Sharm el Sheikh was once a lonely bay used solely by Egyptian fishermen until it became the Red Sea's first destination for scuba divers. As time has gone by, it developed at a rate of knots. Still the premier dive destination in the country, it has also become a magnet for sun-loving holiday makers.

Sharm can be divided into two main areas: the bay of Sharm el Maya where the port and fishing fleet is located, which has retained some of it's Egyptian flavour with bazaars, supermarkets and restaurants and the larger, more populated Na'ama Bay where most of the hotels and tourists are.

A wide choice of well-known dive sites are easy to reach. The most frequented is world-famous Ras Mohammed National Park. A little further south, the Straights of Gubal reveal a mass of wrecks including the equally famous Thistlegorm. The Straights of Tiran, Gordon, Woodhouse and many other well known reefs are closer to Sharm. Each is full of life, with hard and soft corals supporting a huge variety of marine species.