Sharm El Sheikh's Best Free Finds

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Sharm El Sheikh’s best finds that cost little or nothing

Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran earn the boat-trip prices for good reason, but a handful of Sharm’s genuinely good spots sit right in town, cost little or nothing, and most first-time itineraries skip them for the resort pool. Below are 8 picks worth the detour.

  1. Ras Um Sid’s house reef, free beyond a mask rental. A shore-accessible reef below the clifftop lighthouse district south of Naama Bay, no boat needed, and a genuine alternative to a paid snorkel-boat trip for anyone staying nearby.
  2. The free guided tour at Al-Sahaba Mosque. Ottoman-style architecture after extensive renovation, and a genuinely interesting look at local religious life for the cost of modest dress and a bit of time.
  3. Sugarcane juice from an Old Market street stand. A few EGP for a fresh, cold, and genuinely local drink, better and cheaper than anything on a resort menu (verify current price).
  4. El-Samaeyeen Cathedral’s biblical frescoes. A Coptic church offering guided tours, an under-visited counterpoint to the mosque-heavy religious-sites list most guides run.
  5. The Mangrove Channel inside Ras Mohammed National Park. A shallow, roughly 1.16km channel with a small stand of mangroves at the park’s southern end, a snorkel-and-kayak site distinct from the deep-wall dives most boats head straight past.
  6. Nabq Protected Area’s northernmost Red Sea mangroves. A 600km² reserve north of Sharm with a 4.5km mangrove fringe, 208 hard coral species, and over 20 globally threatened species, from marine turtles to dorcas gazelles, a quieter add-on than the standard Ras Mohammed run.
  7. The Gardens house reefs (Near, Middle, Far Garden). Shallow, current-light fringing reef used for PADI training and easy snorkeling, a calmer alternative to the drift-dive sites at Tiran if you want colour without the current.
  8. A shisha and fresh guava juice at an Old Market coffee shop. A normal, cheap part of Sharm’s evening culture, worth doing once away from a resort terrace.

Is Nabq Protected Area worth the trip if you’re not into birdwatching?

Yes, even as a general nature stop. The mangrove fringe is the northernmost in the Red Sea/Indian Ocean region, and the reserve’s marine life (208 hard coral species, 438 fish species) rewards a snorkel as much as a walk. It’s run with input from the local El Mezina Bedouin tribe, and it’s a genuinely different landscape from the reef-wall diving most Sharm trips center on.

Getting to these spots without a tour bus

Ras Um Sid and the Old Market are both a short taxi ride from Naama Bay, agree the fare first since meters aren’t reliable. Nabq Protected Area and the Ras Mohammed Mangrove Channel are boat- or day-tour-based, check current options in the day trips guide . For the fuller list of paid sights these finds sit next to, see the main Sharm El Sheikh guide and our nature spots guide .