Discover Sharm El Sheikh Area

Sharm El Sheikh area beaches & reef

Come to Sharm for the reef and the beach becomes a second-order question — but it's still one worth asking carefully, because the coral that makes this coast famous also shapes how you get into the water. Across most of the Sharm bays the shoreline isn't a soft sandy lagoon at all but a living reef flat, and that's precisely why the snorkelling is so good so close in. Many hotels solve the entry with a wooden jetty or boardwalk that carries you out over the shallow coral to a ladder at the drop-off, where you slip straight into deep, clear water above the wall. It's a wonderful way to swim, but it does mean the classic “walk in off the sand” beach is rarer here than on the mainland, so we always match the shore to who's travelling.

The bays that keen snorkellers should have at the top of the list are Sharks Bay and the smaller reefs around the old town, along with the best of Ras Nasrani — these are the frontages where the house reef is in genuinely fine condition and the wall drops away busy with life just beyond the boardwalk. Our inspection routine on every one is the same: we check whether the reef entry is by ladder or a scramble, whether the corals near the ladder are alive or scuffed bare, and how the hotel manages its guests over the reef, because a well-run house reef with a marked swim channel and a no-touch rule is a treasure, and a badly run one gets loved to death in a season. Reef shoes are non-negotiable here, and a good rash vest saves both your skin and the coral from contact.

Families who want the reassurance of a sandy paddle are better pointed to the wider frontages of Nabq Bay, where the shore is sandier and the shallow lagoon gentler for small children — the trade-off being that the best coral there sits further out, reached by boardwalk or on a boat trip. Wherever you stay, the marquee days are on the water: the reefs of the Straits of Tiran and the marine park at Ras Mohammed are among the finest in the world, and they're the reason a great many people choose this coast in the first place.

Things to do around the Sharm El Sheikh area

Diving and snorkelling headline the days, and Sharm is one of the world's great bases to learn: the calm, warm, shallow reefs make it an ideal place to take a first PADI course, and there are dozens of reputable dive centres to do it with. Non-divers aren't left on the sunbed either — glass-bottom boats, sea-safari day trips, dolphin excursions and easy snorkelling cruises to Tiran open the reef to everyone. On land, the desert is the great counterweight to the sea: quad-bike and buggy safaris across the Sinai flats, camel treks, Bedouin barbecues under the stars and some of the clearest stargazing you'll find, with the mountains blotting out the light.

The signature excursion, though, is the overnight pilgrimage up Mount Sinai to watch dawn break from the summit, with the ancient St Catherine's Monastery visited at the foot — a genuinely moving day out that stays with people. Naama Bay handles the evenings, its promenade packed with restaurants, shisha cafes, a buzzing bazaar and the liveliest nightlife on the Egyptian Red Sea, while the modern SOHO Square offers a calmer, fountain-lit alternative for a family stroll and a meal.

Ras Mohammed, the Straits of Tiran & the Sinai dive sites

If there's a single reason the diving world holds Sharm in such reverence, it's the water at either end of the peninsula's tip. Ras Mohammed National Park, where the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba meet just south of town, is a marine reserve of sheer coral walls, Shark and Yolanda reefs and the famous Anemone City, plumbing depths that draw shoals of jacks and barracuda and the odd reef shark — regularly rated among the best dive sites on the planet, and a spectacular snorkel over its shallow gardens too. It's a protected park, so trips run to strict rules, which is exactly why the reef is still in the condition it is.

North of town, the Straits of Tiran guard four legendary reefs — Jackson, Woodhouse, Thomas and Gordon — strung across the channel between Sinai and Tiran Island, where the current sweeps big pelagic life past walls of soft coral. A day boat out to Tiran is one of the great Red Sea outings whether you dive or simply snorkel the shallower gardens, and the water clarity on a good day is astonishing. Closer in, the reefs off the old town and the local bays give shore-diving and easy boat dives for every level, and Sharm's dive centres run the full ladder from a first try-dive to technical training. Our standing advice is to choose your operator on reputation, not price: ask us who we rate, dive within your limits and your training, always follow the marine-park briefings to the letter, and if you'll dive make certain your travel insurance covers it, decompression treatment included. Handled with respect, this is world-class water; handled carelessly, it's fragile, and the difference is entirely in how the trip is run.