A traveler's guide to Sharm El Sheikh
Pick the bay for the reef in front of it. The hotel's pool is not the reason this coast exists.
Sharm El Sheikh is the Sinai's beach city: bays of clear water, a reef that starts where the sand stops, and a resort strip built for people who came to be in the sea twice a day. The desert behind it is a day, not the week.
When to go
Spring and autumn are the kind temperatures. Summer is very hot and still full of swimmers. Winter is mild and swimmable, with cooler evenings.
The beach
The famous bays are pocket beaches between headlands, many of them attached to hotels with a day-pass habit. Na'ama is the walkable center. The sand is not the Caribbean kind. The water in front of it is the point.
In the water
Shore entry onto a house reef is the everyday miracle, and it is also where people damage coral with their fins. A guide for the first swim is worth it. Boat days toward Ras Mohammed are the long version.
If you only remember this
- A reef-safe routine and a buoyancy check. The coral is right there.
- Cover-ups off the beach are the ordinary courtesy.
- Cash and cards both appear. Small boats prefer cash.
- The airport is close to the bays. Use that.