South Sinai, Egypt
Sinai Peninsula
South Sinai for UK travellers: Sharm El Sheikh's reefs, laid-back Dahab and the dawn climb up Mount Sinai — which base suits you, real transfer times and what a week actually costs in pounds.
In short
Sinai Peninsula at a glance
South Sinai is Egypt's Red Sea diving and beach corner, and the choice of base defines the whole trip. Sharm El Sheikh is the big-resort all-inclusive hub, 15 minutes from its own airport (SSH), with Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran on the doorstep. Dahab, 90 minutes up the coast, is the cheaper, laid-back town where you dive the Blue Hole and learn to freedive. Inland sits Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery, the classic overnight excursion. Most UK visitors fly straight into Sharm on a package and never move; the better trip splits a week between Sharm's reefs and a few slower days in Dahab.
South Sinai is the bit of Egypt that runs on a different rhythm to the Nile circuit: a stretch of desert-backed Red Sea coast where the day is shaped by dive boats and reef tides rather than temples and touts. Sharm El Sheikh is the polished, all-inclusive front door — its own airport, big resorts, and Ras Mohammed’s walls a short boat ride away — while Dahab, ninety minutes up the coast, is the barefoot, cushions-by-the-lagoon town where divers actually want to live. Inland, the granite mass of Mount Sinai and St Catherine’s Monastery give the peninsula a second, older identity entirely.
The mistake first-timers make is treating Sharm as the whole of Sinai and never leaving the hotel gate. A package week of pool, buffet and house reef is a perfectly good holiday, but it isn’t the place — the real character is an hour and a half north in Dahab, or up before dawn on a cold ridge waiting for the sun to come over Arabia. Book direct into Sharm because it’s the only UK gateway, then plan to move: split the week, and let the reefs and the mountain do the work the resort strip can’t.
The route
A relaxed week that pairs Sharm's reefs with Dahab's slower rhythm and the inland Mount Sinai climb, without doubling back. Transfer times are coastal-road estimates from Sharm El Sheikh airport (SSH); the road north to Dahab and on to Nuweiba is good, paved and runs through routine security checkpoints.
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Days 1–3
Sharm El Sheikh
Land at SSH and you're at most resorts in 15–30 minutes. Spend the first days on the house reef and book one full-day boat to Ras Mohammed National Park (around E£2,300 / ~£33 park-and-boat) — the wall dives and the Yolanda wreck are the best in Sinai. Naama Bay for the evening; Old Market (Sha'abiya) for cheaper food than the resort strip.
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Days 4–5
Dahab
About 1h30 north by road (a taxi or shared transfer runs roughly E£900–1,400 / ~£13–20). Dahab is everything Sharm isn't — low-rise, barefoot, half the price. Dive or snorkel the Blue Hole and the Canyon, take an Open Water or freediving course (cheaper here than almost anywhere), and eat on cushions by the lagoon.
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Day 6
Mount Sinai & St Catherine
The classic overnight excursion from Dahab or Sharm: a guided minibus reaches St Catherine around midnight, you climb 2–3 hours in the dark for sunrise on the 2,285m summit, then visit the 6th-century monastery on the way down. Most organised trips run E£700–1,100 (~£10–16) plus a Bedouin guide tip; dress warm, the summit is genuinely cold before dawn.
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Day 7
Back to Sharm for the flight
Return down the coast to Sharm (1h30 from Dahab) for a last reef morning and your flight home. If you'd rather not backtrack, some package flights also serve the quieter resorts, but Sharm remains the only direct UK gateway, so most itineraries close the loop here.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Sharm El Sheikh (Naama Bay / Nabq)
££ mid-rangeThe all-inclusive heart of South Sinai: big resorts, reliable house reefs and a 15–30 minute transfer from SSH. Naama Bay is walkable and lively; Nabq, further north, is quieter and newer. The trade-off is package sprawl and resort-strip prices for food and drink.
Best for: First-timers, families, big-resort diving
Dahab
£ valueThe low-rise, low-cost alternative 1h30 up the coast — guesthouses and small hotels along a beach promenade, the Blue Hole nearby and the cheapest dive courses in Egypt. Far more independent-traveller than Sharm, and much better value, but you give up the slick all-inclusive comfort.
Best for: Divers, freedivers, slower and cheaper
Nuweiba
£ valueThe quietest of the three coastal bases, a further hour north towards Taba — simple beach camps and eco-lodges strung along empty sand, with the Coloured Canyon hike inland. Choose it for solitude and a barefoot, off-grid feel; there's little nightlife and you'll want your own transport or organised trips.
Best for: Solitude, beach camps, desert day trips
Getting around Sinai Peninsula
There's no need to self-drive here, and the FCDO warns off driving outside cities at night anyway. The single coastal road links Sharm, Dahab and Nuweiba, and it's well-paved with routine security checkpoints — carry your passport, as they're checked. Most people move by pre-booked private transfer or taxi: Sharm airport to a Sharm resort is 15–30 minutes, Sharm to Dahab about 1h30, and Dahab on to Nuweiba another hour. For the reefs, you book day boats from Sharm's marina or shore dives in Dahab; for Mount Sinai and the Coloured Canyon, take an organised minibus trip rather than driving the desert roads yourself.
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