Sinai is an expansive region in Egypt, specifically the South Sinai Governorate, which is a popular tourist destination for Egyptians, Israelis, and international travelers. When we talk about traveling in Sinai, we’re talking about the region known as the South Sinai Governorate. This is the southern portion of the peninsula that encompasses the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.
The Sinai Peninsula is part of Egypt, and in Sinai you’ll not only find the Egyptian people, but also many Bedouin people. The Bedouin are nomadic people who have been present in the Arabian Peninsula for hundreds of years, and hospitality is a huge part of their culture.
Is Sinai Safe for Travel?
Southern Sinai is generally considered safe for travel, and the Egyptian government and military goes to great lengths to keep the southern Sinai safe for travelers. For example, you’ll notice many military checkpoints while you travel in Sinai (so be sure to keep your passport handy).
Visa and Entry Requirements
Egypt offers a special pass, called the Sinai resort permission stamp, for travelers from many countries, which allows them to stay within the areas of Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba, for 14 days. If you do not fall into this category, Egypt also uses an electronic visa program, meaning you can get a visa online in advance.
Best Time to Visit Sinai
When you travel to Sinai, don’t forget that it’s a desert landscape. This means summers can be scorching hot, and in the other seasons, the nights can be chilly.
Read also: Journey to Mount Sinai
Navigating Sinai: Cities and Accommodations
Sinai can be a bit of a head-scratcher for first-time travelers. It’s huge, and there’s not a ton of information online that makes sense about how to get there, and how to get around once you’re in Sinai.
Cities in Sinai
- Sharm el Sheikh: The largest city in Sinai, home to many resorts.
- Dahab: Offers a mix of traditional beach resorts and a laid-back atmosphere.
- Nuweiba: Known for its relaxing atmosphere and Bedouin culture.
In these places, you can stay at different types of accommodation (such as rental apartments), and there are varying degrees of public transport. There are also restaurants and shops. From the moment you step into Sinai, you’ll likely notice beach accommodations along the shores of the Red Sea. These beach accommodations vary greatly.
Getting Around in Sinai
Getting around in Sinai depends on where you’re starting from, and where you’re going.
By Ground
Travelers on the ground can enter Sinai through the border with Israel, called the Taba Border Crossing. This border is accessible by traveling to the Israeli city of Eilat, and it’s where you can receive that Sinai resort permission stamp for entry. From Taba, you can then take a private car or public transit to other parts of Sinai. You can reach the border by bus from Eilat (the central station is very close to the Abraham Hostel Eilat) or Ramon Airport.
If you are coming by car, note that there is no free parking next to the border. On the Egyptian side, you will show your passport, and then walk to the main building. The first thing you will have to do is fill out a form. If an employee fills the form for you, you should tip him (Shekels and dollars work as well). If you have your own pen, you can fill it out by yourself (you can exchange money after you fill out your form).
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to Arish, Qesm Thaleth
Next, you will go outside and show the passport again, and pay a border crossing fee of 405 EGP.
By Air
If you would like to fly to Sinai, there is a modern and efficient airport in Sharm el Sheikh. The flight takes 55 minutes from Tel-Aviv, following which you will take a quick bus to the terminal. Before you cross the border control you will have to fill out a short form, so make sure you have a pen. Then you will pass through several stations, including a biometric screening.
You will be able to exchange your euros and dollars, and you can additionally find ATM machines before the border crossing, and close to the baggage claim. The way to Aqua Sun Village is in good condition, and the ride is overall comfortable.
Additional Ground Transport Options
When traveling to Sinai by means of ground transport, travelers can also reach Sinai by taking buses from other parts of Egypt, such as from Cairo. The bus can take anywhere from 7-9 hours.
Please note, that whichever way you enter Sinai is the way you need to exit. For example, if you fly into Sharm el Sheikh, you must fly out of it.
