The Sinai Peninsula is often overlooked on Egypt tours, but wrongfully so. With Mount Sinai, Saint Catherine’s Monastery and numerous world-class dive sites, the Sinai can easily hold its own against more popular destinations in Lower and Upper Egypt.
From our experience, these are 10+ of the best activities on and along the Sinai Peninsula ranging from scuba diving to hiking, nature to history and relaxation to adventure.
Key Takeaways
- Explore the Sinai Peninsula by visiting key spots like Mount Sinai for sunrise hikes, Saint Catherine’s Monastery for history, and the Red Sea coast for scuba diving and snorkeling.
- Travel to Sinai easily via flights to Sharm El-Sheikh or take buses/ferries from mainland Egypt and Jordan.
- Experience local culture by joining camel safaris along the Red Sea and visiting Bedouin camps for traditional food and hospitality.
- Choose your stay based on your interests: Sharm El-Sheikh for resorts, Dahab for outdoor activities and budget travel, or Nuweiba for a quiet, nature-focused retreat.
- Key Takeaways
- Introduction to the Sinai Peninsula
- How to Get to the Sinai Peninsula
- 10+ Activities You Cannot Miss on the Sinai Peninsula
- Go Scuba Diving in the Red Sea
- Visit Saint Catherine’s Monastery
- Go Free Diving in the Blue Hole
- Catch the Sunrise from Mount Sinai
- Explore the Red Sea Coast on a Camel
- Learn Windsurfing in the Blue Lagoon
- Go on a Day Trip to Ras Mohammed National Park
- Visit the Colored Canyon and Wadi Wishwash
- Explore the Mangroves of Nabq National Park
- Enjoy a Coffee at Farsha Café
- Where to Stay on the Sinai Peninsula
- The Bottom Line
- Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction to the Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula is a large triangular landmass in Egypt, covering about 60,000 square kilometers. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south. To the west it is separated from mainland Egypt by the Suez Canal, while it borders Gaza and Israel in the east.
Administratively, Sinai, Egypt, is divided in two governorates: North Sinai and South Sinai. Arish on the shore of Mediterranean Sea is the administrative capital of North Sinai, while El Tor functions as the administrative center of the south.
The Sinai Peninsula is famous for its deserts, mountains, and beautiful beaches. Mount Sinai, a sacred mountain, is a popular spot for visitors and pilgrims. Touristically, South Sinai is far more developed with cities like Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab and Nuweiba offering great places to stay and explore.
How to Get to the Sinai Peninsula
En route to Egypt? Make the best of your Egypt trip by adding the Sinai to your itinerary. Let’s find out together how to get to the Sinai Peninsula from different places in Egypt:
- From Overseas: Getting directly to the Sinai Peninsula from overseas is easiest via plane to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport. Alternatively, you could arrive to the peninsula via St. Catherine’s International Airport, though it is still sparsely used at the time of writing this article. From Sharm El-Sheikh you can take a bus or a taxi to your respective destination.
- From Mainland Egypt: To visit Sinai from mainland Egypt, you can either take domestic flight to Sharm El-Sheikh Airport or take an overnight bus from Cairo to either Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab or Nuweiba. Note that night buses have to cross the Suez Canal which usually includes thorough checks and might cause delays.
- From Jordan: To visit Sinai from Jordan, you can purchase a ticket on the Aqaba Nuweiba ferry that operates between Jordan and Egypt. The commercial ferry crosses the Gulf of Aqaba once a daily with. ticket prices ranging from $60 to $80. Tickets can be bought directly on the website of AB Maritime. Alternatively, you can also take a ferry from Aqaba to Taba.
Looking for more information on the Aqaba Nuweiba Ferry? We documented our experience taking the ferry in a separate article.
10+ Activities You Cannot Miss on the Sinai Peninsula
When visiting the Sinai Peninsula, there is a number of places you just cannot miss. These are 10+ of my personal favourites on the Sinai Peninsula that I would recommend to anyone looking for things to do on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula:
Go Scuba Diving in the Red Sea
According to various sources, the Red Sea regularly features as one of the five best dive destinations in the whole world. Often times it even comes in second place just after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Just recently, the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine reaffirmed just how great the scuba diving conditions are in the Red Sea, naming Ras Mohammed National Park near Sharm El-Sheikh as one of the best dive sites in the world.
During their stay on the Sinai Peninsula, one can simply not go without a dip in the warm waters of the Red Sea to explore its lush marine life and extensive coral reefs. For casual scuba diving, tourists can go to Sharm El-Sheikh. More experienced divers or this seeking to attend courses for diving licenses might opt for Dahab over Sharm El-Sheikh to enjoy easier access to shore diving and smaller crowds.
Visit Saint Catherine’s Monastery
The Sinai’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Catherine’s Monastery is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery. Located right in the heart of the Sinai desert, its location is symbolic for its proximity to Mount Sinai where God spoke to Moses. The monastery was built in the 6th century AD on the orders of Byzantine emperor Justinian I to enclose the burning bush that was referenced in the Torah, the Old Testament and even Islamic Scripture.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery not only features a church, but also a Fatimid-era mosque and, of course, the Burning Bush. Today, Saint Catherine’s Monastery regularly opens its doors to curious tourists and pilgrims visiting to see the monastery and hike Mount Sinai after. To visit Saint Catherine’s Monastery, you can book private and group tours from Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Nuweiba.
