Gurney took part in several expeditions, including one to North Africa in 1906, and the Cambridge University Suez Expedition in 1924. He also worked on material collected by other expeditions, including the "Terra Nova" Expedition (1910–1913), the "Discovery Investigations" (1920s and 1930s) and the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928–1929. Gurney returned to the Red Sea, visiting the marine laboratory at Hurghada in 1936, and visited Bermuda twice: once with Walter Garstang in 1935, and once with both Garstang and Marie V. Lebour in 1938.