Read also: Ultimate Guide: African Resorts
Getting Around Locally
The beautiful deserts of Sinai have much to see, and once you reach your destination in Sinai, you might decide you want to explore more. The best way to get around Sinai is by hired car. There are many drivers in Sinai, and the cost of a hired car is much more affordable than in countries such as Israel. In most parts of Sinai, there is not an abundance of public transit, and things are not within walking distance. If you have specific sites you want to see, it’s best to sort out a route with a hired car.
Aqua Sun Village is just 30 minutes from the Taba Border Crossing. We offer a shuttle service from the border to the village, and during your stay, you’ll enjoy delicious breakfast and dinner.
Beach Resorts and Coastal Areas
Many people today still think of Egypt as a desert country, which it is to a large extent. But between its mainland Mediterranean coast, its long mainland Red Sea coast and the Sinai, it has an impressive amount of beach area. In fact, despite Egypt's aggressive construction of new beach resorts, the Sinai's western coast remains almost completely undeveloped. However, a notable exception is Ras Sidr, which is a very nice beach better known to Egyptians than foreign travelers. It lies about sixty kilometers south of the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel at the gulf of Suez's northern end.
The eastern coastline and the southern tip of the Sinai have a number of beach resort regions, though by far the most developed region is the region in and around Sharm el-Sheikh. At the other end of the Gulf of Aqaba to the north, Taba has also seen significant development, including an attempt to reproduce the success of El-Gouna on Egypt's mainland Red Sea coast in a project called Taba Heights.
Between Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, the major resorts are found at Nuweiba and Dahab, but all along the eastern coastline of the Sinai are a number of more primitive, though frequently popular, camp areas intermingled with some better resort compounds.
Top 10 Best Dive Spots in the World - Travel Video 2024
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh is a very different resort community for Egypt, more like one might find in Europe, or even the US. Many of the main resorts are connected by a "boardwalk", which allows one to walk along a path bordered by shops, restaurants, clubs and hotels. There is excitement in the air here, particularly in the evenings when various entertainment cascades down the walk, and it seems like the crowds walking along speak in dozens of different languages.
The main beach areas at Sharm el-Sheikh itself comprise two adjacent bays, known as Na'ama Bay and Sharm al-Maya. Of these, Na'ama Bay is the oldest development and the location of the boardwalk. Here, hotels are just separated from the beach by the boardwalk, with some facilities such as beach front restaurants and bars built on the beach itself. Sharm al-Maya is less developed with slightly more isolated beach resorts.
The resort community of Sharm el-Sheikh, usually simply referred to as Sharm, is one of the two main beach havens in Egypt, the other being the vicinity in and around Hurghada on the mainland coast. While Sharm has a completely different flavor than Hurghada, it too receives most of its visitors by European charters. Even though there have been some very fine hotels built at Hurghada, and particularly at El-Gouna just north of Hurghada (and in other areas around Hughada), Sharm el-Sheikh has always been considered the most upscale of the two resort areas. In fact, one will find very few hotels other than four or five stars in Sharm el-Sheikh, while those of Hurghada are more varied.
However, if one wants it all, from the Hard Rock Cafe to the Four Seasons Hotel, from beautiful reefs and crystal waters to almost a Las Vegas style atmosphere, then Sharm el-Sheikh has to be the Egyptian beach resort of choice. It is a world class spot to launch scuba diving expeditions, with crystal clear waters and many nearby dive sites. While Hurghada may still receive more beach tourists than any other region in Egypt, Sharm is famous throughout the world as the "City of Peace", a very secure area where, not infrequently, world leaders, attending summits, mix with the beach vacationers, and one need not simply be limited to beach activities and world class scuba diving.
Sharm el-Sheikh hosted the first ever official European professional golf tournament at the Movenpick Jolie Ville Course, and one may also visit what is, perhaps, the most famous of Egypt's ancient, and still active, monasteries known as St. Catherine's at the foot of Mount Sinai. For nature lovers, there is also Ras Mohammed, Egypt's best known and first National Park just south of Sharm. There is also, thirty-five miles north of Sharm, the Nabq Protectorate, the largest coastal park on the Gulf of Aqaba, which includes the world's most northerly mangrove forest.
