Sharm El Sheikh Travel Tips 2026
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Travel advisory: North Sinai is a do-not-travel zone, and the South Sinai interior beyond the St Catherine-Nuweiba-El Tor road carries an “all but essential” warning. Sharm el-Sheikh and the Red Sea resort strip sit outside both zones and are treated as normal, low-risk tourism, provided you fly in and stay within the coastal strip. Check your own government’s current advisory before booking, wording changes over time.
These are the practical and etiquette tips that actually matter for a first Sharm el-Sheikh trip, beyond the generic “drink bottled water” advice.
The free Sinai entry permit
Fly directly into Sharm and stay under 15 days within the Sharm/Dahab/Nuweiba/Taba resort strip, and you get a free entry-permission stamp on arrival, no visa needed. Leave the strip (St Catherine, Cairo, the Nile) or stay longer, and you need a full Egyptian e-visa instead. Confirm with your operator whether a specific excursion, especially St Catherine, counts as leaving the zone before you book it.
Money and bargaining
The Egyptian pound has devalued sharply, running past E£40 to the US dollar by 2025 (verify the current rate before you travel). USD, EUR and cards work fine at resorts, and a 10-15% service charge is often already added to restaurant bills. Bargaining is expected and normal at the Old Market, not at fixed-price supermarkets or malls, and be skeptical of anyone offering an unsolicited “free gift” as an opener.
Dress code depends on where you are
Swimwear and alcohol are normal within resort grounds. Off-resort, at the Old Market, mosques or local neighborhoods, dress more modestly, shoulders and knees covered, consistent with Egypt’s broader conservative social norms. Friday is the Muslim holy day and weekly day of rest, worth knowing when planning around local business hours.
Water, food, and a pork myth worth knowing
Tap water isn’t potable, stick to bottled water throughout your stay. Pork isn’t actually sold in Sharm even when a menu lists it, “pork” on a menu is typically salted beef instead. Mild stomach upset is a common complaint among visitors, so be a little cautious with unrefrigerated salads and fresh juices if you’re not confident in a venue’s storage standards.
Getting around
Taxis are the default way to get around and are widely available, but meters are unreliable in practice, so agree the fare before you get in. Microbuses are a cheaper local option, and fixed-route tuk-tuks run north-south through town. Most visitors stay resort-based rather than renting a car, and that’s genuinely the easier way to do it here.
Reef and sun safety
Don’t touch or stand on coral, currents can be strong at drift-dive sites like the Straits of Tiran and Ras Mohammed, and stonefish and lionfish are present on popular wrecks like the Thistlegorm, follow your dive guide’s briefing. Summer heat runs past 37°C, genuinely serious for anyone not spending most of the day in water, so sun protection and hydration aren’t just boilerplate advice here.
For the fuller sights and diving picture, our main Sharm el-Sheikh guide ties all of this together, and our best day trips guide covers the advisory-sensitive routes like St Catherine in more depth.
One concrete tip: keep a printed or offline copy of your entry permit or visa details. Connectivity isn’t always reliable away from resort Wi-Fi, and having the paperwork on hand rather than in an email you can’t load saves genuine hassle at a checkpoint or the airport.