Sharm el-Sheikh is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Arabic world. But there are also some very good reasons to visit it if you are not the common tourist, who likes to lay on the beach all day. It is one of the finest diving spots in the world and a trip into the desert is an unforgettable adventure.
The Sinai Peninsula is a remote desert mountain range. The rocky mountains are parted from the deep-blue sea by a flat desert strip. This combination of desert and sea is an incredible sight and makes you believe you are on a different planet.
About 15 years ago, Sharm el-Sheikh was nothing but a small fishing village with about 100 citizens. The Sinai had been occupied by Israel and was a restricted military area. But shortly after the israeli invading forces had left, the Egyptians started to build up a tourist destination with now a population of 10,000 people. There is now a nice promenade, a Hard Rock Cafe, one of the most modern hospitals in Egypt and so on.
Orientation
Na'ama Bay part of the city is the center of nightlife and dining: most of Sharm's clubs, cafes, restaurants and shops are here.
Get in
See Sinai for information on the Sinai visit pass, which allows visa-free travel for up to 14 days.
By plane
Sharm el-Sheikh Airport () () is the largest in the Sinai and receives planeloads of charter tourists daily in the winter high season. The only airline for local flights is EgyptAir. Your travel agent may have trouble booking flights with them but they can also be booked via Expedia or Travelocity.
For departures: timetable shows only nearest 1-2 hours, makes you watch over the row of check-in desks for your flight number.
Airport cafes
Cafes after security check are: Sbarro (overcrowded), Cafe Europa (on the back of the lounge, less crowded): sandwiches, coffee, Egyptian sweets; outlet of Caffè Ritazza' international chain coming soon (also in Athens, Budapest, Madrid, Milan, London, Paris, New York, Stockholm, Zurich, Vienna).
Shops in the airport
After security check: Patisserie offers lucums, khalva and other Egyptian sweets.
By boat
International Fast Ferries
runs fast boats to Hurghada on the mainland Red Sea Coast, currently running four times weekly. The ride takes 1.5 hours and costs 250/450 LE one-way/return for foreigners. Warning: this ride is notoriously bumpy and prone to cancellations.
By car / By bus
Sharm el-Sheikh can be reached by driving down the eastern coast from Eilat (Israel) via Nuweiba and Dahab, or via the western coast from Cairo. There are daily buses for both routes.
Get around
By Taxi
In Sharm, most taxis are old Peugeots from 1980s, comfortably fitting 7 passengers (they have two rows of passenger seats behind a driver).
By Bus
There is a bus station in Sharm which will take you to other cities at a cheap price. A taxi driver will be able to tell you where it is.
See
A visit to the desert is highly recommended. The hotels offer various trips to the Bedouins, the beautiful Coloured Canyon and beyond to Mount Sinai. The more adventurous should try to find a private guide, who takes them for a few days into the mountain desert with a camel. You will walk through hidden valleys, rest at secret oasis and during the night you sleep under a breathtaking firmament.
An unusual and bit exotic for a westerner are huge fans pumping fresh air to street cafes and terraces near hotels.
Do
Diving
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Diving is the main activity in Sharm el-Sheikh. When you dive into the warm water of the Red Sea and leave the remote desert behind, you will enter a world full of life and colours.
:The disadvantage of its popularity is that you may find up to 20 boats at the same reef. If you take a daily-boat you may enjoy your dive in the company of fifty other divers.
Reputable operators include:
Horseback riding
Quad bikes
There are dozens of operators who seem to use just the same route, length and sequence of stops: when you drive, you meet many groups who follow just the same route as yours. There are several really shaky pieces of the route, very much like a washboard.
Wear a long-sleeved shirt; shoes are safer than sandals. Expect all your wear (and skin) to be covered with grey dust.
2 hours of riding is just enough for a non-professional rider; expect several stops along the way. It's ideal to start your ride at 4pm or later--to catch a sunset and ride back when air is not that hot.
At departure point, choose a bike in the beginning of the motorcade: being one of the first allows to drive faster, and results in less dust.
Camel trekking
Eat
Guava fresh juice is a must-try, excellent in any cafe.
Alcohol (including beer) is not available in restaurants and street cafes.
