Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt: Complete Travel Guide
| Country | Egypt |
| Region | South Sinai |
| Type | Resort |
| Best months | October, November, March, April |
| Crowd level | High |
| Budget | Mid-range |
| Flight (LON) | 4h 50m |
Sharm el-Sheikh exists in a category of its own: a resort town engineered almost entirely for pleasure, sitting at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula where the Red Sea delivers some of the most spectacular underwater scenery on the planet. If you’re a diver or a snorkeller, this is genuinely one of the best places on earth to be. Full stop. The coral is extraordinary, the visibility is often 30 metres or more, and the sheer density of marine life at sites like Ras Mohammed National Park will make you feel like you’ve swum into a David Attenborough documentary. That’s the honest reason to come here.
What it’s actually like above water is a different conversation. Sharm is not Egypt. It’s a purpose-built tourist bubble of gated resorts, artificial beaches, and a nightlife strip that could be airlifted to any Mediterranean coastline and nobody would notice. That’s not necessarily a criticism — it’s just what it is. The food outside the hotels is largely unremarkable, the shopping is aggressive, and Naama Bay on a Saturday night resembles Ibiza with slightly more conservative dress codes. Many visitors find this enormously appealing. Others find it hollow. Know which type you are before you book.
Naama Bay is the heartbeat of the resort scene, loud and convenient, while Sharks Bay to the north is quieter and better suited to those who want beach time without the circus. If you’re serious about diving, staying near a reputable dive centre matters more than anything else — look along the stretch between the two bays. The luxury all-inclusives are genuinely good value for what you get, particularly in October and November when the heat drops to something civilised and the summer crowds have thinned. March and April work well too. July and August are brutal and packed.
The thing most tourists completely miss is windsurfing and kitesurfing. The consistent northerly winds between Naama Bay and Ras Nasrani create conditions that serious wind-sports people travel specifically to find, but somehow the diving reputation swallows everything else.
Sharm suits couples after a reliably sunny beach holiday with excellent water sports, dedicated divers willing to overlook the resort packaging, and families who want the all-inclusive safety net. It suits adventurous backpackers and cultural travellers not at all. Adjust your expectations to match what the place actually is, and it delivers brilliantly.
Plan Your Trip
- Hotels: Search accommodation in Sharm el-Sheikh on Booking.com
- Tours & Activities: Browse Sharm el-Sheikh experiences on GetYourGuide
- Day Trips: Find Sharm el-Sheikh tours on Viator
