12 Unmissable Things to Do in Dahab, Egypt: Blue Hole, Bedouin Camps and Barefoot Cafes
Dahab isn't Sharm El Sheikh, and thank goodness for that. Skip the resort strip with its all-inclusive buffets and manicured pools — head an hour north up the Sinai coast to a Bedouin diving town of maybe 15,000 people, where the pace slows to a shuffle and dinner happens on floor cushions right over the water. Yes, it's a bumpy one to one-and-a-half hour transfer from Sharm El Sheikh airport (SSH) — most easily reached on a short hop from Cairo — with a military checkpoint or two where you'll want your passport handy. The barefoot life waiting for you is worth every pothole.
Here's how to fill your days.
1. Float Over the Blue Hole
It's the reason half of Dahab's visitors come. The Blue Hole is a 100-meter-plus submarine sinkhole 8km north of town, ringed by cliffside Bedouin cafes and famous the world over — and unlike Belize's Great Blue Hole, which needs a two-hour boat ride, you can reach this one straight from the shore. You don't need to be a diver to love it. Snorkelers can float over the shallow coral "Saddle" for free from the shore, watching the reef fall away into that impossible blue.
One thing matters more than anything else here. The "Arch" passage at 55m and deeper has killed more people than almost any dive site on Earth — nearly always divers pushing past their training on a dare. Don't be one of them. Dive only with a reputable center (guided dives run about €30-45), stay inside your certification, and ignore anyone daring you to go deep. Snorkel it, reef-dive it, respect it. Give it half a day and bring cash for lunch on the cliffs.
2. Warm Up on the Lighthouse House Reef
Right in the middle of town, steps from the promenade, sits Dahab's most accessible reef. The Lighthouse is where nearly everyone does their check dive, their Discover Scuba session, or a first easy snorkel over the coral gardens. Gear rental runs about €10-15; a guided shore dive is €25-30.
Go at slack tide in the morning, when the water is calm and the light is soft. Book with an in-town center like Big Blue Dahab or Poseidon Divers — a quick WhatsApp message usually does it, since dive bookings here run on WhatsApp, not fancy apps.
3. Drift From Bells Into the Blue Hole
Certified divers, this one's for you. Instead of dropping straight into the Blue Hole, you slip into the sea at a narrow chimney called Bells, then drift along a dramatic reef wall until you round the corner into the Blue Hole itself. It's one of the most satisfying dives in Sinai and completely safe when you stay shallow and within your limits.
Guided dives run about €30-45 with a center like Reef 2000. And to be clear — drifting the wall is the good part. The Arch is not.
4. Say Hello to the Garden Eels at Eel Garden
A short walk north of Masbat, Eel Garden is exactly what it sounds like: a sandy patch where a colony of garden eels sways in the current like a field of grass. Turtles cruise through, too. It's a gentle wall dive or an easy snorkel, and no boat is needed.
Guided shore dives here are around €25-30. Bring your own mask and you can snorkel it for the price of nothing.
5. Get Lost in The Islands
The Islands is a maze of coral towers, swim-throughs, and sandy lagoons in shallow, sunlit water. Underwater photographers adore it, and it's forgiving enough for newer divers. If you only have time for one "wow" dive that isn't the Blue Hole, make it this one.
6. Climb Mount Sinai for Sunrise
Here's the big one. Organized trips leave Dahab around midnight for the two-hour drive inland to St. Catherine, where you climb the 2,285m Mount Sinai in the dark to reach the summit for first light. Watching the sun spill over a sea of jagged Sinai peaks is the kind of thing you'll describe badly for years.
Trips run about €25-40 including transport and a Bedouin guide. Take the camel path or the steep Steps of Repentance, and pack real layers — the summit is cold and windy before dawn. Cover shoulders and knees if you're adding the 6th-century St. Catherine's Monastery and its Burning Bush.
7. Ride a Camel to Ras Abu Galum
For a proper off-the-grid day, head to the protected Ras Abu Galum reserve. From the Blue Hole you either walk the coastal path (about 45 minutes) or, better, ride camelback along the shore to a cluster of Bedouin camps with no road, no electricity, and no ATMs. The reefs here are some of the healthiest and least crowded in all of Sinai, dropping off just steps from the beach.
Camel-plus-guide packages run €25-40. Lunch is fresh fish grilled over coals, eaten on cushions, paid in cash (around 150-250 EGP). Carry everything you'll need before you go.
8. Snorkel the Quieter Three Pools
If the Blue Hole feels busy, slip a little south to Three Pools — a trio of connected coral lagoons that stay calm and uncrowded. It's superb, relaxed snorkeling over genuinely healthy reef. Reach it by taxi (around 100 EGP) or a short boat, pay a small camp fee of 50-100 EGP, and give it two or three hours.
9. Learn to Windsurf on the Lagoon
At the south end of town, the Lagoon is a flat, shallow, waist-deep bay that catches steady thermal wind — which makes it one of the best places anywhere to learn windsurfing or kitesurfing. Centers like Harry Nass and Club Mistral rent gear and teach beginners for about €30-50.
Not into getting wet? Grab a hammock, order a mint tea, and watch the sails carve back and forth until sunset. Nobody will rush you.
10. Try Freediving Where Records Are Set
Dahab is one of the world's great freediving hubs, and the Blue Hole's deep platform is where actual world records get set. You can dip a toe in with a taster or intro day (around €60-90) at Freedive Dahab or Dahab Freedivers. Expect breath-hold technique, deep relaxation, and strict buddy safety in the calm Lighthouse shallows long before you go near the platform. It's a slower, almost meditative way to meet the reef.
11. Day-Trip to the Colored Canyon
Inland toward Nuweiba, the Colored Canyon is a narrow sandstone slot streaked with wind-carved swirls of red, orange, and purple — the same rock that makes AlUla's desert canyons so striking on the other side of the Red Sea. The walk is mostly flat, takes one to two hours, and throws in a couple of easy scrambles. Day trips by 4x4 run about €35-50.
Go early. The light is softer, the temperatures kinder, and you'll want water, sun cover, cash, and your passport for the desert checkpoints.
12. Eat Your Way Along the Masbat Promenade
Dahab punches way above its size on food. Order grilled Red Sea fish at Shark Restaurant, mezze at Ali Baba, Thai at Blue House, Indian at Nirvana, or Italian at Lakhbatita — most seafront dinners land around 150-350 EGP a head, with tables sitting right over the water. Fresh bread and juices at Ralph's German Bakery or Everyday Restaurant cover breakfast and lunch (100-200 EGP).
Then claim some low cushions, order shisha and tea, and watch the bay turn pink.
Pro Tip
Dahab runs on cash, and it runs on WhatsApp. Withdraw plenty of Egyptian pounds at Sharm airport before you leave — the handful of ATMs in town are unreliable and routinely run dry on weekends. Uber doesn't operate in Sinai, so save a couple of local taxi drivers' numbers and book dive centers, camps, and transfers over WhatsApp — our full Dahab travel-tips rundown covers the rest, from dive insurance to the no-fly window. Wear reef-safe sunscreen and a rash guard for long snorkels (the Sinai sun is fierce even in winter), never drink the tap water, and time your trip for March-May or September-November, when the winds calm and the water sits at a dreamy 21-29°C. Do all that, and the only thing you'll have to decide each morning is which reef.
