Sharm el-Sheikh
The tip of Sinai where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet, with the reefs of Ras Mohammed twelve kilometres from town and a Sinai stamp instead of a visa
- When to go
- October 29° · 0 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 7days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 9 km Sharm El Sheikh · 98 km Hurghada
- Right now
Sharm el-Sheikh is the Red Sea for people who care more about the reef than the beach: Ras Mohammed, the national park at the very tip of the peninsula, is twelve kilometres from town, and the four reefs of the Straits of Tiran are a day trip by boat. Anyone staying in south Sinai enters on a free stamp instead of a visa.
The Sinai stamp is the first thing to understand at passport control: it is free, lasts fifteen days, cannot be extended and covers Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba, Taba and St Catherine. It does not take you to Cairo, Luxor or anywhere off the peninsula; anyone planning the pyramids or staying longer than fifteen days buys the ordinary about €26 visa at the same counter.
The town is a string of bays with hotels and two centres: Naama Bay with the promenade, restaurants and nightlife, and Old Sharm with the old market and the Al Sahaba mosque at the southern end. The week is built around two boat trips, Ras Mohammed and Tiran, and one night on Mount Sinai; the rest is the reef in front of the hotel.
Guides for Sharm el-Sheikh
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh
→Ras Mohammed by boat, Tiran, Mount Sinai at night and Dahab for a day — four trips from Sharm that all fit inside the…
What to see in Sharm el-Sheikh
Ras Mohammed
A national park since 1983 at the very tip of Sinai, where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet. Shark Reef and Yolanda are its best-known dives; go by boat, or by car to a beach inside the park and swim straight out onto the reef.
Tiran
Four reefs at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba — Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson — in the middle of the main shipping lane. A day trip with lunch on board; in summer, schools of hammerhead sharks are seen along the reefs.
St Catherine and Mount Sinai
A 6th-century monastery below a 2,285-metre mountain. Tours from Sharm leave around eleven at night, the drive is about three hours, and the climb starts around two and takes two to three hours, to the summit by sunrise. The monastery takes visitors in the morning only and is closed on Fridays and Sundays.
Naama Bay
A promenade along the bay with restaurants, shisha bars and clubs; the part of town where people walk in the evening, with the sea a few steps away.
Old Sharm
The old market, fish restaurants and the Al Sahaba mosque at the southern end of town. A taxi from Naama at a fare agreed before the ride; this is where you eat away from the hotel buffet.
Nabq
A protected area north of town, with a 4.5-kilometre fringe of mangroves — the northernmost on the Red Sea — and Bedouins of the Mezeina tribe who still live from fishing and grazing. For a day when you do not need the sea.
Two things you probably did not know
The Red Sea stays warm and salty all year because not a single river flows into it from the deserts around. That is why the water is so clear, and the coral reef holds over a thousand species of fish.
The Sinai peninsula was under Israeli administration from 1967 to 1982. Sharm el-Sheikh was a small settlement then; it was built up as a resort only after it returned to Egypt.
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Within reach from here
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