Mid-range
Drink
Sleep
Some hotels are in Naama Bay itself. Frequently, their hotel area is crossed by a pedestrian street, so the beach may appear across the street from the hotel building--obviously that can affects isolation even when using a hotel's pool.
Others are quite far from Naama Bay, so you either are tied to there all-included ration, or need to pay for taxi for every dinner in Naama (although taxi is inexpensive from most of hotels).
Mid-range
:Restaurants: Horizon Bar overlooking the sea; terraces next to the pool both serve dishes from the main restaurant where the breakfast is served. Caesar salad is fine; lentil soup is not spicy and pretty good (if you like lentil soup). Pizzas are quite rubbery. Cucumber soup cold and strange. There's also an indian restaurant, not reviewed by wikitravellers yet.
:Breakfast: 6:30am-10:30am; buffet is not refilled after 10:00am. Good choice of traditional breakfast meals; custom-made omlettes and fried eggs; coffee is american only; cocoa is made of instant. Whole fruits are not served, but all components for fruit salad are.
Splurge
The only Five Stars Plus resorts are:
Get out
Sharm el-Sheikh (شرم الشيخ, also transliterated as Sharm ash Shaykh), often known simply as "Sharm", is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in Janub Sina', Egypt, on the coastal strip between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai.
Sharm el-Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's Southern Sinai province which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, Saint Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai. Sharm el-Sheikh is known as The City of Peace referring to the large number of international peace conferences that have been held there.
Geography and history
Sharm el-Sheikh is on a promontory overlooking the Strait of Tiran at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic importance led to its transformation from a fishing village into a major port and naval base for the Egyptian Navy. It was captured by Israel during the Sinai conflict of 1956 and restored to Egypt in 1957. A United Nations peacekeeping force was subsequently stationed there until the 1967 Six-Day War when it was recaptured by Israel and officially renamed Mifratz Shlomo, Hebrew for "Gulf of Solomon"; but the name "Sharm el Sheikh" or "Sharm" stayed in general use. Sharm el-Sheikh remained under Israeli control until the Sinai peninsula was returned to Egypt in 1982.
A hierarchical planning approach was adopted for the Gulf of Aqaba, whereby their components were evaluated and subdivided into zones, cities and centers. In accordance with this approach, the Gulf of Aqaba zone was subdivided into four cities: Taba, Nuweiba, Dahab and Sharm El-Sheikh. Sharm El-Sheikh city has been subdivided into five homogeneous centers namely: Nabq, Ras Nusrani, Naama Bay, Umm Sid and Sharm El Maya. Tourism industry in Sharm El-Sheikh is considered the core of development.
The development in the city offers an exclusive world of luxury and elegance. A fantasy world of space and style is there comprising glamorous low density resorts, exclusive sports' facilities, unparalleled food courts and shopping centers.
The land plan shows that the total area of Sharm El-Sheikh is expected to be about 42 km², in the year 2017. This area is designed to include:
Before 1967, Sharm el-Sheikh was little more than an occasional base of operations for local fishermen; the nearest permanent settlement was in Nabk, north of Ras el-Nasrani ("The Tiran Straits"). Commercial development of the area began during the Israeli presence in the area. The Israelis built the town of Ofira overlooking Sharm el-Maya Bay, and the Nesima area, and opened the first tourist-oriented establishments in the area six kilometers north at Naama Bay. These included a marina hotel on the southern side of the bay, a nature field school on the northern side, diving clubs, a now well-known promenade, and the Naama Bay Hotel.
After the Sinai was restored to Egypt in 1982, the Egyptian government embarked on an initiative to encourage continued development of the city. Foreign investors - some of whom had discovered the potential of the locality during the Israeli occupation - contributed to a spate of building projects. Environmental zoning laws currently limit the height of buildings in Sharm el-Sheikh so as to avoid obscuring the natural beauty of the surroundings.
The city has played host to a number of important Middle Eastern peace conferences, including the September 4, 1999 agreement to restore Palestinian self-rule over the Gaza Strip. A second summit was held at Sharm on October 17, 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but it failed to end the violence. A summit was held on August 3, 2005 in this city on developments in the Arab world such as the situation in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Average temperatures during the winter months (November to March) range from 15 to 35 degrees Celsius and during the summer months (April to October) from 20 to 45 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the Red Sea in this region ranges from 21 to 28 degrees Celsius over the course of the year.
