Nature Travel Egypt

30/06/2014

Dahab, Egypt

Dahab means 'gold' in Arabic – a name given to the area because of its golden sands. With a unique location on the edge of the Sinai desert, Dahab certainly remains an untapped treasure; budget accommodation almost on the beach means you can virtually roll out of your sleeping bag and into the water. Backed by mountain ranges, Dahab's Bedouin settlement, Assalah, is a favoured beach-bum haunt, with unspoilt charm and chilled beachside
cafes, while up the coast are favoured and famous diving spots. Expensive resort-style hotels are at El Kura, where the bus stops; Assalah village in Mashraba Bay is much more chilled.

30/06/2014

Dahab, Sinai, Egypt

While the beach is not the most amazing (the coral that once flourished, is now mostly bleached and/or broken) the township is still a fantastic drawcard for those wanting a beach destination in Egypt without the masses in Sharm El Shiekh down the road. You can pick up a cheap room in a guesthouse for around $30 a night, even cheaper if you get one with a cold shower. So it makes a great budget destination.

Scuba diving in the Red Sea is super cheap. Around 40 Euros for a discover sub dive and 270 euros for your 3 days PADI open water course. Nearby is the Blue Hole, one of natures wonders, a 130 meter deep hole in the earth, popular with snorkelers and advanced divers.

30/06/2014

Keep it simple ... Basata camp eco village in Egypt. Photograph: Alamy
1. Basata Camp, Egypt

Those who've been rave about the sense of tranquility and escape at this simple eco village, 24km north of Nuweiba on the Sinai. The owners have won awards for their social and environmental work, and claim to have started Egypt's first recycling programme. Stay in simple bamboo huts on the beach, mud brick Arabic-style houses, or camp (they can provide tents), then slob out under a thatched roof on piles of rugs and cushions until you've had enough mint tea and pastries to fuel a gentle patter to the sea.

29/06/2014

Beaches and diving spots

The coral reef along the Sinai coast is world famous and it is a major international diving destination. Apart from scuba diving snorkeling is also very popular and so are other water sports, such as free-diving, windsurfing, kitesurfing. There are also glass-bottomed boat excursions for families and those who are less keen to submerge into the water. Most of the coast is quite rocky, but there are little stretches and bays with fine sandy beaches. Most places of interest for visitors are on the Gulf of Aqaba coast. On the Gulf of Suez coast there is no coral and diving, but the beaches around Ras Sudr are popular with people from Cairo.

29/06/2014

Sinai Visa and Egypt Visa
The last consideration to make if you plan to visit Sinai is which visa you need. If you’re coming from Cairo or anywhere else in non-Sinai Egypt this is not an issue, since you’ve get a proper Egyptian visa stamped in your passport on arrival at Cairo airport.

Coming from Israel, things get a little tricker. Egyptian immigration officials issue free, 14-day Sinai-only visas at the Taba Border crossing. Thing is, they really mean “Sinai Only.” Not only can you not travel to Cairo or elsewhere in Egypt with this visa, but it isn’t possible to upgrade it to a full visa from within Egypt.


As a result, I recommend you stop by the Egyptian consulate in Eilat before you cross the border at Taba. The consulate, which is located about 30 minutes’ walking time from the Eilat airport and bus station, opens at 9:30 a.m. and can have your visa ready by 1 p.m., or in plenty of time for you to cross the border and get to wherever you need to go in Sinai on the same day.

29/06/2014

Agiba Beach

25/06/2014

Discover the Nuweiba coast: Red Sea, Egypt ( awesome view )

25/06/2014

Dahab is a bohemian hippie community located about halfway down the Sinai peninsula along its eastern coast.

24/06/2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08pI5fnRGDQ

Egypt, Dahab, Blue Hole, Bells

24/06/2014

Dahab is located some 85 km (53 miles) north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Gulf of Aqaba, near the southern tip of Sinai. Once an isolated coastal village, Dahab turned into a hippie hangout in the 1980′s and became something of an “alternative resort”, mixing cheap accommodation with a laid back lifestyle. Activities such as wind surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving and camel and jeep trips make it one of the most popular destinations along the Red Sea.

24/06/2014

blue hole in dahab