Then head for Nuweiba.

Hi Kazee

I'm not sure exactly how it works. At the Crowne Plaza in Sharm where we were last week you could only access the sea via a couple of Jettys there was no beach at all.

However, a friend just got back from the Coral Sea resort which was further up the coast and they had a proper beach. I'm not sure if that means there are breaks in the Coral or the Coral is alot further out and therefore you can enter the sea and then swim to the coral.

It might vary depending on which part of the resorts coast you are on.

It's a couple of years since we were last in Sharm, but we stayed at the Hilton in Naama Bay ( not Ras Um Sid) - there are 3 Hiltons. The Hilton Fayrouz & its sister hotel across the road had the best section of beach.
Lovely soft sand, you could walk out to a reef & it didn't matter if you couldn't swim as the fish were swimming around our legs just standing thigh high in the water. You could certainly snorkel there. I think what you have heard about Sharm probably relates to some of the hotels outside of Naama Bay. You can get cheap deals to a lot of the new hotels, but it means you have to travel into Naama Bay for the restaurants, bars, shops etc so it is false economy as you spend a fortune in taxi fares - unless off course you're happy to go all incl. & stay on site. Also a lot of the Hotels have a jetty you walk along then jump or dive off to snorkel, so only OK if you're happy in deep water. If you research your Hotels properly & make sure you stay in Naama Bay itself, Hilton or Novotel I would recommend I think you will be fine.

Hi Swisssinai

Thank You I will research on Nuweiba.

Morning Doepsmc

It is all about choosing the right hotel at Sharm or you could be miles away. As you have said some hotels do not even have a beach just a jetty

Sandi R thank you for your advice I will check these hotels out and take it from there I need a beach not a jetty. But needs to serve both purposes, paddle and snorkel.

Thanks all

kind regards

Kazeex

So if staying at the Hilton I wouldn't need aqua shoes?

hi again Kazee

I know its time consuming but I think the only way to do it is to read each hotel you like the sound of's description in the brochures and then read the reviews on here or tripadvisor if we don't have any.

If a beach is really important to you, you could come unstuck otherwise.

We managed OK at the Crowne Plaza last week, but my kids are older and like pools anyway. I think it could be a particular problem for people with little kids, who like to paddle at the seas edge.

The one thing I will say is that Sharm did seem to have a huge amount of superb looking hotels, you get much more for your money than you do in Europe.

Seems like the only way to be sure is to follow Swiss to Nuweiba.

What month are you going? The weather in April was superb.

I stayed at the Hilton Sharks Bay in October 2004 and the snorkelling there is superb - accessed off a jetty from the man made beach. Its just like swimming in an aquarium.

Will be returning for my third visit to Hurghada in June, this time to the Grand having stayed twice at Grand Resort. I don't know about the rest of Hurghada but there is no reef at this hotel. On our first visit we took a boat trip with Direct Holidays which included 2 snorkelling stops, lunch and sunbathing at Giftun Island. Pristine boat, lovely lunch and the guide went snorkelling with us to point out different fish. Last month just took a boat trip from the beach which took us to a reef about 25 minutes boat ride away where we could snorkel for an hour quite happily.

If snorkelling were the first priority would definately prefer Hilton at Sharks Bay but liked being able to leave the Grand Resort hotel direct into the hustle and bustle that is Egypt.

Hope this helos
Caro

The Conrad, Sharm, has a fantastic beach, a jetty and great snorkelling!

Beach and jetty HERE, reviews HERE.

You can walk into the water to snorkel straight from the beach, but if you want to get to the reef, you'll need to walk along the jetty.

Pippy

Sharm is simple

Most hotels have their own house reef you can't walk on these but the hotels have jetties to walk out to the reef wall

Some drop off into deep water (20m) some into shallower water (6m)

it is like swimming in a tropical marine fishtank

Can't comment about Hurgada as we haven't been

Sharks Bay in 6 days time

.