The Egyptian city of Sharm el Sheikh has developed into a luxury holiday resort most treasured by divers and sun-lovers with very attractive prices for package tourism.
Scuba diving and dive safaris in the Red Sea are offered along with all different kind of watersport activities.
Local and international tour operators offer a large variety of daily excursions including trips to the Monastery of St. Catherine, to Petra and Jerusalem, from jeep safaris to quad runner excursions and parties in the desert.
Sharm el Sheikh, Ras Mohammed and Tiran Island already appear on Spanish maps in 1762. Yet, the first time Sharm el Sheikh made its way into the world’s media was in 1967, when Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser blocked the Strait of Tiran, cutting off Israel’s access to the Red Sea.
The blockade of this strategic point led to the 6 Day War and the occupation of the Sinai by Israel.
One year later in 1968 the Israelis built the settlement Ophira on the cliff of Ras Um Sidd.
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Sharem today offers 62000 hotel rooms for 3 million tourists who flock to the Red Sea resort every year. Private yachts and pleasure boats - the number constantly increasing - take scuba divers out to the amazing reefs and to the National Park of Ras Muhammad, one of the world’s most famous dive sites. Ras Muhammad National Park was established in 1983 to protect coral reefs and the fragile environment.
Recently Sharm el Sheikh has realized that frantic coastal construction has taken its damaging toll on the coral reefs. The Wanderlust Magazine reported that Sharem is threatened by uncontrolled tourism development and does luittle to help local communities. Only 3% of tourism revenue remains in the area, and it produces 10 times as much waste as other resorts according to a report.
Now a green plan is underway and intends to have Sharm el Sheikh carbon-free by the year 2020.
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Activities
There is plenty to do in Sharm el Sheikh. Though the main activities
are water sport activities and diving, the terrific interior of
the Sinai desert invites for adventurous and fascinating trips
by quad runners, motorbikes and jeeps . Another exciting adventure is a ride
out into the desert on camel or horseback.
Nightlife
Every resort has got its
own bar with different happy hour offers. An evening stroll along
the promenade gives you an insight of what the beach bars of the
hotels have to offer for the evening. Some hotels entertain their
guests with belly dancing performances . After the shows you can dance the night
through in one of Sharm’s discos.
Some hotels offer special evening
events which is usually a dinner and disco or show in the desert
under the million stars.
If you are not in a dancing mood
you find play pool tables at some places or you hang out in the
coffee shops until late night smoking the water pipe and play
backgammon or chess. An outdoor cinema shows recent Hollywood
films or you can spend the evening in one of the Casinos and win
or loose a fortune.
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