Go Free Diving in the Blue Hole
When it comes to dive sites along the Sinai Peninsula, no single site has garnered nearly as much international attention as the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is located just a few kilometres north of Dahab just off the shore of the Sinai Peninsula. As the name also gives away, this dive site consists of a blue hoe with a depth of just about 100 meters. The Blue Hole not only features plenty of marine life, but also a number of technical diving challenges. The Arch, for example, is an underwater stone arch located at a depth of 26 meters.
Since it first gained public attention in the 1960s, the Blue Hole has grown to become one of the world’s most iconic dive sites, especially for free divers. Thousands of free divers and scuba divers have flocked to the Blue Hole over the years, looking to tackle to technical challenge of traversing The Arch, some of which have succumbed to the challenge. A memorial on the ‘Bells’ entrance of the Blue Hole remembers some of the divers that didn’t return from the Blue Hole. Still though, free diving at the Blue Hole is considered safe with a professional instructor and highly recommended for diving enthusiasts.
Catch the Sunrise from Mount Sinai
When it comes to hiking in the Sinai desert, Mount Sinai is definitely the non-plus-ultra. While the summit hike of Mount Sinai isn’t all too technical – it’s a pilgrimage route after all – its religious significance is unmatched. For those who don’t know yet, Mount Sinai is said to be the site where Moses received the Ten Commandments from god. To the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Mount Sinai is a holy site. Whether you are religious or not, summiting Mount Sinai is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences you will be raving about for the rest of your life, I promise.
The summit hike is usually done at night, avoiding the daytime heat during the summer months, but also allowing your to catch the sunrise over the Sinai mountains in the morning. Most tours make it to the top within four hours, giving you some time to rest before the fiery-red sun rises of the mountains for one of the most beautiful sunrises of your life. After enjoying the panoramic views, you will hike back down and be taken back to where you started your tour.
Explore the Red Sea Coast on a Camel
The Red Sea coast is long and the dive sites along it plentiful. Especially during shorter stays it seems like an impossible task to hit all of them or even to choose the best of them. Each dive site has its very own features that make it special, making a decision extremely hard. Therefore, more and more tourists opt for so-called camel safaris along the Red Sea Coast.
On a camel safari, you stop at several dive site within a couple of days, crossing the distance between each of them on the back of a camel. This not only allows you to experience multiple world-class dive sites within a few days, but also introduces you to another defining facet of the Sinai Peninsula: Bedouin life.
Bedouins have lived in the Sinai desert for thousands of years and have made a name for themselves for camel herding among other things. During a camel safari, you will not only learn about the Sinai’s nature, but also its history and culture. For an authentic experience, make sure to book with a local provider such as Desert Divers Dahab.
Learn Windsurfing in the Blue Lagoon
Traveling north along the Red Sea Coast, you will eventually hit a calm shallow bay on the Red Sea coast. While technically not being a real lagoon, this spot is commonly referred to as the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon can be reached by boat or by foot, hiking along the rugged coast. From the north, the Blue Lagoon is also accessible by truck, though this route is mostly used to bring supplies to camps in the lagoon.
In the Blue Lagoon, you can find solitude between alternative cafés, starry night skies and a refreshing lack of cellphone signal. For entertainment, you can take a chance at trying a new sport in windsurfing. There is several windsurfing schools in the Blue Lagoon offering introductory lessons to this challenging sport. If you prefer watching from the sidelines, we recommend visiting the Blue Lagoon during Red Bull’s Winds of Sinai competition, showcasing some of the world’s best windsurfing.
Go on a Day Trip to Ras Mohammed National Park
Among the many diving destinations along the Sinai Peninsula, Ras Mohammed National Park recently received some extra praise from Condé Nast. The magazine crowned the dive site as one of the world’s best citing its “shark sightings, vibrant coral reefs, and stunning underwater landscapes” among other reasons.
Ras Mohammed National Park is not only teeming with loads of colourful marine life and corals, but also features a host of larger animals such as reef sharks, hammerhead sharks, and manta rays. Due to its special protective status, Ras Mohammed National Park is considered to have some of the best diving conditions out of all dive sites in the Sinai. To visit Ras Mohammed National Park, we recommend taking a tour from Sharm El-Sheikh or Dahab.
Visit the Colored Canyon and Wadi Wishwash
After spending so much time talking about the Red Sea coast, it is only right to shed some more light on the Sinai desert itself. After all, it dominates most of the peninsula’s surface. But is there anything to see in the Sinai desert? Yes, absolutely. The Sinai desert is full of hidden gems that are just waiting to be discovered by you.
From seasonal wadis offering refuges to life in the desert to fascinating rock formations in hidden valleys, there are more than enough reasons to explore the Sinai desert. For a good impression of the Sinai desert, we recommend going on a jeep tour that takes you to the Colored Canyon and Wadi Wishwash (sometimes also Wishwashi o Weshwash). In the spring months, the wadi’s water levels are high enough to even allow for stand-up paddling in the middle of the desert!
