Guide to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

The taxi driver waiting outside arrivals will quote you 600 Egyptian pounds for the 13-kilometer, 25-minute run to Naama Bay. The fair local rate is closer to 350. This is the single most predictable overcharge in the whole town, and it happens to nearly everyone stepping off a plane for the first time, so agree a number before the bags go in the trunk, or better, book the transfer through your hotel in advance for a fixed price. Uber doesn’t operate here, so unlike Cairo you can’t just default to an app to dodge the haggling.

Why people actually come here

The Red Sea drops off into a wall of coral just offshore, which is the whole draw. Ras Mohammed National Park, at the southern tip where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Gulf of Suez, has some of the best accessible reef diving on the planet, Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef among the standout sites. Entry to the park itself is a modest cash-only fee at the gate, plus a small road toll of about 25 pounds for private vehicles en route, and the park runs sunrise to sunset. Go early. Boats stack up by mid-morning and the light for underwater visibility is best before 10am.

Na’ama Bay is not the whole town

Na’ama Bay is the tourist core, restaurants, dive shops, water sports operators, and the old souk nearby for spices and souvenirs, but treat it as a base rather than the destination. If you want a quieter, more local stretch of coastline, Sharks Bay to the north has fewer crowds and easier shore diving straight off the beach, no boat needed. The old market rewards actual bargaining, start at roughly a third of the asking price and work up, it’s expected and not rude.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is a full day, not a side trip

People underestimate this one. It’s about 140 kilometers and 2.5 to 3.5 hours each way by road, so it’s realistically a full-day excursion, not something you bolt onto another activity. Most tours leave Sharm in the small hours, start the Mount Sinai climb around 2am to catch sunrise from the summit, then visit the monastery itself afterward. It’s one of the oldest continuously operating Christian monasteries in the world, and worth the early wake-up, but book through a licensed operator and confirm the itinerary actually includes both the summit and the monastery, since some budget tours quietly drop one or the other.

Where to eat

Skip chasing “international cuisine” restaurants that pad every hotel strip; they’re rarely worth the markup. Look instead for a proper Egyptian meal, grilled fish or seafood tagine at one of the beachside spots along Sharks Bay, or a simple koshari or ful medames stall away from the resort corridor for a fraction of the price. A sunset boat trip with a barbecue dinner is touristy but genuinely pleasant once, mostly for watching the sun drop over the water rather than the food itself.

Where to stay

Naama Bay puts you in the middle of restaurants and nightlife but pay attention to which resorts actually front a real beach versus a marina view, since not every hotel with “beachfront” in its marketing sits on swimmable sand. Nabq Bay, further north, has quieter all-inclusive resorts and better reef access directly offshore, at the cost of being a longer, pricier taxi ride from anywhere else, expect 300 to 400 pounds each way into town. If diving is your main reason for the trip, staying near Sharks Bay puts you within walking distance of some of the best shore entry points on this coast.

Things worth knowing

The currency is the Egyptian pound; carry cash for the market, taxis, and small vendors, since card acceptance thins out fast once you’re away from hotel front desks. Modest dress matters at the monastery and in the souk, cover shoulders and knees, even though swimwear is fine on the beach and around hotel pools. Temperatures swing hard by season, from the high teens Celsius in winter nights to well over 40 in July and August, so if you’re not there purely for diving and sun, shoulder season (spring or autumn) is a far more comfortable window. Watch for fake excursion sellers working the airport arrivals area and hotel lobbies pushing “today only” diving or desert safari deals at inflated prices; book through your hotel desk or a licensed agency instead, and you’ll pay less for the same trip.

Bring reef-safe sunscreen specifically. The marine park has tightened rules around coral protection, and some dive operators now check before you get in the water.