I went to the Jaz Mirabel Beach in the Nabq bay area of Sharm last May for 2 weeks and apart from having the squirts for 5 days, thoroughly enjoyed it! Snorkelling is out of this world. We booked a few trips while we were out there 1 of which was the 'Discover Scuba Diving' trip, around £45 IIRC with a shore dive off Naama Bay.
The Sinai by starlight trip was good fun, there is an optional Camel ride to the bedouin tent. Good food. You then climb a hill and watch the sunset, take your camera! This is then followed by a belly dancer display, be warned she'll try and drag you up, I had to refuse as I was dealing with the squirts on that day.
The fire-eater display was excellent. Then finally for those of you who are interested in astronomy, you are given a guide of the heavens with opportunity to gaze at the planets through some serious telescopes, seeing Saturn with it's rings in pin-sharp clarity was mind blowing. Take plenty of change for tips and also for the souvenirs they have on sale.
As a sucker for punishment I chose the 'Cairo by road' trip, this works out around £65 as opposed to approx £130 for the 'By Air' trip. As the other poster says, yes it's a very long and tiring day - they pick you up around 1am from your hotel for an 9 hour drive through the Sinai desert. Once in Cairo the first port of call was the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, there is a good point outside for viewing the spectacular cityscape panorama of Cairo. Good photo opportunity, esp. for DSLR / wide angle lens owners!
Then we visited the Pyramids and sphinx, be warned of the hawkers trying to sell you stuff. I paid 10L.E. (£1?) to climb down into one of the Queen's pyramids to see the hole dug in the ground where the sarcophagus was. Spooky.
Lunch was included in the price of the trip. We were taken to TGI's (Authentic Egyptian cuisine...not.
) on a moored up boat on the Nile, again, great views!
Finally the Egyptian Museum, could really have done with more time here, you could easily spend a couple of days looking at all the artifacts, mummified monkey anyone? Tut's death mask is just
wow!. It's scary to think how close the rioters came to all the priceless antiquities, just outside on Tahrir Square - Mubarak's old government HQ building is right next door to the museum - well what remains of it at least, it's completely burnt out! Then you depart at around 17:30 for a long drive south back to Sharm! They drop you off at the hotel at around 00:30 the following day so you're up for around 24hrs! Though I just took it all as part of the experience! Round trip distance, around 700 miles.
Oh 2 big tips, most hotels will provide you with a complimentary goody / picnic bag/s to take with you on the trip if you ask nicely. Also don't forget to take a pillow from your hotel room with you for on the coach, we were never told about this, it makes the 8hr coach journey a bit more bareable!
May is a great time to visit Egypt and Cairo, it never got hotter than 35c while we were there and the breeze off the Red Sea keeps the humidity comfortably low.
