Activities worth doing in Dahab other than diving
Dahab – South Sinai - Egypt
What to do in Dahab apart from Scuba diving?
A prominent black strip of road twisted its way through peaks of sandy mounds. Here and there the mounds changed into mountains of desolate rock. My eye attuned to the detail. Although the landscape might look bleak, there were signs of life. They blended in easily with the dusty landscape. A harsh terrain. My comprehension was immediate: one could not help but respect its inhabitants.
Having spent a week on water, diving the Red Sea on a Liveaboard from Sharm el Sheikh, with abundant marine life beneath it, the desert jolted me back to reality. Life here was rough for a resident but for a tourist exotic and exciting.
We were traveling to a former Bedouin fishing village on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula about an hour’s drive from Sharm el Sheikh. Dahab - which means gold - was now one of Sinai’s most cherished diving destinations.
Dahab used to be a one street town but has expanded lately. New developments and hotels were rising on its perimeters. We however were on our way to the older part of this seaside town.
Our hotel the Nesima Resort, a deep-rooted Arabic boutique hotel from the early 1980’s was right next to the sea. Our room was basic but comfortable and clean. The hotel had a pool which was a blessing. Just across the promenade in front of our hotel was the Gulf of Aqaba and in the distance, Saudi Arabia.
When we arrived in the heat of the day, we were tempted to do nothing apart from spending our entire time blissfully relaxing next to a pool with water only a fraction cooler than the air temperature. We chose periodically to be slightly more energetic.
You may wonder why I said periodically. The secret was in the infrequency of activity. No matter what we did, we constantly broke out in a sweat that rapidly evaporated by the heat.
Activities worth doing in Dahab other than diving
Laze around the pool at your hotel
Admire creative towel art
Feast on Traditional Egyptian Food
Stride through the Canyons in Sinai Desert
Snorkel at Dahab
Discover more Scuba dive sites
Shop for ethnic Egyptian souvenirs at colourful markets
Ride a camel
Experience Quad bike thrills in the desert
Laze around the pool at your hotel
Did I mention it was hot? We were there in June which is midsummer. Ideal conditions for diving but quite unbearable if your body has not acclimatized to the heat. It is necessary to drink plenty of water over and above any other fluids. We were recommended 3 litres a day!
We spent much of our free time in the swimming pool which was situated next to the sea with unobstructed views across the Gulf of Aqaba. You may wonder why we did not swim in the sea instead. The area was very rocky with limited sandy beaches in Dahab.
Admire creative towel art
The first time we encountered towel art was in Dahab. We were most surprised to return to our room on our first full day and discover a creative display on our bed. Housekeeping had exceeded themselves by using props from our clothes. We were delighted with their ingenuity.
Before you get upset or annoyed that they went through our belongings, our clothes were packed out on shelves as there were no cupboards in the room, so whatever they used was visible to them without having to scratch through our things.
Every day housekeeping came up with more creative ideas.
Feast on Traditional Egyptian food
You would be forgiven if you gained a few kilograms while in Dahab because there are so many delectable dishes to savour, although I think your chances are that you would sweat out every excess calorie.
There are some western foods available in certain restaurants, but we feasted on some of the aromatic traditional Egyptian dishes such as Ful Medames, Kebab and Kofta, Baba Ganoush, Sabanekh, hummus, pita bread, Halawa and fruit.
We had no issues with stomach ailments for which I was eternally grateful. It often is a regular issue, one that grabbed hold of me the previous time we were in Egypt.
Stride through the Canyons in Sinai Desert
During our first visit to Dahab we hiked the Coloured Canyon as well as the White Canyon. While I was pleased to have done it, I was not going to put myself through the slog of walking in 50 degree Celsius heat again. Been there, done that!
Instead I opted to snorkel.
That’s us!
Snorkel at Dahab
Wanting to spend some of our time at Dahab scuba diving, we thought we would not get too waterlogged by going to many other snorkel spots.
Many of the typical dive spots are suitable for great snorkeling opportunities such as Canyon, Blue Hole, Ras Abu Galum, Eel Garden, Lighthouse Reef, Islands and Napoleon Reef. I would suggest talking to the experts at the dive centres to find out which are the best ones to snorkel within your limits.
We swam and snorkelled in and across the bay in Dahab which might not look as appealing to some. However we were fascinated by the little creatures underwater. A word of caution, though. Watch out for fishing nets in the water. Keep your eyes open for kite surfers as it is a great spot for them, especially when there is a breeze. I would even recommend you use a surface marker buoy.
Although we love seeing the larger marine life such as turtles or moray eels and other fish, it is not always the big things that are worth looking at.
