Best Rated Attractions in Sharm el-Sheikh
Introduction
Best Rated Attractions in Sharm el-Sheikh – Surrounded by a crystal-clear, deep-blue sea and a breathtaking desert landscape, Sharm el-Sheikh has developed into one of Egypt’s most popular holiday destinations. Come here to relax in one of the many well-developed tourist resorts or dive at the area’s unique coral reefs. But’ Sharm’ is far more than just a resort town. It is also an ideal spot to discover authentic Egyptian culture and travel to neighboring historic sites such as Mount Sinai. Even if you do not want to spend your entire holiday on stunning Red Sea beaches, there are plenty of reasons to come here. Sharm gives you a taste of real Egyptian life and culture and serves as a base from which to visit some historic sites. Its crystal-clear water and unique sea life have also made Sharm one of the finest diving spots in the world.
Sharm el-Sheikh is the Sinai Peninsula’s major tourism center and one of the world’s top diving destinations. The underwater tourist attractions of the Red Sea – particularly the waters of the Ras Mohammed Marine Park just south of town – put “Sharm” center-stage on Sinai’s tourism map in the first place. For anyone planning an Egypt diving holiday, this is one of the best places to visit in the country. This is also one of Egypt’s best destinations if you just want to chill out on the beach. Non-divers will find plenty of land-based things to do, as Sharm is a day-tripping distance to many of the Sinai Peninsula’s historical and natural attractions. It’s a particular favorite for family-friendly holidays due to the excellent facilities. Whether you’re here for the sand or the sea life, Sharm el-Sheikh is an excellent choice for a beach break after exploring the temples and tombs in the rest of the country.
Plan your trip with our list of the top attractions and things to do in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Things to Do in Sharm el-Sheikh
Explore Ras Mohammed National Park
Ras Mohammed National Park is what put Sharm el-Sheikh on the tourist map. Surrounded by some of the world’s most incredible dive sites, this peninsula, 38 kilometers south of Sharm, is home to glorious beaches with excellent snorkeling just offshore, the world’s second most northerly mangrove forest, and a saltwater lake. While diving trips concentrate on the offshore reefs, land-based day trips to Ras Mohammed explore the peninsula’s desert environment and beaches with swim and snorkel stops along the way. The best beaches are Old Quay Beach (with its top-notch coral reef easily reached from the shore) and Aqaba Beach. Travelers seeking a good view should head to the Shark Observatory cliff top on the southern edge of Ras Mohammed, where views stretch across both sides of the Red Sea.
Monastery of St. Catherine
Nestled at the foot of Mount Sinai, the monastery was built for Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565 AD. It later took the name of St. Catherine of Alexandria, whose remains are buried there. Today, the monastery houses a priceless collection of art pieces, including religious ornaments, beautiful mosaics, and a vast collection of illuminated manuscripts. The Sinai Peninsula’s top historical destination, St. Catherine’s Monastery, sits at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. One of the oldest working monasteries in the world, this Greek Orthodox hermitage is home to the famous “burning bush” of the Old Testament, as well as a museum showcasing some of the monastery’s glittering collection of religious icons and ancient manuscripts that is revered as one of the finest in the world. The monastery is 209 kilometers northwest of Sharm el-Sheikh, within the Sinai’s barren mountainous interior. Group tours from Sharm are offered as overnight trips, including the hike up Mt. Sinai for sunrise and as early morning departures to visit the monastery.
Climb Mt. Sinai
Inland from the sun-drenched beaches of the coast, the Sinai’s rugged, mountainous heart is rawly beautiful. For a taster of this craggy landscape, head 209 kilometers inland from Sharm el-Sheikh to hike up to the summit of Mt. Sinai to see an expanse of orange-hued peaks rippling out before you. Revered by all three of the major monotheistic faiths as the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments, the summit hike is a pilgrimage for many people (and usually combined with a visit to St. Catherine’s Monastery, which sits at the trailhead for the hike). There are two main trails up to the top. The Camel Trail is a well-worn switchback path, while the Steps of Repentance is a more complex but scenic set of stone-cut staircases carved out by one of the monastery’s monks. From Sharm el-Sheikh, most tours travel overnight to reach the trailhead in the wee hours so that the hike up the Camel Trail is completed in the excellent dark hours, and the summit is reached in time to watch the sunrise over the surrounding peaks.