Dahab
Further up the eastern coast of the Sinai, about 85 kilometers north of Sharm, is Dahab. At one time, Dahab had a bit of a reputation as sort of a hippie haven, which time has not completely erased, though it now has grown up and matured into more of a traditional beach resort. There are still beach camps here, but there are now also some good hotels, Italian restaurants and other trappings of tourism.
Nuweiba
Considerably further up the coast, after passing through the Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate, is Nuweiba, really one of our favorite small beach communities. The atmosphere at Nuweiba is really laid back and completely relaxing. It is, perhaps, not unlike some individual camps along the beaches at certain spots, but at the same time, does provide a little more in the way of accommodations and amenities, though only enough to be utterly comfortable. Here, Bedouin boys lead their camels out in the surf to use as diving platforms, while beach goers eat fish just caught by the same people who cook it up and serve their patrons.
Nuweiba is divided into three parts. To the south is the port with its bus station, banks and the one really upscale hotel, the Hilton Coral Resort. About eight kilometers south of the port is the city center, which is spread out but contains a small selection of tourists shops, a few restaurants and a small bazaar. Still a bit further north is Tarabin, with a number of small hotels and camp-like operations.
Further up the coast between Nuweiba and Taba are a number of small beach camps, some of which, while having fairly primitive accommodations and amenities, nevertheless front exotic and beautiful beaches with stunning blue water. These include, beginning from the south, Maagana beach, Ras Shaitan and Mahash.
Additional Beaches Near Nuweiba
- Maagana Beach: Located about eight kilometers north of Tarabeen (the northernmost part of Nuweiba).
- Ras Shaitan: Another two kilometers north of Maagana.
- Mahash: About twenty kilometers north of Nuweiba, is by far the most developed, though still a beach camp for the most part. Here, Basata is an eco-minded camp with about 18 huts and a common kitchen, but there is also now the Tango Beach Resort, a four star hotel with 64 rooms.
Taba and Taba Heights
Just prior to the actual city of Taba, some seventeen kilometers to the south, is the massive new Taba Heights development. This is a resort community being built by the same people who put together El-Gouna, in much the same way. There is already a Hyatt Regency, a Marriott and a Sofitel along with a golf course, and there will very soon be a Three Corners El Wekala, if it is not now open.
The Taba Heights Inter-Continental is expected to open in 2005, and there will be at least several other major hotels opening in the near future. Like El-Gouna, this resort center is being planned with all of the amenities of El-Gouna, including many water sports facilities including diving shops, as well as a casino.
In between Taba Heights and Taba itself is another small harbor named the Fjod, with no real accommodations but a small restaurant and beach area. There is also a small hotel called the Salah ad-Din Hotel just a bit further on adjacent to Pharaoh's Island, just before Taba.
Taba itself is a few hundred meters of beach, and only one real luxury hotel, the Taba Hilton which was recently heavily damaged by a bomb attack. Taba sits on the Egyptian-Israel border. In fact, all that separates the Israeli beach resort of Eilat from Egypt's Taba is the border. The hotel is actually a managed property of Hilton Hotels and not owned by them.
The Sinai is really a wonderful place to visit, with majestic mountains and scenery like nowhere else on earth.
Safety and Security Considerations
The location of the bombings are of some significance. The Taba Hilton sits right on the Egypt-Israel border, basically within meters of the physical crossing. This was the largest of the blasts. The second one occurred at Ras Shaitan, a fairly undeveloped beach area on the northern side of a rocky spur that juts out into the Gulf of Aqaba. The third explosion took place, not at Nuweiba as reported by almost all news sources, but about ten kilometers north of the town. In fact, one of these explosions did not cause much damage, we understand, because the vehicle was prevented from reaching its destination by Egyptian Tourist police.
