Sharm El Sheikh Travel Guide 2026
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Travel advisory: Egypt carries elevated terrorism warnings, and North Sinai is a genuine do-not-travel zone. But Sharm el-Sheikh itself sits in a well-established carve-out: the UK FCDO calls Red Sea resort travel “generally low risk,” and Canada’s advisory explicitly excludes Sharm from its avoid-travel zone. Fly in rather than overland, and check your own government’s current advisory before you book, since wording changes.
Sharm el-Sheikh sits at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, where the Gulf of Suez meets the Gulf of Aqaba, and it’s Egypt’s flagship Red Sea resort. The draw is almost entirely underwater: Ras Mohammed National Park, the Straits of Tiran, and the SS Thistlegorm wreck put Sharm on most serious divers’ lists, while the resort strip above the waterline runs from the nightlife of Naama Bay to the souk atmosphere of the Old Market. This guide covers the sights, the practical logistics, and the advisory context you actually need before booking.
Sharm el-Sheikh at a glance
| Days needed | 3-5 for diving and beach, +1-2 for day trips |
| Best months | March-May and September-November |
| Daily budget (mid-range) | roughly $50-100/person, resort-dependent |
| Getting in | fly to Sharm el-Sheikh International (SSH); a free Sinai entry permit covers under 15 days in the resort strip |
Diving is the reason to come
Ras Mohammed National Park, established in 1983 as Egypt’s first national park, sits about 12km southwest of town at the Sinai’s tip. Its signature dives, Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef, drop into sheer coral walls, and the Yolanda wreck nearby, a Cypriot freighter that sank in 1980, scattered a cargo of bathroom fixtures across the reef slope that’s become a well-known photo stop. Further out, the Straits of Tiran hold a chain of drift-dive reefs named Jackson, Gordon, Thomas and Woodhouse, prized for strong currents and big pelagic fish. Worth knowing: Tiran and the neighboring island of Sanafir are Saudi Arabian territory today, transferred under a 2016 agreement that Egypt’s parliament ratified in 2017, even though Sharm-based boats still run the Tiran reef circuit daily.
The other headline dive is the SS Thistlegorm, a British armed cargo ship sunk by Luftwaffe bombers on 6 October 1941 in the Straits of Gubal. At around 30m, it’s accessible to recreational divers, and its holds still hold Bedford trucks, BSA and Norton motorcycles, and two steam locomotives blown clear onto the seabed. Jacques Cousteau rediscovered the wreck in the early 1950s, and it’s routinely ranked among the world’s best wreck dives. Closer to shore, the house reefs at Naama Bay, Ras Um Sid, and Shark’s Bay give easier snorkeling and PADI training without the boat ride.
Naama Bay, the Old Market, and the rest of town
Naama Bay is Sharm’s central hub, walkable, with most of the hotels, restaurants, and nightlife concentrated along its promenade. Sharm el-Maya, the Old Market district, is the older, more local end of town: a souk for bargaining, the Al-Sahaba Mosque, and budget fish cafés serving the day’s catch. Soho Square and Il Mercato are Sharm’s entertainment complexes, with restaurants, shops and international chains. North of town, the Nabq Protected Area covers 600 km² and holds the northernmost mangrove stands in the Red Sea, home to over 400 fish species and turtles, sharks and dugongs.
Away from the water, desert excursions are the other big activity category: quad-bike and jeep safaris into the Sinai interior, Bedouin-camp dinners with stargazing, and camel rides. Read more about all of this in our things to do in Sharm el-Sheikh guide.
Day trips worth the drive
Dahab, about 80-90km and roughly 1-1.5 hours northeast, is a laid-back diving town built around the Blue Hole, a 100m-plus sinkhole with a genuinely dangerous reputation, though only for divers attempting its submerged Arch tunnel without technical training; the surrounding reef is safe for ordinary recreational diving. St Catherine’s Monastery and Mount Sinai lie 2.5-3 hours inland, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002 and the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, but this route crosses the Sinai interior, needs the full Egyptian visa rather than the free resort permit, and should only be done on an organized tour. Cairo and Luxor are realistically flight-based add-ons rather than road trips. Our day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh guide breaks down logistics for each.
Visa: the free Sinai permit, explained
If you fly directly into Sharm and stay under 15 days within the Sharm/Dahab/Nuweiba/Taba resort strip, you get a free entry-permission stamp on arrival, no visa required. Leave the strip (for St Catherine, Cairo, or the Nile) or stay longer than 15 days, and you need a full Egyptian e-visa or visa-on-arrival instead (verify current fees before booking, as they shift). Ras Mohammed and Tiran are boat-based day trips that operators commonly treat as staying within the permit zone, but confirm this with your dive shop rather than assuming it.
Money, food, and when to go
The Egyptian pound (EGP) has devalued sharply in recent years, past E£40 to the US dollar by 2025 (verify the current rate before you travel). USD, EUR and cards work fine at resorts, baksheesh of 10-15% is often already added to bills, and bargaining is expected at the Old Market. Tap water isn’t potable. On the menu, expect koshari, ful medames, ta’meya, molokhia and grilled Red Sea seafood, with Om Ali as the classic dessert; pork isn’t actually sold here even when a menu lists it, it’s typically salted beef instead.
Summer (June-August) runs past 37°C and is genuinely tough going; spring and autumn are the comfortable windows, and winter brings warm days, cooler nights, and a wind locals call the shimal, with sea temperatures around 21-22°C that call for a wetsuit even though the air feels mild.
For the day-by-day version, see our 5-day Sharm el-Sheikh itinerary , and for where to base yourself, our best places to stay guide covers each district’s trade-offs.
One concrete tip: book your Ras Mohammed or Thistlegorm dive trip a day or two ahead in peak season rather than walking up, and confirm with the operator whether the boat departs from your resort’s own marina or a shared one further along the strip.