Sharm el Sheikh - egypt

LegacyUser

has anyone been?

bringitdown

Nope but it has world class diving Rob, great place to learn as I have been told by many's the diver it is a real nice place.

USIT had a dealio there a while ago - flights, 7 nights, transfers and open water certification for cheapish (€700pp)

http://www.goredsea.com/EN_sharm-el-sheikh.aspx

LegacyUser

coolaboola, got a week in 4* hotel for just over €400, nice.

davidoco

you won't believe

how blue the sea is
how warm the water is
how touristy it is
how sand and rock mountains can be so scenic
the drivers
the divers
the prices (cheap)
the russians

I only have a passing knowledge of Sharm itself as I stayed an hour up the road in Dahab. Pictures attached. If your taking a two week in say a 3 star with flights, leave your hotel for 5 or 6 days in the middle and head up to Dahab. A basic very clean hotel in Dahab off season per night 20 euro. Meal for two drinks etc 10 euro at the most. Food is just OK.

Dellgirl

Did you book it on-line? Thats really cheap - isint it?

davidoco

photo upload did not work

see this link instead

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/davidoco2004/album?.dir=/1577

davidoco

off home now 5.30 15/06/05

Went it alone, but it's hard to get a flight only. You would nearly be better booking a flight with hotel and just don't bother going to the hotel.

more info tomorrow if you need it.

LegacyUser

thanks for that, look's fantastic, gotta get a camel ride!

davidoco wrote:

photo upload did not work

see this link instead

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/davidoco2004/album?.dir=/1577

LegacyUser

booked it off www.teletextholidays.co.uk

leaving from london, so i had to pay for ryanair flight too, which was €130!
not as cheap as usual, but what can you do.

Blingarella wrote:

Did you book it on-line? Thats really cheap - isint it?

Dellgirl

Thanks for that. Have a great time!

MorningStar

Been there. I was nice but there are a few things that can effect your stay.
Check where the hotel is. Our hotel was Sharm El Sheikh but was not close to the town so we were more or less stuck in the hotel. There are a lot of casinos in the town.
While the place was hot the pool was too cold to swim in. The sea was warm but the hotel beach wasn't sheltered so swiming in the sea wasn't on all the time as it was too rough.

It's a bit weird as you can see big money signs and at the same time the place looks shabby and poor. It's a party town if you want but you can take it easy if you want.

LegacyUser

this is the hotel, http://212.161.124.21/book/hotel_desc.asp?HID=20041220101504416897&hn=Cleopatra%20Tsokkos%20Hotel

not too far from the town.

how cheap is it MorningStar?

Juan Pablo

I spent a week there last July, very enjoyable holiday. 5 star resort (booked over lastminute.com for a little over €500 all inc from London) with a private beach with an airconned shuttle bus bringing you back and forth. Food was excellent in the resort (Belgian run, Kiroseiz), didn't have anything more adventerous than a KFC outdoors!

Whats good:
Glass bottom boat trips and diving/snorkeling in that wonderful blue sea packed with coral.
The shisha; a great way to start and end the night, perfect with some turkish coffee.
Old Sharm; you must visit here for some shopping (buy your ciggies here, you can haggle them down to €3 for 200), an experience to say the least!
The Taxis: Old school blue and white Peugeot 504 estates, the car that seems to drive africa. Loads of them and dirt cheap too, most drivers are entertaining.
Bars and Clubs in new Sharm are nice, drink is reasonably priced but not the best tasting, due to the fact they are Muslims all alcohol for the tourists is brewed in one place in Cairo, so the vodka tastes a bit ginny etc but you'll be so thirsty you wont notice.
Casinos: No poker, only table games. Sharm Grand probably the nicest but they are all pretty impressive. American Dollars only. A lot of Lebanese and Palestinians holiday here and enjoy to get their gamble on, interesting bunch to mix with. American Roulette so you have 0 and 00. Stick to the table texas holdem or poker 3 for best ROI if you will be gaming.

Whats not so good:
The heat: Can climb above 50 in midday so stay in from 12 to 3.
The water: Pack your diralyte and motillium!
The touts: Constant hassle walking down the street, although they do speak better russian than english which is funny
The Russians: Odd bunch of people on holiday. Find Brazillian people and party with them.
The Airport: Its a military airport and quite small, delays are normal and queues for getting your passport stamped can be long and unorganised.
The Money: Stupid monopoly currency. American Dollars are better.

All in all you should have a great time, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

MorningStar

paperclip wrote:

this is the hotel, http://212.161.124.21/book/hotel_desc.asp?HID=20041220101504416897&hn=Cleopatra%20Tsokkos%20Hotel

not too far from the town.

how cheap is it MorningStar?

I have no idea what distance it was to the town. We stayed in the Radison SAS so maybe you can figure out how far that is I'd guess it was abou 3-4km. There are taxis and hotel bus services.

The food was all in but I really didn't think much of it. While it seemed like a good idea when booking I would have rathered eat out once there. Even when we ate out the food didn't seem up to much. I don't remember thinking anything was cheap at all. The local spirits and drinks were all pretty bad and foreign stuff was expensive especially spirits.

It's a bit of a party town for the rich nationals and the russians. It depends on your age but I didn't fancy nightclubs in the town. The big draw seems to be the scuba diving which is apparently some of the best in the world.
It's shabby in the town but there are a lot of new hotels outside of town. I'd prefer to go to France and get better food and nicer surroundings. I am more of a city person so it could be me.
I was there for Christmas so it was off there main season but it wasn't quite.

LegacyUser

thanks for feedback guys, first holiday with the gf, she's dark skin, indian, so she'll be ok, factor 50 for me!

will prob get a bottle of vodka in duty free.

MorningStar

paperclip wrote:

thanks for feedback guys, first holiday with the gf, she's dark skin, indian, so she'll be ok, factor 50 for me!

will prob get a bottle of vodka in duty free.

There are also duty free shops in the town but you must buy in them within a day or two on your arrival. Weird thing is over there. Hope you are a smoker, they smoke everywhere all the time. If you go with Air Egypt there is a smoking section on the plane.

LegacyUser

not a smoker, but will be bringing back smokes for mates.

Superman

Hi,
Was there in jan it was really good, its real nice has good beaches great views and alot of trips can be arranged, haggle a good bit and buy things like water in smaller shops, helps the people and there usually way cheaper.
If you want to do something amazing go for a trip to mt. sinia, sdo the walk up to see the sunrise, they have groups and its amazing up there, It was the best thing about my trip to egypt, now its not an easy walk and wouldn't recommend it to kids or peole with heart problems but its well worth it. And don't worry you can buy hats and gloves there, I think it's the only place in egypt where you will see snow ( or Firn, if you want to get all technical about it).
Hope you have a great time.