Explore the Mangroves of Nabq National Park
For a truly hidden gem in the desert, we recommend passing by the mangroves of Nabq National Pak. Yes, you read right. Mangroves. In the Sinai desert. We couldn’t believe it at first either, but it’s true. Nabq National Park located along the Red Sea coast between Sharm El-Sheikh and Dahab features an extensive mangrove forest that stretches over 4 kilometers making it the country’s biggest mangrove forest. Contrasting starkly against the arid terrain, this mangrove forest is a refuge to local flora and fauna and definitely worth a visit.
Visitors can paddle through parts of the mangrove forest when staying at one of the nearby desert camps. Just a word of caution: During our visit to the mangrove forest in late 2024, we noticed a growing amount of plastic trash in and around the forest. Therefore, make sure to take your trash with yo when visiting the camp and the forest and try to retrieve astray pieces of trash whenever you can, so this unique feature of the Sinai desert can continue flourishing in the future.
Enjoy a Coffee at Farsha Café
From scuba diving to hiking, windsurfing and even kayaking, the Sinai is certainly a place for active people. So, as we lay our sore legs to rest, let’s close this list on a more relaxed note. Our final recommendation for your Sinai trip comes in the form of Farsha Café in Sharm El-Sheikh. This iconic café has gained notable popularity on social media due to its photogenic looks, encapsulating a sort-of post-Ottoman charm right on the shore of the Red Sea.
For first time visitors to Sharm El-Sheikh, Farsha Café is a must-visit. Simply order a taxi through one of Egypt’s many ridesharing apps and make your way to the café. Come in the early afternoon to get a good seat and get set up for a relaxed evening with drinks and shishas. Inside the café you don’t only get stunning views of the Red Sea, but also of the café lighting that adorned the cliff at night. While the prices of the café are on the higher end, we would say it is still with it ‘for the Gram’.
Are you also looking for things to do in mainland Egypt? Check out our Egypt bucket list with the country’s best off-the-beaten-path activities.
Where to Stay on the Sinai Peninsula
On the Sinai Peninsula, there is several hotspots for tourists to come and stay. Some of the crowd favourites include Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Nuweiba. Let me explain where to stay according to your preferences:
- Stay in Sharm El-Sheikh: Sharm El-Sheikh is the Sinai’s main tourist hub not only featuring the region’s only functional international airport, but also hosting hundreds of internationally-known all-inclusive resorts. If you are looking for a relaxed getaway or a family-friendly environment to be pampered in, Sharm El-Sheikh is the way to go.
- Stay in Dahab: Dahab is a larger tourist town in South Sinai that has developed out of a small Bedouin village. It is internationally known for its outdoor activities such as scuba diving, free diving, snorkeling, wind surfing, hiking and rock climbing. If you are a backpacker on a budget, consider yourself alternative or a digital nomad, Dahab is your ideal destination.
- Stay in Nuweiba: Further north, Nuweiba (or Nuweibaa) is the smallest of the three destinations in South Sinai. Similarly to Dahab, Nuweiba originated as a Bedouin village. Contrary to Dahab, though, Nuweiba has not developed into a full-blown town, but largely remained a sprawling collection of Bedouin camps. If you are looking to disconnect from the world, come to Nuweiba.
Why even stay on the Sinai Peninsula? I asked myself the same question. Find out the answer in my comparison between Hurghada and Dahab.
The Bottom Line
On a map, the Sinai Peninsula could easily miss the eye. Even when starting to plan your Egypt itinerary, you’d be forgiven for not considering the Sinai first. After all, the Great Pyramids, Luxor and Aswan are more well-known. But ultimately, a trip to Egypt is not complete without a visit to the Sinai. Whether it is for Mount Sinai, its marine life or the Beduin culture, make some time to visit the Sinai during your Egypt tour. You won’t regret it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mount Sinai worth visiting?
Yes, Mount Sinai is absolutely worth visiting. Not only is it a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a fairly challenging hike at a height of 2,285 meters (or 7,497 feet), but it’s also your chance to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises of your life.
Is the Sinai Peninsula worth visiting?
Yes, the Sinai Peninsula is worth visiting. The Sinai Peninsula offers a great contrast to mainland Egypt and show you that there is so much more to Egypt than just ancient Egypt, such as one of the most significant sites of all there Abrahamic religions, stunning nature and the unique Bedouin culture.
Is there anything in the Sinai Peninsula?
There is plenty to see and do on the Sinai Peninsula. The peninsula not only encapsulates the Sinai desert, but also the Sinai Mountains, Saint Catherine’s Monastery, tourist destinations such as Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab ans Nuweiba and several famous dive site in the Red Sea.
What is special about Sinai?
The Sinai Peninsula is highly-regarded for its spiritual importance, natural beauty and cultural significance. It not only features one of the oldest Christian monasteries at Saint Catherine’s, but also numerous Bedouin communities and a number of beautiful dive sites and hiking trails.
Wadi Tribe 