Sharm El Sheikh Holidays

The sand-swept city of Sharm El Sheikh stretches it legs near the tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, running from Nabq Bay in the north right down to Maya Bay in the south. Along the way it takes in Naama Bay, where the area’s first hotel popped up back in the Eighties. Since then, this patch of the city’s decked out its main strip with a smorgasbord of designer shopping centres, around-the-world eateries and dance-‘til-you-drop nightclubs.

You’ve got a whopping 35 kilometres of coastline to play with here. Sunbathing is an option, of course, and there are plenty of sunbeds dotted along the beaches if you want to do just that. A lot of the area’s hotels are lucky enough to have their own swathes, too – which makes topping up your tan extra easy. But the real draw in these parts is the diving and snorkelling. For that you can pick ’n’ mix from shallow lagoons, rocky inlets and full-on coral reefs.

You’ve got plenty to keep you entertained out of the water, too. At Ras Umm Sid, there’s a go-karting track you can whizz around. Naama Bay, meanwhile, plates up Cleo Park, a giant waterpark that’s stuffed with a lazy river, a wave pool and a bunch of chutes. Over at the Soho Square shopping centre in Shark’s Bay, you can try ice-skating and bowling. And for desert safaris and scenic hikes, you’ve got the 480-square-kilometre Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve – it’s a 40-minute drive from Sharm El Sheikh.