Day Trips from Sharm el-Sheikh: Reefs, Mount Sinai, Dahab and Cairo

What are the best day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh?

Sharm's day trips split into sea trips to the national park reefs, road trips along the Gulf of Aqaba coast, and the overnight pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. The table compares the main ones from Naama Bay, where many hotels are; Nabq Bay hotels are 20–30 minutes closer to the northern options and further from Ras Mohammed.

Before booking anything that leaves the coast, read the current advice for South Sinai on Smartraveller or SafeTravel; it can differ between parts of the peninsula and from the rest of Egypt, and it affects your insurance.

Ras Mohammed and the Tiran reefs: by boat or by road?

Go by boat if you snorkel or dive, because the famous reef walls are reached from the water; go by road if you want beaches, mangroves and clifftop views at your own pace. Ras Mohammed covers the reefs themselves, Shark and Yolanda among them, so here is how a typical boat day runs:

• 7.30am: hotel pick-up and transfer to the marina; passports are checked by the coastguard before boarding.
• 8.30am: sail south along the coast, about 1–1.5 hours.
• 10am: first snorkel or dive, usually on the sheltered side of the Shark and Yolanda reef system.
• 12pm: lunch on board while the boat moves to a second site.
• 1.30pm: second stop, sometimes a third in calm weather.
• 4–4.30pm: back at the marina.

A road trip into the park takes 30–45 minutes and lets you snorkel from the shore at the park beaches, walk to the mangrove channel and stop at the viewpoints over the meeting of the two gulfs. Half a day is enough.

The Straits of Tiran reefs are the other classic boat trip: about an hour from the marinas, with stronger currents, so they suit confident snorkellers and divers. Choose a boat that caps passenger numbers and briefs you properly; our Red Sea snorkelling guide has more on choosing one. Park fees are charged per person at both.

Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery overnight

The Mount Sinai trip from Sharm is an overnight: you leave late in the evening, climb in the dark, watch sunrise from the summit and visit St Catherine's Monastery on the way back if it is open that day. Mount Sinai covers the routes and what to bring, and St Catherine's Monastery the monastery's history. A typical timetable:

• 10.30–11pm: pick-up from your hotel; sleep in the vehicle if you can.
• 1.30–2am: arrive at St Catherine, meet your Bedouin guide at the trailhead.
• 2am–5am: climb the camel path (about 2.5–3 hours), then roughly 750 steps to the summit.
• Sunrise: roughly 5.45am in midsummer to about 6.40am in midwinter, local time. It is cold at the top at any season; in winter, below freezing.
• 7am–8.30am: descend, by the camel path or the steep Steps of Repentance.
• 9am–10.30am: St Catherine's Monastery, on the limited mornings it opens to visitors.
• Around 1.30–2pm: back in Sharm.

It is a hard night with no sleep. A much better plan is to spend a night in the St Catherine area before or after the climb, as the Sinai and Red Sea journey does; it also lets you see the monastery properly. Monastery opening days change around religious holidays, so check before you go.

Dahab, the Blue Hole and the Coloured Canyon

Dahab is the easiest road trip from Sharm: about 1–1.5 hours up the coast to a completely different, low-key town where the reef starts at the café steps. A day trip typically combines snorkelling at the Blue Hole with lunch on the promenade.

• 8am: leave Sharm along the coast road through the mountains.
• 9.30am–12.30pm: the Blue Hole, about 8 km north of town, for snorkelling the rim and the reef wall. Divers do the Bells to the Blue Hole within normal limits.
• 1pm: lunch on the seafront in Masbat or Mashraba.
• 2.30pm–4pm: a walk along the promenade, or a snorkel at the Lighthouse Reef or Eel Garden.
• 4.30pm: drive back, reaching Sharm by around 6pm.

The Coloured Canyon near Nuweiba is about three hours from Sharm each way plus a 4WD track and a 1–2 hour hike, so it is far easier from Dahab. If both appeal, move to Dahab for two or three nights rather than doing day trips; our Dahab vs Sharm el-Sheikh comparison helps you choose a base.

Can you visit Cairo or Luxor as a day trip from Sharm?

Only by air, and only if flight times allow a full day on the ground; it is possible but expensive and exhausting, and staying a night in Cairo is much better. The flight from Sharm to Cairo takes about an hour. A typical fly-in day lands in Cairo around 8–9am, sees the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and part of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and flies back in the evening. Schedules change by season, and early and late flights are not always operating, so we confirm times before suggesting it.

Two other cautions. First, the Sinai-only entry stamp that some travellers receive at Sharm el-Sheikh airport covers stays in the South Sinai resorts and the St Catherine area only; leaving the peninsula, including flying to Cairo, needs a full Egyptian visa. At the time of writing it has also not covered Ras Mohammed, so check before you rely on it, and see Egypt visa for Australians. Second, road trips to Cairo (about 500 km, six hours or more each way) are not a sensible day trip.

Luxor by air is rarely workable in a day from Sharm: direct flights are limited or non-existent at the time of writing. If you want both the Red Sea and the Nile, plan them as one trip; the Hurghada vs Sharm el-Sheikh guide explains why Hurghada is better placed for Luxor.

Which Sharm day trip should you choose?

Match the trip to what you came for: reefs, culture or a change of scene.

• Snorkellers and divers: Ras Mohammed by boat first; Tiran on a second day if the sea is calm.
• Non-swimmers and families with small children: Ras Mohammed by road, with beach snorkelling, or a glass-bottom boat from Naama Bay; Nabq for the mangroves.
• Pilgrims and walkers: Mount Sinai, ideally with a night at St Catherine; see hiking in Sinai for longer treks.
• Anyone tired of resorts: Dahab, for its relaxed cafés and Bedouin influence.
• First-time visitors to Egypt: rather than a fly-in Cairo day, build Cairo into the trip either side of Sharm.

Tell us how many days you have at the coast through our trip planner and we will suggest the right mix.