Naama Bay

Introduction

Naama Bay is downtown Sharm El Sheikh and the most established seaside resort in Egypt. It is not a sight so much as a small town wrapped around a bay: roughly four kilometres of crescent sand, with mountains at the north end and the water opening to the southwest, and a continuous pedestrian promenade behind it — restaurants, cafes, shisha lounges, souvenir shops and a night market in one unbroken line. The beach has two personalities. The northern stretch toward the Gulf of Aqaba is rocky with deeper water; further south the main Naama section is fine white sand and gently shelving, and it is where the summer crowd concentrates. Past Ilana Bay the rocks and seagrass alternate and the beach empties out. At low tide the southern end exposes flats you can walk a long way across. One thing is worth being straight about: snorkelling. Coral does grow close inshore here, but decades of coastal development, warming and pollution have visibly reduced nearshore coral cover and fish numbers. The idea that you will see world-class reef just by floating off this beach needs adjusting. Underwater visibility is typically ten to twenty metres and varies a lot with the day's swell. If you want real coral density and fish life, either take a boat to the reef sites of Ras Muhammad National Park or go out to an offshore island — both beat wading in from the bay. Sunset is the fixed event of the day. In the evening the sand fills with people, the western hills cut the sun off first so the orange runs down the ridge before it spreads across the water, and the layering is better than on an open coast. After dark the promenade turns into a night market of grill stalls, shisha bars, street performers and phone-accessory sellers, all mixed together. Prices need confirming first — seafood by weight is the classic trap if you order without asking what the set price is. On accommodation, keep the public beach and the hotel's private beach distinct. At most upmarket hotels the beach section is closed to non-guests, so if you are not staying you either pay for towel hire or entry at the public end. This is the most commonly fudged detail in Sharm — read which stretch of beach the hotel actually claims. Treating Naama as a launchpad is also fair: it is the gateway to the Red Sea, and most liveaboard and snorkel boats leave from the Sharm Marina. But if the coral is the point, two half-days on a boat are worth more than a full day in the bay.

✨ Highlights

🛈 Practical Info