Sharm El Sheikh Beyond the Beach

Most people come to Sharm for the sea, and rightly so – but the Sinai has mountains, Bedouin culture and one of the world’s oldest monasteries just behind the hotels. A week here is best split between boat days and land days.

Two boat days you should not skip

Ras Mohammed National Park, at the very tip of the peninsula, has coral walls that drop into deep water and big shoals of fish. Tiran, to the north, has four reefs in a narrow strait with excellent visibility and calmer, easier snorkelling. Do both and you have seen the best of Sinai’s underwater world.

Sunrise on Mount Sinai

If you do one thing on land, make it this. You leave Sharm late in the evening, climb through the night behind a Bedouin guide and reach the summit as the sky turns pink over an endless sea of granite peaks. On the way down you visit St Catherine’s Monastery. It is a long night, but guests tell us it was the moment of their holiday.

Dahab for a slower day

Up the coast, Dahab still feels like the Bedouin fishing village it once was. Snorkel the rim of the Blue Hole, then eat lunch with your feet almost in the water along the bay.

Desert afternoons and a day in Cairo

A quad ride into the wadis behind Sharm with tea at a Bedouin camp makes an easy half day. And if you cannot leave Egypt without seeing the pyramids, the flight to Cairo is only about an hour – our team meets you at the airport and brings you to Giza, where we are based.