Economy and tourism
Sharm el-Sheikh was formerly a port, but commercial shipping has been greatly reduced as the result of strict environmental laws introduced in the 1990s. Until 1982, there was only a military port in Sharm el-Sheikh, on the northern part of Marsa Bareka. The civilian port development started in the mid 1980s when the Sharem-al-Maya bay became the city's main yacht and service port.
Sharm el-Sheikh's major industry is foreign and domestic tourism, owing to its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and temperate climate and long stretches of natural beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for various watersports, particularly recreational scuba diving and snorkelling which some consider to be among the best in the world. Coral reefs, under water and marine life, unmatched anywhere in the world, offer a spectacular and dazzling time for divers. There is wide room for scientific tourism with diversity in marine life species; 250 different coral reefs and 1000 species of fish.
These natural resources, together with its proximity to European tourism markets, have stimulated the rapid growth of tourism that the region is currently experiencing. Guest nights also increased in that period of time from 16 thousands to 5.1 million. The total number of resorts increased from 3 in 1982 to 91 in 2000. Highly reputable management companies have been attracted to invest in this city such as Hyatt Regency, Accor, Marriott, Le Méridien, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, and others, with categories from three to five stars. Franchises like Hard Rock Cafe can be found in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The night life of Sharm El-Sheikh is also quite attractive. In 2005, Little Buddha, a sushi bar, nightclub, and bar, took the title of having the longest continuous bar in the Middle East. Other popular bars include: Camel Bar, The Tavern, Pirate's Bar, Movenpick Beach, and The Mexican. If dancing is appealing to you, then Sharm has much to offer. Clubs such as The Bus Stop and world renowned Pascha throw parties almost every night of the year.
The colorful handicraft stands of the local Bedouin culture are a popular attraction. Ras Mohammed, at the southern-most tip of the peninsula, has been designated a national park, serving to protect the area's wildlife as well as its natural landscape, shoreline and coral reef. A number of international hotels and noted restaurants are clustered around the centre of Sharm, known as Naama Bay, with golf courses and other leisure facilities further up the coast.
Transportation
Sharm's marina has been redeveloped for private yachts and sailboats, with a passenger terminal for cruise ships and scheduled ferry service to Hurghada and Aqaba.
Ophira Int'l Airport in addition to scheduled flights to Cairo, Hurghada, Luxor, Alexandria and 5 weekly flights to London (Gatwick), Sharm's airport is served by frequent charter flights to Italy, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, among other destinations.
SCUBA and Water Sports
Sharm el-Sheikh has also become a favourite spot for Scuba divers from around the world. Being situated near to the Red Sea, it provides some of the most stunning underwater scenery and warm water making this an ideal place to dive. Visitors of Sharm el-Sheikh can experience a variety of water and activities. Beach seekers find many activities such as diving, snorkeling, wind surfing, para-sailing, boating, and canoeing.
Ras Mohammed is the National Park of South Sinai and located on the very tip of the Sinai Penninsula, it probably represents some of the most famous dive sites in the Red Sea. 800 metre deep reef walls and pounding current on one hand, and on the other, some of the most beautiful coral gardens you can imagine. Diving in Sharm El Sheikh
The Sharm el-Sheikh Hyperbaric Medical Center was founded in 1993 with a grant from USAID by Dr Adel Taher to assist with diving related illnesses and complete the area's reputation as a full-service dive destination.
Disasters
In 1978, a flash flood destroyed most of the shallow reefs in Naama Bay. As the bay was largely undeveloped at the time, there were very few casualties.
On October 5, 1985 an Egyptian soldier, Suleiman Khater opened fire on Israeli tourists and killed seven. Later he died in prison.
On January 3, 2004 a plane crashed into the Red Sea after taking off from Sharm el Sheikh International Airport. The crash resulted in the death of 135 passengers and 13 crew.
On July 23, 2005 three terrorist suicide bomb attacks killed 64 people in the Naama Bay area. See 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks. The targets, two hotels and the 'Old Market', were significant tourist areas and it was feared that visitor numbers would fall following the attack. However, these fears have not been realised and Sharm continues to draw in tourists in increasing numbers.
See also
External links
