Sharm el Sheikh

Sharm el Sheikh is a large tourist resort composed out of different areas. It has a lot to offer, beautifully built and clean. But for those who want to feel the Sinai, they will not find it in Sharm el Sheikh. They'll have to go into the desert or to other places along the coast where still some of the authentic Sinai can be felt.

Sharm el Sheikh itself is the old town with the old port for tourist boats and some hotels along the bay. The Old Town was the shopping centre for locals but is now being upgraded into a shopping centre for tourists. The diving boats have been moved to Na'ama Bay, so the bay is now part public beach and part beach belonging to the hotels.

Na'ama Bay is the new tourist area with hotels, restaurants, bazaars, shopping malls, disco's and casino's.

Apart from these two areas there also is Hadaba, built on the cliff and more a residential area. And a whole string of hotel resorts from Na'ama Bay all the way to Nabq.

The airport is situated between Na'ama Bay and Nabq.

The bus station is between Na'ama Bay and Old Sharm.

To move around from one area to another there are two options:

• taxi's, always to be found outside the hotel or waiting on any street corner
• mini busses that shuttle between old Sharm and Nabq. They drive along the main road between the two area's, and have to be hailed to stop.

Most diving that takes place is boat diving, courses are given in swimming pools or in the bay. The boats either go up north to Tiran Island with some dive sites on the way or down south to Ras Mohammed and the wrecks of Thistlegorm.

Windsurfing is not so good in Sharm el Sheikh. For windsurfers it is better to go to Dahab or El Tor.