Tiran Island
This beautiful island, located in the Gulf of Aqaba between Sharm El Sheikh and Saudi Arabia, boasts stunning coral reefs and lagoons, making it the perfect paradise for snorkelers and divers. To get there, you can catch a boat from the southern side of Naama Bay.
Nabq National Park
This impressive natural reserve comprises 600 square kilometers, boasting a diverse animal and plant life. Here, you can see Nubian ibexes, foxes, gazelles, and other fascinating species. Just to the north of Sharm el-Sheikh (around 20 kilometers from the central Naama Bay area), Nabq Protectorate is a coastal desert landscape of arid beauty and home to the world’s most northerly mangrove forest. The landscape inside this nature reserve is a vista of dunes, lonely beaches, and arak bushes, and it’s one of Egypt’s most important protected wilderness sites, with a vast amount of birdlife, as well as endemic gazelles and ibexes. For snorkelers, the beaches here offer pristine reefs easily accessed from the shore, while inland, this is also a good area for hiking and cycling trips.
Shop at Sharm Old Market
Sharm Old Market (also known as Sharm al-Maya) is the town’s souq (bazaar) area, where twinkling Arabic lamps, traditional shisha pipes, and finely engraved woodwork can be found in abundance. It’s best to come at sunset or later, when the worst heat of the day has dissipated, and you can shop and browse in comfort. The area is also full of cheap and cheerful restaurants and cafés, so it’s an excellent place to spend the entire evening. This is one of the best areas in Sharm el-Sheikh to seek out classic Egyptian cooking, as the restaurants of the resort areas focus on more international fare. Head here for traditional café life, complete with shisha and Arabic coffee. On the edge of the market area is the new Al-Sahaba Mosque with an imposing facade that cherry-picks influences from Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman mosque styles.
Ice Skating
It may sound strange, but Sharm does have its own ice skating spots, like the El Salam Ice Skating at Concord El Salam Hotel. Come here to show off your ice skating skills and let your kids have a good time.
Scramble around the Colored Canyon
The swirling mineral-rich layered rock formations of the aptly named Colored Canyon are one of the Sinai’s top out-of-the-water natural attractions. The canyon, 177 kilometers north of Sharm el-Sheikh, showcases the natural beauty of the desert, carved out of by millennia of wind and water whittling away the rock. There are plenty of opportunities for visitors to scramble along the canyon path, accessing the rose-pink striped interior of the rock face. For nature lovers, this is one of Sharm el-Sheikh’s top days out, and exploring the bizarrely shaped pinnacles and boulders, which have been brushed with shimmering red and orange hues, offers some fantastic photography opportunities. Wear walking shoes with decent tread if you want to visit, and bring along plenty of water.
Diving
Dive the Thistlegorm Wreck
Thomas Reef
Thomas Reef is the most miniature reef in the Straits of Tiran and is renowned for its abundant soft coral gardens. Dive trips here are usually part of a boat day trip, including one of the other Straits of Tiran Reefs – most often the neighboring Gordon Reef. Due to the site’s strong currents, diving here is recommended for experienced divers. It’s also a popular site with technical divers, as advanced divers can explore the deep “three arches” area. Plenty of fish life, including clownfish, pufferfish, and giant moray eels, can be spied while drift-diving along the site, and the rainbow-colored soft and branching corals are among the most pristine and vivid in the Red Sea.
Jolanda Reef Site
Jolanda Reef (also called Yolanda Reef) is one of the most popular dive sites in the Ras Mohammed Marine Park area. Dive trips here (accessed by boat from Sharm el-Sheikh) usually include Shark Reef, making this a two-for-one deal with a kaleidoscope of fish life and corals to be seen. Jolanda Reef is home to the wreck of the Jolanda, an old Cypriot freighter ship carrying a cargo of bathroom porcelain when it ran aground on the reef in 1980. As well as the highlight of exploring the wreck site, the steep, rainbow-colored coral walls of Shark Reef that lead to the wreck and Jolanda Reef’s coral garden plateau are prime sea life spotting destinations. Scorpionfish, crocodilefish, turtles, moray eels, and barracuda are all regularly spotted by divers here.
