WHAT'S GOOD IN SHARM EL-SHEIKH?

UNFORGETTABLE UNDERWATER EXPERIENCE

but first... book your hotel!
We know it's hard to decide, so here are a few suggestions for you. It won't be a decision that consists only of your room. So make sure that the hotel has its own "beach". Being close to the sea is also important. Whether you are traveling alone, traveling with family or with friends, these factors are important in every way. We wanted to share with you the three best hotels according to the hotels we stayed and our travel friends stayed at. Be sure to check out other options, but these are the top 3 hotels of our group: 

1. Rixos Premium Seagate
2. Continental Plaza Beach Resort
3. Park Regency Sharm El Sheikh Resort

There may not be Wi-Fi in your hotel room and they can direct you to the free Wi-Fi in the lobby (for this option, you need to spend time in the rest areas in the lobby or in the cafe-restaurant section close to the lobby, but you may encounter a crowd as other guests naturally do the same thing). So... After you get your luggage at the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, you will see the stand of operators for example: "Etisalat" etc. Do not ignore this possibility. It is especially important for those who will stay for a long time so you must be prepared. 

P.S. You will always see male employees in hotels, from cleaning services to hotel services. In there, women do not work in the service sector, and a woman's being in the service sector is perceived as an insult by family members or her husband. If a woman wants to get education, she gets, if she wants to work, she works, for example, in the administrative staff in accounting or in the education sector, but not in the service sector. Thanks for this information to our guide Elmira!

We've taken care of everything, so let's start exploring!

• Boat Tour: 
  Be sure to experience the Boat Tour, and choose the options that include Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve and White Island tours! While participating on the Boat Tour, when you arrive at the marina from your hotel, they are asked if you want to dive while you are waiting there in groups, and accordingly, they take you to a store where you can get your diving or snorkeling equipment. You don't need to buy (of course you can if you want) but you just need to say your hotel name and your room number. These materials are usually included in your boat tour fee. There are stands in the hotel lobbies that offer you tour options, if you are on an individual trip, you can register with one of them.
  
  
  
• Diving:
  Not good at diving? Don't worry, you don't need to be highly trained for this, you just need to know how to swim. Diving instructors show you a few tricks, for example, after informing you about marking and your clothes, you can easily dive with an instructor and photographer. (Yes with a photographer, if you want underwater photos and videos. They forward files to your device or to your e-mail.)
  
  

• Scuba Diving or Snorkeling:
  Be sure to experience both! Seeing underwater world up close is a miraculous experience. In the other, it is quite enjoyable to swim as a team with snorkeling and watch the underwater world. On boat tours, even if you can swim, the team leader takes one of the safety buoy and asks you to hold one of the 5-6 ropes around it so that you don't get too tired to struggle with the waves while snorkeling. If you say you can swim well, you don't need to wear a life jacket, but if you say at the same time that you don't want to struggle with the waves, you can wear a life jacket. Thus, groups of 5-6 people gathered around the safety buoy enjoy watching the submarine by snorkeling around the boat. Team leaders guide you carefully about coral reefs. While you are focusing on the underwater world, sometimes you cannot pay attention to the surroundings, so they are at the head of the teams.
  

Best options if you want to do a Night Tour or Shopping:

1. Na'ama Bay: Na'ama Bay (خليج نعمة) is a natural bay in Sharm El-Sheikh resort and is considered the main hub for tourists in the city, as it is famous for its cafes, restaurants, hotels, and bazaars.
2. Soho Square: Soho is a complete outdoor shopping and restaurant areas. You can find water shows, ice cream shops, restaurants, flower sculptures, open-air cinema...
   
3. Old Egypt: On one side, camel riders on the street, on the other, a magnificent mosque (Al Sahaba Mosque) and shopping places around it. 

If you want to buy souvenirs, prices in Soho are expensive compared to other places. And... you may be surprised at this, after we bought the souvenirs from Soho and Old Egypt, we realized that they are cheaper at the airport on the way back. It was definitely a surprise for us, buying the same thing more expensive when you can get it cheaper... Therefore, do not focus on the first place you go, investigate the prices. However, we would like to point out that we have received wonderful coffee mugs and souvenirs from Old Egypt :)

Are you hungry? You should definitely try the seafood soup and kushari (koshary)! Fares Seafood Restaurant is our recommendation!

• Next destination: Nabq Bay! Nabq is the less crowded area of Sharm el Sheikh, consisting mainly of hotels and beaches where you can swim surrounded by fish or dive off the coral reef. 
  
  
  

• Sharm El-Sheikh Museum:
  You can find our article about the Sharm El-Sheikh Museum here.
  https://www.artandtownmagazine.com/2022/07/sharm-el-sheikh-cop27-and-its-museum.html
  

The prices for the extra tours we participated in were like these, as examples:

• City Tours, 4pm to 9pm, adult fee $35, child fee $20 (per person).
• Desert Safari, $50 per person, $25 per child. (8am-4pm)
• Boat trip Ras Mohammed tour and diving, $50 per person, $25 per child. (8am-5pm)
• Only dive focused tour $65 (8am-5pm)
• Diving, safari, excursion in the Sinai Peninsula tour called "Lost Land", $105 per person, $55 for children. (5:30am-8pm)

This is the city of COP27 this year, as you know... Most of the city is under construction and reconstruction areas. However, it is one of the routes you should definitely come to see especially in the summer!

All photos belong to us.
*It is not an advertisement or a collaboration, it consists of our travel notes.