Day Trips from Sharm el-Sheikh

October 31, 2026

Travel advice, as of October 2026: The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to North Sinai and against all but essential travel to parts of northern South Sinai away from the coast, while describing the southern Sinai Red Sea resorts as generally low risk. It warns that the regional picture is volatile. The roads to Dahab, Nuweiba and St Catherine pass checkpoints, so carry your passport and travel in daylight with an organised operator. Check the FCDO advice for Egypt before you book.

Sharm el-Sheikh sits at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, and every day trip from it means a long drive or a boat. The distances below are by road from the resort strip, and the free entry stamp from Sharm airport covers the resort area only. Ask your operator about visa rules, and get a full visa for anything that goes inland to St Catherine or beyond. A visa on arrival costs 30 US dollars in cash.

Dahab and the Blue Hole

Dahab is about 80 to 95 km from Sharm, which is 1 hour 15 minutes to 1.5 hours by road. It is a relaxed diving and windsurf town with a lighthouse reef and a seafront promenade. The Blue Hole is the diving site nearby. Its entrance is a reef saddle at about 6 metres, and the sinkhole beyond it is just over 100 metres deep. Snorkellers and recreational divers stay in the saddle and the reef bowl. The Arch, with its roof at about 55 to 56 metres, is a technical dive for divers qualified to Tech 60, and a policeman checks guides. Deaths at the site have been numerous, with estimates running from about 130 between 1997 and 2012 up to 200. Never freedive or swim through the Arch.

St Catherine’s Monastery and Mount Sinai

This is a full day, about 220 to 230 km and roughly three hours each way. The monastery is a Greek Orthodox foundation inside the UNESCO-listed Saint Catherine Area, inscribed in 2002. It is open in the mornings only and closed on Sundays and on major Orthodox feast days, so check the day. Entry is free. The summit of Mount Sinai needs a licensed Bedouin guide. The two routes are the Camel Path and the 3,750 Steps of Repentance, and the climb takes three to four hours up, usually before dawn. This is a sacred place for several faiths, so dress modestly and keep your voice low. Quads never go there. Visitor centre and hotel works at the site have been reported as nearly complete with no opening date.

Ras Mohammed National Park

The park is about 20 to 35 km from Sharm, depending on the gate, and suits a half or full day. Egypt’s first national park was established in 1983 and covers about 480 square km. It is on UNESCO’s Tentative List, not the World Heritage list. Visitors may not fish, collect or touch marine life, and boats anchor only at set points. The fee is roughly 5 to 8 US dollars per person.

Nabq Protected Area

Nabq is about 35 km north of town and holds the northernmost mangroves on the Red Sea, made up of Avicennia marina. The reserve also carries Bedouin El Mezina heritage, and the wreck of the Maria Schroeder lies about 100 metres off the shore of the reserve. Part of the route needs a 4x4, and fees vary, so confirm with the operator.

Colored Canyon

Colored Canyon is near Nuweiba, around 190 to 210 km from Sharm and 2.5 to 3.5 hours each way. It is an 8 to 12 hour jeep day, usually combined with Dahab or St Catherine. Its walls rise to about 40 metres.

Cairo and Luxor are not day trips

Both are reached by air and need a full visa. See multi-day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh for how to plan them.

Search for guided day trips on GetYourGuide or Viator . The UNESCO Tentative List entry describes Ras Mohammed.