Must-see attractions in Sinai

  • Mt Sinai, Sinai Desert, Egypt, Africa

    Mt Sinai

    Sinai

    Known locally as Gebel Musa, Mt Sinai is revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, all of whom believe that God delivered his Ten Commandments to Moses at…

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    St Catherine's Monastery

    Sinai

    This ancient monastery traces its founding to about AD 330, when Byzantine empress Helena had a small chapel and a fortified refuge for local hermits…

  • Coral Reef at the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt.

    Blue Hole

    Dahab

    Carved into a reef, 8km north of Dahab, is Egypt’s most infamous dive site. The Blue Hole is a gaping sinkhole that drops straight down – some say…

  • Scuba diver at the famous Thistlegorm ship wreck.

    Thistlegorm

    Sharm El Sheikh

    One of the top five wreck dives in the world, the Thistlegorm is a 129m-long cargo ship built in Sunderland, England, which was sunk during World War II…

  • Tropical fish at coral reef in the Red sea in Ras Mohammed national park, Sinai peninsula in Egypt.

    Ras Mohammed National Park

    Sinai

    The waters surrounding this peninsula, 20km west of Sharm El Sheikh, are home to spectacular coral reefs, including the world-famous Shark and Jolanda…

  • Sandy coral reef in shallow Ras Um Sid, Egypt.

    Ras Um Sid

    Sharm El Sheikh

    One of the best dive sites in the area, Ras Um Sid features a spectacular gorgonian forest along a dramatic drop-off that hosts a great variety of reef…

  • Colorful Rainbow wrasse fish in Thomas reef, Red Sea, Egypt.

    Thomas Reef

    Sharm El Sheikh

    The smallest, but easily the most spectacular, of the Tiran reefs, Thomas is home to steeply plunging walls that are lined with soft coral, schooling fish…

  • Dunraven

    Sharm El Sheikh

    The Dunraven sank in 1876 on its way from Bombay to Newcastle. Today the wreck, found at the southeast tip of Sha’ab Mahmud, is encrusted in coral and…

  • Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate

    Sinai

    The starkly beautiful Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate covers 400 sq km of coastline between Dahab and Nuweiba, mixing coastal mountains, narrow valleys, sand…

  • Nabq Protectorate

    Sinai

    Thirty-five kilometres north of Sharm El Sheikh, Nabq is the largest coastal protectorate on the Gulf of Aqaba. Named after an oasis that lies within its…

  • Cargo from the wreck of the Yolanda at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

    Shark & Jolanda Reefs

    Ras Mohammed National Park

    This two-for-one special off the southern tip of Ras Mohammed is among the most famous dives in the Red Sea and rated one of the top five dives in the…

  • Steps of Repentance

    Sinai

    The alternative path to Mt Sinai's summit comprises the taxing 3750 Steps of Repentance, which begin outside the southeastern corner of St Catherine's…

  • Serabit Al Khadim

    Sinai

    One of Sinai's most impressive sites, this ruined Pharaonic temple is surrounded by ancient turquoise mines and starkly beautiful landscapes. Turquoise…

  • Church of the Transfiguration

    Sinai

    Inside St Catherine's Monastery, this ornately decorated 6th-century church has a nave flanked by marble columns and walls covered in richly gilded icons…

  • Gardens

    Sharm El Sheikh

    At the perennially popular Gardens there are actually three sites in one. Near Garden is home to a lovely chain of pinnacles; Middle Garden features a…

  • St Katherine Protectorate

    Sinai

    St Katherine's Protectorate encompasses a rugged landscape of high-altitude desert. Amid this national park, enclosed within stark mountains, is a wealth…

  • Gebel Serbal

    Sinai

    To the south of Wadi Feiran, the 2070m Gebel Serbal (believed by early Christians to have been the real Mt Sinai) is a challenging six-hour hike to the…

  • Coloured Canyon

    Sinai

    This canyon derives its name from the layers of bright, multicoloured stones that resemble paintings on its steep, narrow walls. It's magnificently…