Near a buoy anchored to the bottom of the sea we thought we would not find anything interesting. We however spent a couple of minutes searching between the slimy looking bits of rope and bits attached to the float.
Before long we noticed little creatures. We found little fish that looked rather prehistoric, virtually transparent with its skeleton bones visible.
A tiny little squid, probably no bigger than a pea appeared from behind the rope and spotted us. A little puff of ink clouded at least a centimetre of the water while it frantically ducked into a gap between the ropes to hide from those evil snorkelers. It is moments like those that stand out for me.
What we found quite scary was another tiny little creature as we exited the bay at Dahab, where many people were swimming, bare foot. A tiny juvenile stone fish. As adults they are highly venomous but I’m not sure how lethal it would be to step on such a small one. We at least had our dive booties on.
Discover more Scuba dive sites
I know the title at the beginning of the article said ‘other than diving’, but how could I not mention it? One of our main reasons to go to Dahab was for scuba diving.
Dahab is renowned for The Blue Hole, but it is not the only dive spot. There are so many more to choose from. In fact, we decided to scuba at different places compared to our previous visit.
The diving culture at Dahab is quite unique. The techniques and principles are the same but the experiences are different. In one instance you will ride a bumpy, windy rough track to get to a dive site. On other occasions you will pack your dive gear into a trolley and then drag or push it through the streets to your next dive spot.
In many areas you will find shelters where you will laze on Bedouin style cushions in the shade between dives.
If you have followed any of my previous dive blogs, you will know that I suffer terribly from seasickness. I was thrilled that the conditions at Dahab were perfect for me, although it might not always be the case. The sea was calm and flat and I could relax while plunging under water.
All our scuba dives were shore entries, some sandy and some rocky. We used Nesima Resort’s Dive Centre.
Where we scuba dived in Dahab:
Lighthouse Reef
Some of the areas were quite pretty. We saw a huge napoleon wrasse, unicorn fish, lots of trumpet fish, nudibranchs, a large box fish and a big stone fish as we exited from the dive. Most divers know how lethal stone fish are, so we made sure we did not disturb it.
The Islands
This was one of the prettiest dives and very relaxed with fantastic hard corals and excellent visibility. We saw hundreds of small barracuda, lionfish, lots of box fish and various clams. One of the prettiest dives.
The Caves
Entry to The Caves is off a rock edge into a hole. There are two easily accessible caves between 5 and 10 meters. The highlight of this dive were the red corals, and thousands of glassies and reds swimming at the wall section.
The seascape underwater was amazing and fascinating as it disappeared into the depths of the deep blue.
Golden Blocks
This dive was most enjoyable for the variety of different species. Many pipefish and goatfish digging out sand, looking for food as well as large quantities of lionfish at rocky outcrops. Other smaller creatures were shrimp and nudibranchs.
Large patches of beautiful soft and hard coral. Our dive ended in 2 metres of water with two sea moths on the sand. Not too shabby!
I would like to add that dive or snorkel spots throughout the world often have many feet and fins going over the coral or disturbing the marine life. Dive spots change and may not be as good as they were a few years ago. It is great to see and hear that some of these areas in the Red Sea are being protected.
Shop for ethnic Egyptian souvenirs at colourful markets
Anyone traveling in Egypt wants to go shopping at colourful markets whether it is for aromatic spices or fragrant blended perfumes.
Ethnic Egyptian jewellery, papyrus souvenirs and colourful silk scarves or sarongs are sold at reasonable prices.
If you have the need to replace some of your dive gear, you will not be disappointed however you may be tempted to chuck your dive gear away (almost) and fill your dive bags with armloads of gorgeous trinkets.
Hot tip:
Save your shopping for night time - the shops are open till late at night, because it is simply too hot to walk around during the day
Ride a camel
We chose not to bounce around one of the desert's most ancient inhabitants. A Camel excursion varies from a couple of hours to half a day. These tours range from a short ride along the beach, to an adventure to the mountains, spending a night in a Bedouin camp. You can even incorporate a diving or snorkeling trip with a camel ride.
Experience Quad bike thrills in the desert
Experience the thrill of riding a quad bike on a trail and get covered in desert dust.
Our journey took us to a beautiful oasis in the late afternoon. Although touristy, the rugged terrain with mountain paths through unbelievable Sinai Wadis was one that I will not forget.
I think it is safe to say we did not just laze around soaking up the blistering Egyptian sun like Ra, the Egyptian sun god.
Where is Dahab?
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About the Author
ALMA VAN AS | ROAMING FOX
Alma is a South African travel blogger and writer. She hopes to inspire you with facts and fables about her adventures, road trips and international travel.
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