SinaiNet Lifestyle & Travel Guide

Dahab

Just an hour up the coast from the bright lights of Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab’s vibe couldn’t feel more different. Despite the last couple of years seeing the sanitisation of the town’s promenade to make it frighteningly like Naama’s, it still maintains a small town feel with an abundance of coffee shops and beach cafes to spend your days relaxing and just watching them pass slowly by.

It is nearly always windy in Dahab. This exposure to the elements makes it an ideal location for wind surfers and kite surfers who take to the seas at incredible speed much to the lazier beach residents entertainment. If you’re feeling energetic then there is plenty on offer with lessons in wind and kite surfing, shore diving (the famous Blue Hole is here in Dahab), or learning to free-dive.

As for places to stay, the two major hotels just out of town are the Hilton and the Swiss Inn, located on the Dahab city side on the lagoon.

Actually in town you might want to consider the recently opened Eldorado Lodge which is Italian run and boasts the only Italian Restaurant in town (apparently) which serves an exceptionally good salami pizza. There are two types of rooms available, with or without bathroom. The rooms are a little on the small side but are impeccably clean, nicely furnished, have AC and the bathrooms are tiled throughout and have fresh hot and cold running water. The shared bathroom has a couple of showers and is kept clean.

Its location is right on the beach, about a 10 minute walk north along the promenade, and the restaurant provides the ideal spot for spending a long lazy breakfast. Prices from 25 Euro for a double room without bathroom and 40 Euro for a double room with bathroom. Prices include breakfast. For further information on Eldorado Lodge click here.

If that is still out of your price range then Dahab has a number of the more traditional style camps still of varying quality. A good idea is to ask around or better still have a look around town before you commit to where you’re going to stay but one place that does come recommended is the newly re-furbished Bishi Bishi Camp (069 3640727). Here you will get clean, nicely furnished rooms, with or without a bathroom for anything between 50LE and 100LE. The cheaper rooms are yet to be re-furbished or don’t have bathrooms and its apparently well worth ‘splashing out’ on the higher priced rooms and getting yourself one of the newer, en-suite rooms.