Sharm El Sheikh: Photo Spots
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The best camera you own in Sharm el-Sheikh is probably a dive housing, not a phone, but there’s a genuine mix of underwater and above-water shots worth planning around here.
Six spots at a glance
| Spot | Best time | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ras Mohammed’s coral walls | Before 10am | Underwater, best visibility early |
| Naama Bay promenade | Sunset | Free, no boat needed |
| Old Market | After dark | Lit stalls, ask before photographing people |
| Mount Sinai summit | Sunrise | Overnight climb, advisory-sensitive route |
| St Catherine’s Monastery | Daytime, respectfully | 6th-century architecture, working monastery |
| Colored Canyon | Midday | Striped sandstone reads best in direct light |
Ras Mohammed’s reef, before the boats stack up
Ras Mohammed’s coral walls, especially around Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef, are the underwater shot this destination is actually known for, and light quality drops fast once boats stack up mid-morning. Go early, before 10am, for the clearest visibility, and if the Yolanda wreck’s scattered bathroom-fixture cargo is still where photos online show it, ask your guide, storms have shifted and buried pieces of it over the decades.
Naama Bay’s promenade at sunset
Naama Bay is Sharm’s central hub, and its seafront promenade catches good light at sunset over the water, free, no boat or entry fee required. It’s an easy add to any evening, whether or not you’ve spent the day diving.
The Old Market, lit and after dark
The Old Market’s stalls and lanes read best once the lights come on in the evening, spices, textiles and the renovated Al-Sahaba Mosque’s Ottoman-style architecture all photograph well after dark. Ask permission before photographing vendors or other visitors directly, standard courtesy that also tends to get you a friendlier response.
Mount Sinai’s summit at sunrise, if the trip already fits your plans
Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), 2,285m, delivers a genuinely dramatic sunrise shot from the summit after an overnight climb via the camel path or the “3,750 Steps of Repentance.” This is the one photo op on this list that comes with real logistics attached: it crosses the Sinai interior, so it’s organized-tour-only, needs a full Egyptian e-visa rather than the free resort-strip entry permit, and is worth checking your government’s current Sinai advisory before booking, even though the Sharm resort strip itself remains a well-established exception to that advisory.
St Catherine’s Monastery, respectfully
St Catherine’s Monastery, built 548-565 AD under Justinian I, is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, and its Byzantine architecture and setting around the traditional Burning Bush site are worth the frame. It’s also a working monastery and a site sacred to three faiths, so shoot respectfully, and expect restrictions in some interior areas.
The Colored Canyon’s striped walls
The Colored Canyon, near Nuweiba, up to 40m tall and striped red, pink and orange by mineral deposits, photographs best in direct midday light when the colors read clearest against the shadowed canyon walls. It’s usually bundled into a broader Sinai desert-safari day, so plan your camera settings for a quick window rather than an unhurried shoot.
For the fuller day-trip planning behind Mount Sinai and the Colored Canyon, see our day trips guide ; our things to do guide covers the reef sites in more depth. Browse an underwater photography-focused dive trip if you want a guide who’ll position you for the shot rather than just the dive.
One concrete move: if you only have one underwater camera day, spend it at Ras Mohammed before 10am rather than saving it for a later, more crowded slot. The light and the visibility both favor an early start more than any other single factor on this list.