Dahab
Egypt
A Bedouin fishing village turned dive town, with the reef starting at the restaurant steps
Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash
Photos by Raimond Klavins, Youhana Nassif, Peggy Anke and Peggy Anke on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Egypt
March to May, October to November
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 3mm in Jan
Where it is
28.50°N, 34.51°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Snorkel the Blue Hole from the saddle at the edge, which needs no training, and leave the arch to technical divers with the gas and the training for it
- Dive the Bells into the Blue Hole as a recreational dive, which is the classic route and stays within sport limits
- Walk or ride a camel north from the Blue Hole to Ras Abu Galum and stay the night in a Bedouin camp
- Take the night trip up Mount Sinai for sunrise and St Catherine’s monastery on the way down, which leaves Dahab around eleven at night
- Learn to freedive: Dahab is one of the main training centres in the world, because deep water is a few metres from the shore
- Kitesurf or windsurf at the Lagoon, where the wind is reliable and the water flat
Dahab travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Egypt
Very cheapThe pound moves, so change small amounts and check the rate the week you travel. Dive centres often quote in euros; paying the same price in pounds at the day’s rate is usually cheaper. Bring clean, unmarked notes, because torn ones are refused.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines in Dahab City and along the promenade work with foreign cards, but limits are low and they empty at weekends and holidays. Dive centres and the larger hotels take cards; the cafés on the bay, the taxis and the Bedouin camps are cash.
Avoid these
- machines in the hotels and dive centres
- paying a euro price at the shop’s own rate
Use these instead
- Banque Misr
- NBE
- CIB
Limits are low and machines run empty at weekends, so withdraw the maximum before you need it. Ask for small notes.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Egypt
Reasonably safeThe UK FCDO advises against all travel to North Sinai and against all but essential travel to the northern part of South Sinai beyond the St Catherine–Nuweiba road, but it excepts the coastal areas on both sides of the peninsula. Dahab and the road to it from Sharm are outside the areas it advises against, and it describes the southern Sinai resorts as generally low risk. In town the risk is the water: the Blue Hole drops to over 100 metres, its arch starts at 55, and well over a hundred divers have died there trying to swim through it. On an air arrival at Sharm, a free Sinai-only stamp covers up to 15 days at Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba; going beyond the resorts, or staying longer, needs the full visa.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Blue Hole — the arch at 55 metres, where more than a hundred divers have died; the memorial plaques are on the rocks by the entry
- Anyone proposing the arch as a recreational dive on air — it is beyond sport limits, and that is how most of the deaths happened
- Urchins, stonefish and the reef table at the shore entries — wear fins or reef shoes and enter where the locals do
- Travel north of the St Catherine–Nuweiba road away from the coast, which the UK FCDO advises against except when essential
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Egypt visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 days$25 single entry
Also available on arrival at the airport for the same price, paid in cash dollars. If you are only visiting Sharm el-Sheikh or Dahab, a free Sinai-only permit covers up to 15 days but does not allow travel to Cairo.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at visa2egypt.gov.eg — the only official site — or buy the sticker at a bank window in the arrivals hall before immigration.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Egypt
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays
- Hepatitis B for extended stays
Getting treated
Private hospitals in Cairo are decent and cheap by European standards, and the international ones have English-speaking staff. Public hospitals are basic and overcrowded. Insurance is worth having; private facilities want payment up front.
Do not drink the tap water and avoid ice outside good hotels — stomach illness affects a large share of visitors. Summer heat at the pyramids is a genuine medical risk. Rabies is present in street dogs.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodThe bay is lined with cushioned cafés serving fish and the same menu; eat in Dahab City or Assala instead, where grilled fish, koshary and Bedouin bread cost a fraction. Fresh juice everywhere. Drink bottled or filtered water.
Travel tipsNightlife
A slow evening of cushions, shisha and fish on the bay, a few bars along the promenade, and the occasional party when a crowd is in town.
- Masbat — the promenade bars and cafés, where the evening is
- Lighthouse, Dahab — the bars by the dive centres
- Dahab Lagoon — the beach bars at the kite schools
Closing: Midnight to one most nights, later when there is a party on.
Dive days start early and nobody drinks before a dive, so the bay empties sooner than you expect.
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- CareemWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- DiDiWorks here
- BoltNot here
- Against a taxi
- Far cheaper than a white taxi, whose meter is a suggestion, and removes the argument at the end.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Cairo — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Egypt, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Travel tipsReligion
Sunni Muslim, with a Coptic Christian minority
Around 90% Muslim and 10% Coptic Christian, one of the oldest Christian communities on earth. Cover shoulders and knees at mosques and churches alike; women cover their heads at mosques.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Use your right hand for eating, greeting and handing anything over
- Dress modestly away from resorts — shoulders and knees covered, and a scarf for women entering mosques
- Agree a price before accepting any service, including a photograph with a camel
- Carry small notes for baksheesh; it is expected constantly and is part of how the economy works
Don't
- Do not photograph military or police installations, bridges or airports — this is taken seriously
- Do not show the sole of your foot to anyone, or point with your feet
- Do not show public affection beyond hand-holding; it is illegal in some readings and always poorly received
- Do not accept an unsolicited guide at the pyramids who then demands a fee — say la, shukran, firmly and keep walking
Where to stay in Dahab
No Holistay rentals in Dahab yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Dahab on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Sharm el-Sheikh SSH
1h 15mfrom the airport· 59 km as the crow flies
An hour and a quarter by road, through police checkpoints.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
