Sharm El Sheikh

I’m back.

Despite Embassy warnings of riots and other tensions in various Egyptian cities, those of us in Sharm were quite safe. Sharm El Sheikh, I learned, is a relatively new city – approximately 30 years old – that was built as a tourist destination. As such, the security levels are quite high and it’s safe to walk around at night.
El Sheikh is located in the eastern part of Egypt, on the Red Sea. It is a five hour flight from London Gatwick airport, and several airlines fly into Sharm. The airport is only 30 minutes from the area in which our resort, The Royal Albatros Moderna, was located – Nabq Bay in South Sinai.

Our resort was right on the beach, which was lovely. There were three pools – all cold – but who needs a pool when the Red Sea is just a few metres away? With the sun out, the weather was perfect – no sweaty beach issues, just a cooling breeze to offset the sun. The temperature was around 24 degrees while we were there. Lovely. We spent as much time at the beach as possible, and if you peruse the photos below you’ll see some of the sights we found.

On our second full day, we took a Yachting trip out into the great blue wonder of the Red Sea and went snorkeling. The instructor taught me how to dive deep down, although I need to practice a bit more before I can go to the sea bed. Lindsay and I both agreed that this was our favourite day; the snorkeling, the crew, and the variety of random sea creatures appearing on board made for a very interesting experience. We bought a DVD of our day trip, but I haven’t seen it yet.

We spent the rest of the time lounging at the resort. The food was not amazing – this hotel had nothing on the All Inclusives that I’ve been to in Mexico – but it also cost a LOT less. Either way, I wasn’t ready to come back afterwards!

First day of sunshine

View back at our hotel from the pier

Hermit Crab

I think the umbrellas look like toadstools

Next to the relaxation pool at our resort

Lindsay on the beach at our resort

Relaxing in the sun on our first day

Out in the water

Swarms of sea urchin

Royal Albatros Moderna

Our crew of affiable yachtsmen.

This is a conch – it has googly eyes!

Camels!

Our MTS Guide, Temo, holding a scary orange fish they caught off the yacht.

This, I believe, is an albatros

Tips:

- We found that the best place to eat was the ‘Tagine’ restaurant, which served local dishes vs. greasy British meals
- don’t drink the water! But the bottles are free in the fridge
- being a new city, Sharm didn’t seem to have much in the way of old architecture. In fact, outside the resort it was quite desolate. We kicked in inside, relaxation-style
- don’t let the beauty salon guys convince you that you need your face threaded… or let them show you an ‘example’.