  • Sha'ab Abu Nuhas

    Sinai

    More than a few ships have come a-cropper on this reef, just north of Shedwan Island, so if you're a wreck diving fan, this reef should be high on your…

  • Burning Bush

    Sinai

    It’s possible to see what is thought to be a descendant of the original burning bush in the St Catherine's Monastery compound; however, because of…

  • Kingston

    Sinai

    In 1881 the Kingston (a British iron screw steamer) was on its way to Aden when it struck the reef at Shag Rock and sank. The wreck is now a fascinating…

  • Small Crack

    Sharm El Sheikh

    Turtles, leopard sharks and reef sharks are sometimes spotted zipping about the long outer reef wall here, which is encrusted with gorgonian corals. This…

  • Monastery Museum

    Sinai

    Above the Well of Moses in St Catherine's Monastery is the superb Monastery Museum, which has been magnificently restored. It has displays (labelled in…

  • Bluff Point

    Sinai

    This steep wall dive with the small wreck onsite known as the Gubal Barge, is a popular add-on to Thistlegorm dive trips. Around the reef you'll easily…

  • Amphoras

    Sharm El Sheikh

    A good choice for a drift dive, this dive site gets its name from an Ottoman shipwreck found here which was carrying a cargo of amphoras. Not much remains…

  • Pharaoh’s Island

    Sinai

    About 7km south of Taba and 250m off the Egyptian coast, this tiny islet in turquoise waters is dominated by the much-restored Castle of Salah Ad Din. The…

  • Al Sahaba Mosque

    Sharm El Sheikh

    Designed by Fouad Tawfik, Sharm El Sheikh's new mosque fuses Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman style elements into its architecture and interior design. Whether…

  • Sinker

    Nuweiba

    The Sinker is a massive submerged mooring buoy designed for cargo ships, which was sunk by mistake in the mid-1990s. Since then it has developed into a…

  • Shark Observatory

    Ras Mohammed National Park

    This dive site, underneath the promontory of the same name, takes its name from the fact that whale sharks can occasionally be sighted while diving here…

  • Gordon Reef

    Sharm El Sheikh

    This large reef is fantastic for sealife spotting with banner fish, parrot fish, cornet fish and blue-spotted sting rays all flitting through the hard…

  • Tower

    Sharm El Sheikh

    The wide canyon here houses coral-covered pinnacles where you'll spot plenty of nudibranchs and flitting lionfish. This dive site is also known for chance…

  • Bells

    Dahab

    Bells is a narrow breach in the reef table that forms a pool close to shore. From here, divers can descend through a chimney, exiting onto a ledge at 27m…

  • Gabr El Bint

    Dahab

    This dive 25km south of Dahab features a dramatic seascape highlighted by a 60m wall cut by numerous chasms, faults and sandy ravines. If you access the…

  • Mayet El Wishwashi

    Sinai

    The area around the spring of Mayat El Wishwashi is great for hiking. The actual spring is hidden within a canyon and only has only a trickle of water,…

  • Mangrove Channel

    Ras Mohammed National Park

    Green arrows lead to Ras Mohammed's Mangrove Channel, one of the most northerly mangrove forests in the world. Nearby, you can see huge cracks (one of the…

  • Wadi Mukattab

    Sinai

    Here Sinai’s largest collection of rock inscriptions and stelae, some dating back to the 3rd dynasty, give evidence of ancient turquoise-mining activities…

  • Hammam Musa

    Sinai

    Tradition holds that these hot springs, about 5km from Al Tor, were one of the possible stopping points used by Moses and the Israelites on their journey…

  • Umm Sid

    Dahab

    An impressive entrance through a wide corridor carved into a steeply sloping reef is a highlight of this dive site 15km south of Dahab. Further down you…

  • Forest of Pillars

    Sinai

    Inland from the temple of Serabit Al Khadim, a track heads through the colourful wadis of Gebel Foga to the cliffs that edge Gebel Et Tih Tih and the…

  • Eel Garden

    Dahab

    Eel Garden takes its name from the countless garden eels that carpet the sea floor. Other highlights include huge coral boulders and dense congregations…