Sharm El Sheikh Guide
Planning Your Holiday in Sharm...
Sharm El Sheikh is the most famous tourist resort in Egypt. Located on the southern most tip of the Sinai Peninsular, it is home to some of the world’s best diving spots, National Parks, beaches and an immeasurable number of luxury hotels, bars, pubs, discos, golf courses and casinos.
Orientation
In reality though, no one actually stays in Sharm el Sheikh. The town of Sharm el Sheikh is an uninspiring settlement primarily inhabited by the Egyptian migrant workers that staff the hotels, restaurants and tour operators in the region.
Visitors instead usually base themselves at either one of the two adjacent bays of Sharm El Maya or Naama bay, or they head further north to Shark Bay and Nabq.
It’s these four clusters of development and the many resorts and diving spots that lie between them that comprise the area referred to collectively as Sharm El Sheikh.
Or ‘Sharm’ to its friends.
Naama Bay
Naama Bay is the largest, loudest, and most happening of Sharm’s resorts. It’s where you’ll find the most luxurious hotels, the better nightlife (including the super clubs such as Pasha and Space) and the most people!
The centre of Naama bay lies off Peace Street and includes Sultan Qabous St, King of Bahrain Street and the beach front strip knows as the marina.
The beach here is long and sandy and covered in a multitude of seafood restaurants, chilled out bars, aqua centres and of course, people!
Read the Naama Bay Guide
Sharm El Maya
Sharm El Maya is a pleasant cove of beaches largely privatised by the hotels that occupy them. It’s a cheaper and slightly quieter alternative to Naama Bay and still close enough by taxi to the nightclubs in town if one feels the urge (circa 50LE).
Sharm El Maya is also comprised of the downtown shopping district ‘The Old Market’ and Hadaba, the peaceful suburb located above on the cliffs.
The ferry from Sharm to Hurghada is located just 600m west of Sharm El Maya Bay.
Read the Sharm El Maya Guide
Shark Beach
About 10Km north of Naama, Shark Bay is a secluded crescent of coastline dominated by some of the biggest brands in leisure tourism. There is no public beach here and visitors must be staying at one of the resorts (or on an organised day trip) to use one of the many pools, restaurants or man made terraced beaches here.
Only the Savoy actually has direct access to the sea. Visitors to the other resorts must first cross a floating jetty to reach the water and avoid the coral wall immediately adjacent to the sea shore.
So if it’s sandy beaches you’re after you’d be better off at one of the above. However for an all inclusive, ‘sit by the pool’ style holiday you could do worse that stay at Shark Bay.
Read the Shark Bay Guide
Nabq
Further North still and facing out onto the Straights of Tiran and the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba is the collection of resorts know as Nabq.
Nabq is actually some 10 km from Sharm El Sheikh Airport. Accommodation is cheaper here as the weather can be windier, there are fewer transport connections back to Naama and the beach fronts are variable.
Greater Nabq stretches from these resorts north as far as Dahab city. This has been designated a protected area and includes an abundance of wildlife, quieter coral reefs and the most northerly mangrove forest in the world.
History of Sharm El Sheikh
The foundations for Sharm El Sheikh were laid by the Israelis during their fifteen year occupation of the peninsular. They founded the settlement of Ofira. When Sinai was handed back to the Egyptians in 1982 as a result of the Camp David Accords, the settlement was repopulated by Egyptians, and has continued to grow with some momentum ever since.