One interesting and relevant fact about these events is that places such as Taba Heights was not affected, probably because larger resorts have additional security, but perhaps also because there was less of a Jewish presence there.
The bombings at and near Taba were the first such incident that has occurred in Egypt in some years now and a pity according to just about everyone's perspective. The incident killed and injured Muslims and Jews alike.
Egypt considers itself a country of peace, and rightly so. Though an American, I have many friends in Egypt, and while I am not naive enough to think that there are not bad people everywhere, in every country and of ever religious persuasion, there are no more moderate, considerate and caring people than Egyptians.
The Taba bombing was an act that alienated those responsible from everyone, crossing both borders and religions. Men such as those who performed this vicious act are always misguided, but these particular men were even more so. And while such incidents can happen in any corner of the world, obviously including the US, the Egyptian government is dedicated, above all else, to protecting its tourists. There is no doubt about that, because tourism provides essential hard revenue to both the Egyptian government and the people of Egypt, many of whom directly or indirectly support their families through the tourist industry.
In the final analysis, Taba is not a major resort area for Egypt, really having less facilities, for example, than even Nuweiba or Dahab.
Mount Sinai Development Concerns
Critics warn project at Mount Sinai, where tradition says Moses received the Ten Commandments, could damage sacred landscapes, disrupt Bedouin life and endanger St. Catherine’s Monastery. The Egyptian government is pressing ahead with an ambitious tourism project at Jebel Musa, or Mount Sinai, a mountain in the southern Sinai Peninsula that many identify as the biblical place where God gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel.
The development has triggered growing concern over the fate of a region cherished by Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. Opponents warn that the fragile desert ecosystem, St. Catherine’s Monastery at the mountain’s base and the way of life of the local Bedouin community could all be at risk.
The initiative, known as “The Greatest Transfiguration,” has been underway since 2021 in the town of St. Catherine. Cairo presents it as “a gift to the whole world and all religions.” Egyptian officials describe the plan as an effort to develop the town to maximize its tourism potential while incorporating archaeology, religious traditions and environmental elements.
Still, deep unease surrounds the way this isolated desert site - recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage location encompassing the monastery, the town and the mountain - is undergoing a major transformation. A BBC report said luxury hotels, villas and bazaars are already rising in the area.
In April, Egypt’s government communications center released a video responding to claims that the project undermines the archaeological character of the site and violates UNESCO environmental standards. The video said St. Catherine is being developed within the framework of “The Greatest Transfiguration” project with full commitment to its unique heritage and natural setting, in line with standards approved by UNESCO.
According to the video, all work is carried out in direct coordination with the organization and international consultants accredited by it to safeguard the archaeological and environmental integrity of the area. Officials stressed that every historic stone and native plant is being preserved under a comprehensive plan designed to highlight the site’s spiritual, religious and environmental value. The site was described as “one of the most important world heritage locations.”
The project also seeks to put St. Catherine on the global map of religious and environmental tourism, the government said, adding that 90 percent of the planned work has already been completed with full adherence to environmental guidelines.
Greece, which has historic ties to the monastery, has voiced strong objections. Tensions with Cairo escalated after an Egyptian court ruled in May that the monastery stands on state-owned land. Athens quickly condemned the decision, calling it an existential threat to the monastery.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem also weighed in, stressing the importance of protecting the holy site.
By late May, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to defuse tensions. El-Sissi reaffirmed that Egypt is committed to preserving the monastery’s unique religious status, and both sides underscored their commitment to bilateral relations. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty argued that the court ruling in fact reinforced the protection of the monastery, its archaeological sites, and its religious value. He urged critics to read the full judgment, amid rumors of confiscation of monastic property.
While officials insist the monastery and its deep spiritual meaning will endure, the surrounding environment and centuries-old way of life appear set for irreversible change. The BBC reported that the Bedouin community has been forced to exhume bodies from local graves to make room for a parking lot.
Popular articles:
tags: #Egypt
