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Sharm El Sheikh

Ras Mohammed's Reefs and Naama Bay

Plan this trip
3 daysIdeal stay₹2,900From / night₹1,060Food / day₹480Entry

The resort city at the tip of the Sinai peninsula, built round some of the world's best reefs: Ras Mohammed National Park, the Straits of Tiran and the Thistlegorm wreck. Hotels line the bays from Nabq to Sharm el-Maya, with Naama Bay and SOHO Square for nights out. Visitors staying only in the South Sinai resorts can enter on a free Sinai-only stamp (see the entry notes). Dahab is 1.5 hours north, Mount Sinai three.

Highlights

  • Snorkelling at Ras Mohammed National Park
  • Boat to the Tiran Island reefs
  • Diving the SS Thistlegorm wreck
  • Naama Bay promenade
  • SOHO Square fountain show
  • Old Market and Al Sahaba Mosque
  • Quad and camel trips into the desert
  • Glass-bottom boats for non-swimmers

Things to do

  • Ras Mohammed National Park snorkelling boatMorning · 7h
  • Tiran Island reefs day boatMorning · 6h
  • Diving the SS Thistlegorm (advanced divers)Morning · 10h
  • Beach day at Naama BayAny time · 4h
  • Old Market and SOHO Square eveningEvening · 3h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Sharm El Sheikhvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Sharm El Sheikhvia Klook

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When to go

Best time: March – November

Heads up

Cooler Red Sea Water and Wind

From December to March the Red Sea is about 21-23 °C and the wind blows hard, especially in the evenings: snorkelling is chilly without a wetsuit (boats rent them), some boat trips are cancelled in strong wind, and nights are cool. Great kitesurfing weather; for warm water come from May to November.

Heads up

Ramadan: Shorter Hours

Ramadan falls about February to March in 2027 (the dates move about 11 days earlier each year). Museums, sites, shops and offices keep shorter hours, many local restaurants open only after sunset, traffic jams just before the evening meal, and the evenings are lively. Tourist hotels and resorts serve food and drink as usual; eat and drink discreetly in public by day.

Worth knowing

Sinai: Where You Can Go

North Sinai is closed to visitors, and roads across Sinai have police checkpoints: carry your passport. The South Sinai resorts, Dahab and St Catherine are visited normally, but some governments' travel advice is stricter (the US State Department's has said not to travel to Sinai except to Sharm El Sheikh by air), which can affect travel insurance: check your own government's advice and your policy.

  • Ramadan — The fasting month: many cafés and restaurants outside the tourist hotels close by day, sites and offices keep shorter hours, and the streets come alive after the sunset meal (iftar), with lanterns (fanous) and late-night crowds in Islamic Cairo. Eat and drink discreetly in public by day. It falls about February to March in 2027.
  • Eid al-Fitr — Three days of holiday at the end of Ramadan: Egyptian families head for Alexandria, the Red Sea and Sinai, so beach hotels, trains and buses fill and prices rise. Banks and offices close.
  • Eid al-Adha — The feast of the sacrifice, a four-day holiday: sheep are slaughtered in the streets on the first morning, and the beaches and trains fill with Egyptian holidaymakers. About May in 2027.
  • Christmas, New Year and the winter peak — Late December to early January is the busiest fortnight of Egypt's season: Nile cruises, Abu Simbel flights, the Watania sleeper and Grand Egyptian Museum time slots sell out, and Luxor and Aswan hotels raise their rates. Book by October.