Sharm el Sheikh for holiday

Hi had anybody been to resorts in Sharm el Sheikh recently? My girlfriend and I were thinking about going this summer all inclusive as the prices are really good.

I was wondering is it safe at the moment as it's out of the troublesome areas of Egypt and if it is ok for women over there

Fratton Fred

EvilWonka wrote: »

Hi had anybody been to resorts in Sharm el Sheikh recently? My girlfriend and I were thinking about going this summer all inclusive as the prices are really good.

I was wondering is it safe at the moment as it's out of the troublesome areas of Egypt and if it is ok for women over there

The larger hotels are mini resorts in their own right. Security is very tight, but not intrusive and yes, it is perfectly safe for women.

I haven't been since the Arab spring kicked off, but I know several people who have and have noticed no difference at all.

Baggy Trousers

Perfectly safe and a great place for a diving or snorkelling holiday. Go for it.

smurfjed

Is the airport open? We got advised that it closed about 3 weeks ago.

0lddog

smurfjed wrote: »

Is the airport open? We got advised that it closed about 3 weeks ago.

TUI plan to do a run there from DUB later today. :eek:

Muahahaha

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

Perfectly safe and a great place for a diving or snorkelling holiday. Go for it.

Its on the Sinai peninisula so I don't think you can ever say it is "perfectly safe" given that tourists have been kidnapped and killed on the Sinai in the past. I'm not saying I wouldn't go there myself because I have (and to Dahab too) but I did so fully aware of the risks. IMO your risks in the Sinai are extremely low but that doesn't mean there isn't a risk of something kicking off. If people are comfortable with an extremely low risk of terrorist activity then going to the Sinai is fine, however if you want a virtually non existant threat of terrorism then you're better off heading to somewhere like Malta or Lanzarote.

Fratton Fred

Muahahaha wrote: »

Its on the Sinai peninisula so I don't think you can ever say it is "perfectly safe" given that tourists have been kidnapped and killed on the Sinai in the past. I'm not saying I wouldn't go there myself because I have (and to Dahab too) but I did so fully aware of the risks. IMO your risks in the Sinai are extremely low but that doesn't mean there isn't a risk of something kicking off. If people are comfortable with an extremely low risk of terrorist activity then going to the Sinai is fine, however if you want a virtually non existant threat of terrorism then you're better off heading to somewhere like Malta or Lanzarote.

Or wrapping yourself in cotton wool and hiding under the stairs.

Muahahaha

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Or wrapping yourself in cotton wool and hiding under the stairs.

Look there has been tourists kidnapped there as recently as last March. The OP asked was it safe, would you count an area where tourists have been both kidnapped and murdered as safe? The Sinai region has a history of violence against tourists so its important that the OP is told that rather than posters here saying 'yeah go, its perfectly safe'

So while I agree that the Sinai is generally safe its important not to be fooling yourself that its totally safe. Western tourists are fair game as far as extremist groups there are concerned, they've already proven themselves in the recent past in that regard.

So while you might be sitting sipping your cocktails in a 5 star Sharm el Sheik resort the chances are within a 50 mile radius of where you're sitting there is some extremist who would love to kidnap you. All I'm saying is that if people are comfortable with that level of risk then fine go. But its important they know its there in the first place rather than being blase about the risks that are inherent in visiting the Sinai.

Baggy Trousers

Muahahaha wrote: »

Its on the Sinai peninisula so I don't think you can ever say it is "perfectly safe" given that tourists have been kidnapped and killed on the Sinai in the past. I'm not saying I wouldn't go there myself because I have (and to Dahab too) but I did so fully aware of the risks. IMO your risks in the Sinai are extremely low but that doesn't mean there isn't a risk of something kicking off. If people are comfortable with an extremely low risk of terrorist activity then going to the Sinai is fine, however if you want a virtually non existant threat of terrorism then you're better off heading to somewhere like Malta or Lanzarote.

That's like saying people shouldn't ever go to Belfast.

Muahahaha

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Or wrapping yourself in cotton wool and hiding under the stairs.

No need to be facetious about it, there were two tourists kidnapped and held hostage in the area only last March, last year also saw the death of three Korean tourists and an American one to a terrorist bomb. Many European embassies still advise against going anywhere on the Sinai. They do that for good reason as the local terrorist group Ansar Bait as-Maqdis (who are linked with al-Qaeda and ISIS) are based on the Sinai and are pretty active there.

