Things to do in sharm el sheikh/egypt

[Golfgirl]

I've been to Sharm twice and love the place.  That's because I'm a diver though (I did my PADI Open Water there in 2006).  If you don't want to dive or snorkel then there isn't much else to do.  Not that I've really looked into doing other stuff because my first holiday there was taken up with learning to dive, and my second trip there was just a week chilling out, lazing around and doing nothing in order to recharge my batteries.

I'm looking at possibly going back in the next 12 months for another diving holiday because the Red Sea is unbeatable.  It's warm and clear with lots of amazing reefs and fish.

As Tamiyoman says, expect to get a dodgy stomach at some point.  Sharm is also known as "Sharm el sh*ts".  Just be careful what you eat to minimise disruption to your holiday.  By all means take Immodium, but all that does is contain the bug in your body and prolongs the squits.  You need to get rid of it as soon as possible and as long as you're not planning on going on loads of trips where quick access to a (decent) toilet may be a problem, it's just best to let your body get rid of it in it's own way.  Immodium doesn't always work though, it's probably better to get the Egyptian equivalent if you need it - local medicines for local bugs tend to work better!

I can't recommend learning to dive enough though.  I absolutely love it and it's one of the best things I've ever done.  If you're not sure, just book a 'try dive' and see how you get on.  If you don't like it then stick to snorkelling, you will still see plenty of amazing things even though you're on the surface.

The hotels I stayed at were the Sheraton which has it's own diving centre attached to it on the beach (Aquarius diving), and the Sharm Grand Plaza which then resulted in being transferred to the Hilton Dreams because of the Icelandic volcano eruption.  Out of the three, I would probably stay at the Sheraton again.  The Grand Plaza was ok, but nothing special, the Hilton was nice but didn't have a dive centre attached to it.  The Sheraton was quite posh, was on the beach, had a dive centre and its own jetty for snorkellers/divers.

To sum up, it is a bit of a dump really and focussed on the diving.  But it's guaranteed sun and relatively cheap and easy to get to from wherever you are located in the UK.

[Poverty]

Well I'm back!

You guys didn't warn me though about the quality of food out here, it was sh*t!

Stayed in the sensatori, nice enough hotel, the beaches are sh*t though. Oh and did I mention the wank food?

Weathers awesome, guaranteed sun, didn't see a cloud once.

Got told by one of the guides to avoid naama bay at night as the Egyptians don't like Brits as they are jealous of us and our money lol.

Did karting, that was alright nice people, did the submarine boat and was disappointed there. People always rave about the under sea sights of Egypt but it wasn't all that? Did it once before in the Caribbean and thought was better, saw turtles, things that looked like sharks/whales and fish obviously!

Got sold sh*t by the locals that I didn't want too, learnt you have to be really firm with them or you end up with loads of stuff you don't want lol.

Don't think egypts for us, the food is too much of a let down, wish we would have gone back to the Caribbean tbh, would only have been a extra 400 for the two of us.

P.s

Don't believe thompsons hype about their sensatori hotel in Sharm, what a let down.

[nadlad]

Hello mate

We went out to Sharm el shiekh, a couple of years back stayed at the novotel hotel, the agencie we stayed there through had a rep that advised on bits n bobs,

while we was there we did "star gazing" which involved being picked up by coach being driven into the desert, you get to watch the sun come down which imo is amazing experince, they also allow you to have dinner with the local's which is great fun the guys are a bit pervy but not enough to offend, then they take you plus a handfull of people deeper in to the desert where they have telescopes set up and explain to the group about the stars in the sky's, we we're exceptionally fortunate to seeing a shooting star whilist we was there which was breath taking.

We also did the trip to Cairo, we flew from sharm to cairo central, which is probably the same standard as a (ryanair/easyjet) flight so no thrills there. but depending if again if you book it with a guide they'l pick you up from the airport drove us from there to the pyramids theres a great amount of culture there and while driving through you really get a sense of the ways of life.

Do try and get a guide if you go Cairo

My best holiday to date

How much was it for a day trip to Cairo by air going with the wife this time si don't fancy the 8hr bus ride we did last time with the lads

[Poverty]

Iirc Thompson were charging 140 pounds  to go by air

[nadlad]

Going on Monday can't wait stayed at the sharm holiday resort last time so booked that again was a epic hotel wicked range of food only got let down by constipation due to stuffing myself on the plane and then feeling like a beached whale for the first few days

[nadlad]

Iirc Thompson were charging 140 pounds  to go by air

Ahh right that's why u got your pants pulled down then booking it through thompsons I know someone who booked it for 3 ppl by air and one night stay for 150 through a local tour operator that was 3 years back though

[Poverty]

I didn't do it, couldn't be assed

[Tamiyoman]

It's always MUCh cheaper to book locally for internal flights, when me and the GF used to go to Thailand Diving (Scuba diving before some funny guy says owt), we used to have a week on one of the islands diving and then short hop up to Bangkok for some nightlife (10 years back you fly from Phuket to Bangkok for £45 return booked with local holiday place, they also sorted hotel for us for £25 a night in a 4 star on one of the main streets  )

[Mk5 GTian]

watch out for sharks? or is that only a problem is you stupidly wander into deeper water?

also, how is in terms of threat level these days? i went to egypt pre 911 and it was not great then in terms of safety!

....Wherever the waters, sharks can be a threat. Tiger Shark, where they occur, love to patrol the shallows around river estuaries at night and they are reputed to be a very aggressive breed.

Second only to bull sharks. Nasty buggers those.

[Bazgti]

^^^^ totally agree!  I did the basic course and loved it!! Not a lot else to do in Sharm apart from relax on the beach or by the pool, enjoy the 40 degree heat and go for a Camel ride. Also went on an excursion to a Bedouin camp and did star watching and sat by a camp fire chilling!

I did this in December when i went to Dahab. Was a really entertaining night. Did you have the guard with the cheap looking suit n AK47 popping outa his jacket lurking about in the back ground?

The belly dancer was a pleasure to watch aswell 

Theres the blue hole in Dahab if you dont mind a taxi ride. You can snorkel and eat lunch there. Its amazing to look at once your looking down into it. Nemo n dory were there too!