Red Sea diving: Alternatives to Sharm el-Sheikh

Dahab, 80km northeast of Sharm el Sheik, is one of the Sinai’s most treasured diving destinations. (Wolfgang Poelzer /Getty)

• Related slideshow: Fantastic historical dive sites

Sandwiched in between, the Sinai Peninsula, with its arid landscape and enchanting underwater world, is one of Egypt's biggest tourism draw cards. Although chiefly known for the busy all-inclusive resorts and world class diving of Sharm el-Sheikh, several lower-key options further north offer similar prolific marine life and rainbow coral, all in a relaxed atmosphere.  

If you are holidaying for the diving, October to November and February to March are your best bet. In October and November, prime Sinai holiday season, daytime temperatures still regularly top 25C. During the depths of winter, December and January, the Red Sea is at its choppiest, making some dive sites more difficult to access and reducing underwater visibility. The temperature also regularly dips below freezing once the sun sets.

Dahab: The independently-minded beach resort
Dahab, a Bedouin village approximately 80km northeast of Sharm el Sheik, has grown from a scruffy hippy hangout into a mellow tourism centre that is one of the Sinai’s most treasured diving destinations. For beginners, Dahab offers an enticing mix of superb shallow, shore-accessed dives and plenty of fellow novices to share a beer with afterwards. More advanced divers will be lured to the challenge of the Blue Hole dive site just north of town. 

Be warned, this is not a traditional beach break; central Dahab's narrow, pebbly shoreline is speckled with Bedouin-inspired restaurants where travellers lounge sipping fruit juice and gazing out to sea. Distinctly chilled-out, non-flashy and ultra-friendly, Dahab pairs all the amenities of a holiday town with a more authentic Egyptian experience.

Budget-conscious travellers flock here for the guesthouses and hostels, but Dahab has evolved to offer plenty of family-friendly and mid-range accommodations as well, making it an excellent option if you prefer to forgo fancy hotels in favour of low-rise, independently-operated places. All the accommodations either have their own dive centre attached or can recommend one nearby.

Red Sea Relax is one of the most reputable hotels, with a wide-variety of comfortable rooms and an excellent dive centre. For mid-range comfort Christina Beach Palace offers lovely bungalows amid well-tended gardens while still an easy stroll from all the restaurants. If you are looking for affordability, Alaska Camp and Hotel is a long-standing favourite of the Dahab scene for its good value and spick-and-span rooms.

There are also many excellent affordable eateries in the area; Seabride (just off al-Mashraba St, Mashraba; 069-364-0891) dishes up a menu of fresh fish and crustaceans with a particularly delectable seafood soup. The Kitchen (Shorefront Promenade, Masbat; 2-019-595-9764) has a novella of a menu serving local takes on Indian, Japanese and Thai favourites.

Dahab dive sites
Lighthouse Reef: This ideal novice diver site has a sloping reef that teems with a wide variety of fish and can be accessed right off the shore in the centre of town. But this is also where most of Dahab's dive centres carry out their open water dive training, so do not expect to have the marine world to yourself.

Eel Garden: The name explains what slithery marine life you will encounter here, but the site is also home to some excellent coral boulders and, if you are a more experienced diver, is an excellent starting point for a drift dive to the Lighthouse Reef.

Islands: This is one of Dahab's most beautiful dive sites. The surreal coral gulleys and valleys below the sea's surface are a fantasyland of vibrant colours and shapes. Shore access means that novice divers can easily peak into this strange world while the more experienced will find exploring the topography a delight.

Canyon: This otherworldly underwater canyon, more like a tunnel in parts, is justifiably popular. Look out for puffer fish, moray eels and shoals of lionfish while spotting colourful coral formations along the reef walls which are doused in an ethereal blue light.

Blue Hole: This dive site is more famous for claiming dozens of diver's lives than for its actual beauty, which is a shame as this fascinating sinkhole, around 130m deep, is teeming with marine life on its edges and can be explored safely as long as divers do not go beyond their depth.