Sharm El Sheikh
Currency
EGP
Language
Arabic
Timezone
Cairo
Continent
Africa
Discover Sharm El Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh sits on the southern tip of Sinai, between desert and one of the richest seas in the world. Like Hurghada, it is not a town to sightsee: it is a base. What is singular about it is underwater. Ras Mohammed, twenty kilometres south, is Egypt's oldest national park and one of the most celebrated dive sites on the planet; the Strait of Tiran to the north lines up four reefs in a row. The spots carry names divers know — Ras Umm Sid, Amphoras, the three Gardens. Naama Bay concentrates the hotels and the nightlife; old Sharm and its market are quieter. The Sinai behind offers the desert and Mount Catherine.
When to go
October to May: twenty-five to thirty degrees, water around twenty-three in winter and twenty-eight in summer. June to September passes forty and diving is done early. The sea is divable all year without a thick wetsuit. It effectively never rains — a few millimetres a year. Winds are lighter than at Hurghada, which makes the sea calmer and the heat heavier.
Getting around
Everything is by taxi or hotel shuttle; Naama Bay, Hadaba and old Sharm are a few kilometres apart. Agree the taxi fare first. The airport is eighteen kilometres out. Dive trips leave by boat from the marinas and take the day. The Saint Catherine's Monastery excursion leaves around two in the morning to catch sunrise from Mount Sinai — it is a sleepless night, to be chosen knowingly.
Where to eat
Fish and seafood dominate, often priced by weight. Everyday Egyptian cooking — koshari, ful, taameya, molokheya — is found outside the hotel zones and costs three times less. Seventy-six restaurants are listed, concentrated around Naama Bay. None is tagged halal in our records, though local cooking very largely is.
Good to know
The Egyptian pound is the currency. Sharm has a particular visa arrangement: a stay confined to south Sinai can be made on a free fifteen-day stamp, but visiting Cairo or Luxor requires the full visa — check before booking an excursion. All-inclusive is the norm. Do not touch the coral: it is protected and fines exist. Diving at Ras Mohammed carries a park entry fee, often not included in the advertised price.