Snorkeling, Sharm El Sheikh

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There's another way to "go to Rome and not seeing the pope" - it is going to Sharm el Sheikh without snorkelling. The area is composed by two different type of snorkelling places - the good, and the excellent ones. We visited both.

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We booked this to go on a boat trip where we could snorkel and swim again but this time it was in the day time. We was all inclusive drinks and food again and sea is amazing as always. A good day out which didn't cost alot. The red sea is out of this world and the fish are amazing. Look at the pictures there is a russian vodka ship run a ground on the reef as well which looks good. For the reef they are special and you need to visit it of a boat to get to the back side of some off them where they have steap walls of reef. PUKKA

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I went on a trip to the blue hole after hearing alot about it. There is a few grave stones on the side of the beach on a rock area because quite a few divers have lost there life here. I was told my a diver there that you had to go down through a hole into a cave or something like that. I never went diving here just snorkelling for the day. The snorkelling was amazing and see alot of different colours and fish. There was places to eat a long the beach front, only little shackes which did good food and drink. You could go on a camel ride if you want there but the main thing is diving or snorkelling and its an area i would do again if i went back.

Snorkeling in the blue hole is a must for everyone. I can't swim but went a day trip to the blue hole at Dahab and the tour guide gave me a life jacket and took me out into the sea off the jetty. Its called the blue hole as it seems to drop into the bottom of the sea and is the most amazing blue colour with endless amounts of colourful fish. Its like being in another world and the fact i did this without being able to swim means anybody can do this

You can easily find two words created from bricks, those are at the bottom of the sea. Go to the beach area of Hilton hotels and start to snorkel. The first word VOVA, which means water in Russian, is very close the beach. The second word SUOMI, which means Finland in Finnish can be found right after the coral edge, depth of water is about 6-7 meters. The words are made of bricks and each letter is almost 1 meter of height, no possibility to miss...

Snorkelling and Scuba diving is what the Red sea is famous for, so be sure not to miss the opportunity! There is fish and coral to be seen just out from the beach in Naama bay, so if you don't want to go out on a day trip in a boat, you can still enjoy snorkelling.
Most boat trips leave from the Marina, and go to Ras Mohamed National Park, which takes about 90 minutes to get there, so it's not a trip for those susceptible to sea sickness. The coral is much more extensive there, and there are bigger fish to see. The water is warm and clear, and relatively sheltered, although not nearly like walking out from the beach in front of your hotel!
Despite being in the 'open' ocean, the tour operators were crowded in around the same area, and tried to keep the group of 20+ tourists so close together that it was elbow to elbow! Might be worth booking a more expensive tour if you can afford it to reduce numbers.

Do bring along snorkelling gear - although you can buy gear in sharm
Do hire the spring wetsuit if you are likely to get cold in the water
Do bring along a jersey or something warm - 2 hours in sea wind does get cold - despite the sun
Don't bother if you get sea sick easily - there is no solid ground for 8 hours!

On my Sharm website: Full description of my experiences

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You can't come to the Red Sea without snorkelling or diving. Even if like me you are not a qualified diver this shouldn't stop you from viewing the fantastic reefs. Our party of 7 hired our own private boat and guide for half a day... We were taken to several dive sites and our guide showed us the best places to view... we only snorkelled (hired some of the kit from the dive centre at our hotel, Hilton Sharks Bay), but the sights were amazing. The cost of the boat and guide for half a day was only £75 (haggled again!!!), between 7 of us that was just over a tenner each!!! great value.
We also stopped of at a remote island for a picnic... it was desolate and very hot... but an experience. It gave us time to relax before we returned back to Sharks Bay.

Tour guides/reps are all over the place touting for business, often approaching you around the hotels.. haggle and you wont go wrong... well worth it!

You have got to snorkel when you're in Sharm El Sheikh.

The Red Sea is one of the best locations in the world for snorkelling and scuba-diving and you will find plenty of opportunities to try both (although you have to be pretty fit and healthy to scuba).

I am not a strong or even a keen swimmer, being frightened of being out of my depth in the water and not being keen on not being able to reach the side, so although I wanted to snorkel I was terrified!

I got a mask and snorkel and spent ages practising in the hotel pool until I was confident about the way it all worked.

Then I walked out across the coral on the jetty from our hotel beach. Beautiful fish can be seen from the jetty and they even play with your toes as you walk along. At the end of the jetty the reef ends and the water is very deep and very blue....beautiful, and scary!

With the help of my daughter (she literally held my hand), I got into the water and snorkelled a litle way from the jetty, and back again. I'd done it!!

We then joined a Thomson Red Sea Cruise excursion from our hotel. A lovely day. Two hours cruising towards Tiran Island, seeing a shark (don't panic) and dolphins on the way. Two snorkelling dips with a life-jacket and a very supportive dive-master and then a great lunch aboard our boat, "Moscow". Two hours of relaxation later we had a final snorkel and then returned to Sharm. I cannot begin to remember all the different types of fish and coral we saw but they included Nemo, stingrays, Napoleon fish, parrot fish, pufferfish.....

It is one of those things you "have to do" and you'll probably never be in a better place to try it than when you're in the Red Sea (the water's warm too!!)