They're into assassinations, bombings and beheadings, they killed four tourists in the area last year so have no doubt they'll be killing more if the opportunity presents itself

The group has bombed the pipelines that carry gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan multiple times.[20][21]
The group claimed responsibility for the attack on Israeli troops in September 2012.[9]
The group claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on the minister of interior Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa that occurred in September 2013.[22]
The group also claimed responsibility for an attack on a military intelligence building in Ismailia in October 2013.[23]
On 20 November 2013, the group claimed responsibility for the assassination of Mohamed Mabrouk, a security officer involved in the trial against Mohamed Morsi, who was shot dead outside his home in Nasr City on 17 November.[24]
A police compound in Mansoura was bombed by the group on 24 December 2013, killing at least 16 people, including 14 police officers.[25]
On 31 January 2014, a rocket was launched from the Sinai Peninsula aimed at Eilat. The Iron Dome system intercepted the rocket. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis took responsibility for the launch.[26]
The organization claimed responsibility for an attack in Eilat, Israel which occurred on 20 January 2014; no damage or injuries were reported.[27]
The group took responsibility for an attack on a police checkpoint in Beni Suef on 23 January 2014 that killed 5 people.[28]
The group claimed responsibility for the January 2014 Cairo bombings that took place in late January 2014,[29] though it later indicated that the Soldiers of Egypt group was behind one of the bombings.[30]
Claimed responsibility for the shooting down of a military helicopter in the Sinai that occurred on 25 January 2014.[31]
Claimed responsibility for the assassination of Mohamed Al-Saied (who was a member of Egypt's Interior Ministry) that occurred on 28 January 2014.[32]
The organization claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on Eilat, Israel which occurred on 31 January 2014; the rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome system.[33]
Claimed responsibility for the 16 February 2014 Taba bus bombing that killed four people, including three Korean tourists and an Egyptian bus driver.[34] The group warned all tourists to leave Egypt before 20 February 2014.[35]
The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed 3 people in the Sinai that occurred on 2 May 2014.[36]
The group released a video on 28 August 2014 showing the beheading of 4 Egyptians accused of being Mossad spies and providing Israel with intelligence.[37]
The group claimed responsibility in late September 2014 for killing 6 security personnel.[38]
On 7 October, a faction of the group in the Gaza Strip calling itself the Islamic State of Gaza launched a bombing attack on the French Cultural Center in the city of Gaza, only to issue a statement several hours later denying any responsibility for the attack.[5]
The group released a graphic propaganda video claiming responsibility for the 24 October 2014 Sinai attacks that killed 28 soldiers northwest of the town of Arish. The group is also responsible for a drive-by shooting several hours later at a checkpoint in Arish that killed three soldiers.[39]
The group claimed responsibility for the killing of a United States citizen in Egypt's western desert in August 2014.[40]

There's a reason why holidays to Sharm el Sheik are *cheap* at the moment, mainly because when you're sitting poolside sipping a cocktail in some flash five star resort within a thirty mile radius of you lies a small but determined bunch of radical Islamic terrorists who would love to see all infidels off Egyptian soil.

The OP asked is Sharm safe. I would say that once you stay in your resort and don't go renting any cars for day trips to see the desert then in general it is safe and it is highly unlikely that something would happen you. So while the risk is small it is there, important to factor that into any decision.

Muahahaha

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

That's like saying people shouldn't ever go to Belfast.

Where did I say the OP should or shouldn't go there? You're trying to put words in my mouth.

The OP asked 'is it safe?', some poster replied it is perfectly safe and I am saying no fricking way is the Sinai peninsula "perfectly safe". There is simply no comparison between what is happening in the Sinai right now and Belfast, none whatsoever, its completely disingenious to even make that comparison.

Tourists have been killed on the Sinai, they are a legitimate target for the local band of extremist Islamic terrorists. If they never killed a tourist before I might say to myself, fair enough, its a local war. Problem is they have killed tourists, thats where I draw the line on someone calling a place "perfectly safe".

mickman

Heard this stuff before i went to mexico also and it was completely safe

dvcireland

Worth a read

Egypt- British Foreign Office Travel Advice
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

Department of Foreign Affairs Travel Advice

https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/egypt/

Muahahaha

mickman wrote: »

Heard this stuff before i went to mexico also and it was completely safe

As always safety is relative. I was once less than 5 miles from a bomb that killed 28 Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir in Northern India. I didn't know it until 3 days after the event, that's how 'safe' I was from it.

There's been 25,000+ extra judicial murders in the drug wars in Mexico in the last few years. For tourists though this has generally never been a problem as tourists aren't the target of the drug wars.

On the Sinai peninsula tourists are a target. So while the British and Irish embassies might give warnings about travel to Mexico some simple research shows that tourists are generally very safe there. They also warn against all but essential travel to the Sinai but as we know tourists are a target there. So for me they're two different levels of risk.