on the market today. It caters for all HMD’s (heat management systems), is easy to prepare and clean and is a must-have for all hookah enthusiasts and even beginners. Ceramic bowls are priced the same as clay, with an average price of R50.00 – R80.00.

Metal – Aluminium metal is a less-common material used for hookah bowls-up s. ; they can get extremely hot and can burn the shisha flavour. On the other hand, they’re very efficient at heat transference, practically indestructible, has a fast start-up time and can produce majorly thick cloud

Glass – The main reason people opt for glass hookah bowls is because it’s a much more inert material than metal or wood, so it won’t affect the flavour of your tobacco. On the other hand, they’re just as easily breakable as clay bowls and are less effective in terms of heat transference. They’re also susceptible to extreme temperature changes which can cause cracking. Not recommended for beginners.

Glass hookah bowls are hard to come by as individual pieces, but you can expect an average price of R50.00 – R200.00

Stone – A United States product, stone hookah bowls are hand painted, top-shelf and one of the most expensive bowls on the market, ranging anywhere from R500 – R3000 and more!

How much is a box of hubbly flavour?

Popular brands of modern hookah tobacco like Amaren & Afzal charge R35.00 – R38.00 for a packet (50g) or shisha tobacco, and around R350.00 for a carton.

Traditional shisha tobacco such as the Virginia blonde leaf, also known as bright leaf tobacco costs around R200.00 – R230.00 (200g – 250g) Keep in mind that traditional tobaccos burn out faster than modern hookah tobaccos, and with the use of a phunnel bowl, modern shisha tobaccos can last up to a few hours in comparison to a 20 – 30 minutes session.