Gardens Sites
At the northern end of Naama Bay, the Gardens Reefs stretch out just offshore from the coast. This reef system is three different snorkeling and diving sites called Near Garden, Middle Garden, and Far Garden that both the shore and by boat can access. If you want to snorkel, Near Garden is the best (and easiest) site to access and is home to some fantastic coral pinnacles with plenty of flitting clownfish and butterfly fish in residence. Far Garden and Middle Garden are often used as dive sites for beginners learning to dive, and they provide an excellent taste of what the Sharm el-Sheikh area offers.
Jackson Reef
The Straits of Tiran, in the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba, are home to some of Sharm el-Sheikh’s prime dive sites for experienced divers, and Jackson Reef is usually on most diver’s lists to cross off on a Sharm vacation. This is the most northerly reef in the Straits of Tiran group, and it’s known for being one of the top spots in the area for hammerhead sharks and manta ray sightings. The reef is home to a plethora of soft and hard coral gardens, and advanced divers can also explore the wreck of the freighter Lara, which ran aground in 1981
Wreck Dive the Dunraven Site
The SS Dunraven had been traveling from Mumbai (then Bombay) back to the UK when it hit the reef and sank just off the Sinai Peninsula’s tip in 1876. Today, this 80-meter steamship, torn in two pieces on the sea floor, is home to many fish, which have made their home within the barnacle-encrusted hull. Divers here regularly spot big schools of colorful reef fish, with cardinalfish, goatfish, scorpionfish, and pipefish all patrolling the area. The boat trip to the dive site takes two hours from Sharm eI-Sheikh, so the Dunraven is often combined as either a day trip with one of the dive sites in the Ras Mohammed Marine Park area or as a stop along the way on an overnight liveaboard trip to dive the Thistlegorm wreck.
Blue Hole
The Sinai’s most notorious dive site is the Blue Hole, just north of Dahab and 100 kilometers north of Sharm el-Sheikh. This sinkhole’s infamy is due to the number of lives it has claimed, but all the deaths that have happened here are due to divers diving beyond the normal recreation diving limits. Despite the site’s reputation for danger, divers who stick within sensible limits are perfectly safe here, and the fish life and incredible vistas of ethereal blue below make this a fantastic dive. As the Blue Hole can be accessed from the shore, it’s also a popular snorkeling spot, with plenty of fish life to see flitting near the surface if you don’t fancy heading into the depths.
Bays & Beaches
Naama Bay
Naama Bay is the epicenter of Sharm el-Sheikh’s resort life, fringed by a white-sand beach and swaying palm trees. There are plentiful restaurants, cafés, and souvenir stores if you get bored of the sand, but Naama Bay is all about the beach. A pedestrian-only promenade rims the entire beach area, backed by a cluster of luxury and mid-range resorts. Naama Bay is one of Egypt’s top choices for those looking for a holiday full of sloth-like sunbathing. The entire beach area has excellent facilities, including ample sunshades and loungers, and the beachside cafés mean you don’t have to move from your patch of sandy bliss all day. Note that the entire sweep of the beach here is sectioned into separate areas owned and run by the hotels, with complimentary access for resort guests. When choosing your Naama Bay accommodation, especially if it’s not beachfront, always check what beach access they provide
Ras Um Sid Beach
One of Sharm el-Sheikh’s best snorkeling destinations is Ras Um Sid Beach, right at the southern tail of the town, near the lighthouse. Here, people recline on the beach or at the café on the cliff above between snorkeling trips into the water, where an excellent coral reef is just offshore and so easily accessed by non-divers. Farther away from the sand, Ras Um Sid Reef is perfect for first-time forays into diving and is used as a try-dive site by many local dive operators. If you’re just here for the snorkeling, though, there is still plenty of variety of reef fish to see closer to the shore.
Shark’s Bay
One of Sharm el-Sheikh’s newer resort development areas, Shark’s Bay, sits 11 kilometers north of Naama Bay. The vibe here is slightly more exclusive, with some of Sharm’s most luxurious five-star resorts and hotels clustered around Shark Bay’s sweep of sand. As with Naama Bay, the beach areas are run by individual hotels, which means facilities are well-kept, and restaurants and cafés are right on the sand. The snorkeling right off the shore is also good here. Behind the beach, the focus of Shark’s Bay life is the Soho Square Center, which includes some of Sharm el-Sheikh’s top restaurant and café choices and shops. Shark’s Bay resort guests often choose to move from this northern section of Sharm for their entire vacation.
