6 Days in Sharm El Sheikh
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Travel advisory: Sharm el-Sheikh and the Red Sea resort strip are explicitly excepted from the Sinai’s do-not-travel zones and treated as normal, low-risk tourism, provided you fly in. Day 5 below crosses into the Sinai interior, which carries its own “all but essential” caution and needs the full Egyptian visa, so read that section carefully and check current guidance before booking. Check your own government’s current advisory throughout.
Six days adds an inland day to the diving-and-Dahab spine, St Catherine’s Monastery, the one genuinely interior excursion on this list. For a coastal-only trip, use the 5-day itinerary instead; for the full week, see the 7-day version .
Day 1: Arrival and Naama Bay
Land at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport (SSH) and taxi to your resort, agree the fare first, roughly EGP 150-300 for a Naama Bay run (verify). Settle in at the beach or pool, then dinner on Naama Bay’s promenade, budget EGP 300-500 per person (verify).
Concrete tip: exchange cash to EGP on day one, taxis and vendors want pounds even where resort restaurants take cards.
Day 2: Ras Mohammed National Park
A day-boat trip to Ras Mohammed, about 12km southwest, tops the list: a two-dive trip runs roughly $60-90 per person (about EGP 2,400-3,600 at over 40 to the dollar, verify both figures), snorkel-only around $35-50. Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef are the sites to request.
Concrete tip: book before you land, peak-season boats fill a day or more ahead.
Day 3: Straits of Tiran
Certified divers should book the Tiran reef chain, Jackson, Gordon, Thomas and Woodhouse, strong-current drift dives typically $70-100 per person for two dives (verify). Snorkelers can usually join the same boats for less, roughly $40-55 (verify).
Concrete tip: ask your dive guide whether the current suits your certification before committing to this site.
Day 4: The SS Thistlegorm
Certified divers with wreck experience should book the Thistlegorm, a multi-hour boat run to the WWII cargo ship sunk in 1941, typically $100-140 per person (verify). Non-divers can substitute a Dahab day trip instead, 80-90km and 1-1.5 hours northeast, for the Blue Hole’s safe recreational reef, roughly $40-60 per person including transport (verify).
Concrete tip: Thistlegorm departures are early, often before 6am, confirm your pickup time the night before.
Day 5: St Catherine’s Monastery
This is the interior day: roughly 2.5-3 hours’ drive each way, booked as an organized tour rather than a self-drive trip, typically $80-120 per person for a full-day tour with a guide (verify). St Catherine’s Monastery, built 548-565 AD, is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002, home to the traditional Burning Bush. Nearby Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, is a separate overnight climb if you have the stamina for it, most day-tour visitors see the monastery itself rather than climbing the mountain same-day. This route needs the full Egyptian visa, not the free resort permit, since it leaves the Sharm/Dahab/Nuweiba/Taba strip.
Concrete tip: confirm with your tour operator, before you book, whether the current visa and advisory situation affects this specific route, it’s the one day on this itinerary worth double-checking closest to your travel date.
Day 6: Desert safari and departure
Spend the morning on a quad-bike or jeep desert safari, often with a Colored Canyon stop and Bedouin tea break, roughly $40-70 per person for a half-day (verify). Use the afternoon for Old Market shopping or last beach time before your departure transfer.
Concrete tip: build in a buffer before your flight, Sharm’s airport can back up at peak departure times in high season.
For where to stay across a trip this length, see our best places to stay guide.