Sharm el-Sheikh Airport Guide: Sinai Visa, Arrival and Transfers

Where is Sharm el-Sheikh airport and how far is your hotel?

Sharm's airport sits inland at the northern end of the resort area, so the main bays are a short drive south and Nabq is just to the north-east. It is one of the easiest airport arrivals in Egypt: roads are wide, traffic is light and most hotels are within 20 minutes.

The roads out of Sharm towards Dahab and St Catherine pass security checkpoints. Keep your passport with you, not in your checked bag, for the whole transfer. Before booking, check the current advice for South Sinai on Smartraveller, because it differs from the rest of Egypt and varies within Sinai.

Do you need a Sinai-only stamp or a full Egypt visa?

If you will stay only in the South Sinai resorts for up to 15 days, the free Sinai-only stamp is enough; if there is any chance you will travel to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan or the mainland Red Sea, get a full tourist visa.

Immigration officers at Sharm sometimes apply the Sinai-only stamp by default to visitors without a visa. If you hold an e-Visa, hand it over with your passport; if you plan to buy a full visa on arrival, go to the bank counter first and tell the officer that you are travelling beyond Sinai. Interpretations of exactly which excursions the Sinai stamp covers have varied over the years, so if you plan anything beyond the resorts, confirm with your operator. The full rules are in our Egypt visa guide for Australians and on visa2egypt.gov.eg.

What is the arrival process at Sharm el-Sheikh?

International arrivals follow the familiar Egyptian order: visa or stamp, passport control, baggage, a customs scan and the arrivals hall; with no queue it takes about 30 minutes.

• Domestic arrivals from Cairo skip immigration entirely, because you entered Egypt in Cairo. Make sure that entry was on a full visa, and keep your passport handy anyway: hotels must register it at check-in.
• Money: there are ATMs and exchange counters in arrivals. Sharm prices are often quoted in euros or US dollars to resort guests, but you'll get better value paying in Egyptian pounds; see money in Egypt.
• SIM cards: network counters operate in the terminal, but hours follow the flight schedule. An eSIM set up before you fly avoids the queue.
• Diving gear: bring your certification card and logbook in your hand luggage so you can dive on day one. Dive computers and regulators belong in carry-on too.

Which part of Sharm will you be heading to?

Sharm el-Sheikh is not one town but a string of resort bays along about 30 km of coast, and knowing which bay your hotel is in tells you how far you are from the airport, the reefs and the evening action.

• Nabq Bay: the northernmost area, close to the airport, with large resorts and long beaches. Reef flats are shallow in places, so check the jetty. The Nabq Protected Area, with mangroves and a wreck on the reef, is just to the north.
• Sharks Bay and Ras Nasrani: just south of the airport, with good reefs close to shore and views to Tiran Island.
• Naama Bay: Sharm's original centre, with a pedestrian promenade of restaurants, bars and dive centres; the liveliest choice.
• Ras Um Sid and Hadaba: cliff-top hotels in the south, near the Old Market and the port, with some of the best shore reefs in town.

Our planned where to stay in Sharm el-Sheikh guide compares these bays in detail.

How do you get from Sharm el-Sheikh airport to Dahab or St Catherine?

By private transfer: Dahab is about 1–1.5 hours north through the mountains and St Catherine about three hours, with checkpoints on both roads.

Within Sharm, resorts arrange transfers and taxis wait outside arrivals; agree the fare for the whole car before loading bags. For Dahab, a private driver is the norm, and there is no useful public transport for an airport arrival. If you plan to climb Mount Sinai and visit St Catherine's Monastery, many travellers base themselves in Dahab, which is closer, or spend a night in St Catherine itself.

Planning a dive trip? Boats for Ras Mohammed, the Strait of Tiran and the Thistlegorm leave from Sharm's marinas and port, so a Sharm base suits divers who want boat dives, while Dahab suits shore divers. Our Dahab vs Sharm el-Sheikh comparison helps you choose.

How do you fly to Sharm el-Sheikh from Australia?

The usual route is a Gulf carrier to Cairo, then a domestic flight of about an hour to Sharm; at the time of writing some Gulf airlines also fly to Sharm directly from their hubs.

Sharm also receives seasonal and charter flights from Europe, which are useful if you are combining Egypt with a European holiday. If you combine Sinai with the Nile valley, the simplest pattern is Cairo, Luxor and Aswan first on a full visa, then a flight from Cairo to Sharm for the beach. There is no practical road connection to Luxor: by car Sharm is roughly 6–7 hours from Cairo via the tunnel under the Suez Canal. Ferries between Sharm and Hurghada have run at times but irregularly. Our domestic flights guide covers the internal network.

What should you know before departing from Sharm el-Sheikh?

Arrive three hours before international flights and two hours before domestic ones: security at Sharm is thorough, with screening at the terminal entrance, again before departures, and sometimes a further hand check at the gate.

• Pack liquids, power banks and electronics so they are easy to remove; screening staff may ask you to unpack.
• Leave 18–24 hours between your last dive and your flight, and longer after deep or repetitive diving.
• Check your terminal: Sharm has more than one, and allocations depend on the airline.
• If you entered on the Sinai-only stamp, you leave the same way; you cannot use it to connect onwards to a stay elsewhere in Egypt.

Liveaboard divers should note that boats usually return to port on the morning of the final day, leaving time for the no-fly interval only if your flight is the following day. Book your departure with that in mind rather than flying out the afternoon you step off the boat. Our scuba diving in Egypt guide has more on planning a dive trip.

For more on comparing Sinai with the mainland coast, see where to stay on the Red Sea.