Hi November is still lovely and warm and sunbathing weather. The sun however starts to go down earlier around 4.30 ish. It will be dark by about 5.30. The evenings are getting cooler so you may need an extra layer. I have just come back from Nabq where it tends to be breezier and I needed a cardi most evenings. Sharm is a year round destination so everything will be open. If you hotel pool isnt heated then it will be very cold. The sea will be warmer.
There are lots of different areas in Sharm. What part are you looking at?

If you can vary the dates:
First Choice, Gatwick to Conrad at Sharm on the 1st December or 11th December are both coming out at about £750 for two. Don't forget to choose the room type you want, sitting together and drop the Tax to get the proper price!
I have been to the Conrad and it has one of the best reefs for snorkelling.
We enjoyed our last stay and are actually returning on the 11th, that's how I know the price!

We aren't sure where in sharm we fancy going yet. Never really looked into Egypt before. We don't really want to venture out of the resort other than onto the beach so we'd like a nice place AI. Its sort of a spur of the moment holiday idea!

Surely you want to venture out to the sites eg, cairo and the pyramids etc or see some of the real Egypt? If not maybe tenerife will be more to your liking if you are wanting to stay in the hotel complex. Egypt is such a wonderful country and culture. If you only intend on going perhaps the once, i would at least see something to remind you of your holiday. Otherwise in my opinion and it is my opinion only the beach could be anywhere in the world
Michelle x

Michelle is not quite correct in my experience.
We have been on 2 one week holidays to Sharm and not bothered to venture out.
We have not really suffered from it as the reason we chose the holidays was for a complete wind down and to snorkel. We carefully selected the hotels to make sure we were catered for. OK we missed out on the culture but I was too busy relaxing!
One person came back from an organised snorkelling trip saying how great it was but also admitted the Conrad house reef was just as good.
I have been to several places in the caribbean and several in Turkey and Spain, but nowhere else have I found Coral and fish in abundance off the beach as at the Conrad.

I must admit Michelle is correct if you just stay on the beach itself rather than venturing into the water, yes there are better beaches at most of the other places I have just mentioned to name a few!

There is a large thread on the Conrad and there are several photos of the fish and jetty at the Conrad as well as along the Sharm coast in the picture album.

I personally chose to return to the Conrad as the jetty is fairly short and one can just step off the end into a different world. There were many old folk who could hardly make it along the jetty, but they did so just for the snorkelling. It could be worth a look and the prices are quite reasonable at the moment.
My last trip was to the Gran Azure and although the hotel was slightly better, the jetty was 800m long and still stopped 50m short of the coral, hence my choice of the Conrad again.

We too are going to Egypt for the first time. We are going to an AI holiday Village in Sharm el Sheik. We go December 20th for 2wks. Have heard the weather will be ok during the day. Fingers crossed.

Sharon

There are photos on trip advisor of a santa on the beach on the 25th december Holiday-makers are in their swimming gear, and it does look nice. We are going to the same hotel we have been going to for the past few years, November being our 7th time. We are hoping it will be still warm, i shouldnt worry it is an all round resort, everything is open All of you that are first timers, i am sure you will have a super time, whatever reason you are going for

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen
3 weeks to go.

Have to say I agree with Michelle, you cant go to Egypt and not see at least one monument, temple ot tomb. Im going for the third time next year and one of the girls Im going with hasnt been before. Im still looking forward to seeing everythin even though I've seen it all before. It would such a shame to have been and then tell people you just stayed in the resort for two weeks. Either way you will have a lovely holiday, the weather is fab and the people are very friendly, they especially love children as I found out when I took my son who was only 11 at the time.

If it wasn't for going over on the mini cruise from Cyprus to Cairo to see the Pyramids and Sphinx, i possibly wouldn't have gone to Egypt as many times as i have. A lot of people mock the Pyramids as being on the side of a road and a Mcdonalds across the street. But i was always interested in the back ground of how they were made etc. I enjoy haggling and love the banter of the locals.I went to Sharm for the nightlife and the hustle and bustle, not wanting it quiet. It is a purpose built resort and one day i may venture to another part of Egypt having seen most of the sites from Sharm.

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen
2 weeks and 4 days

Hello my wife and I have been looking at Egypt, for ages we would love to go for a two week holiday, but are not sure what hotel to stay after reading all the reviews they all seem abit bad, also were not sure on what part of Egypt to go because we dont like it to quite in the evenings, we like abit of entertainment, I am a Diver and know the Diving is great over, my wife doesnt Dive but does like to snorkel.
and we do like the beach.
any information would be very welcome, as we are really looking for a holiday in Egypt.

thanks alot Fred

I have put a review on today for the Hilton Sharks Bay Resort in Sharm and it is not a bad review - quite the reverse in fact!!!

Hi Fred
We seem to like the sonesta beach resort and casino. It is based on a promenade band about 20 mins past several eateries and places where you can chill until you hit the middle of Naama bay. When we went in june (08) My daughter dives and found the sonesta beach to have perfect facilities and good english. The Oonas dive bar next door that we visit twice a day also have diving. The hotel has its own beach, you can walk straight in, or go off a jetty if you want to miss the coral. It only has around 600 hotel rooms but is spaced out, about 6 pools to choose from, and the gardens are immaculate. Being A1 the food isnt to everyones taste as it appears to cater for Italians etc, but that i think having spoke to people is the norm. I eat out as well in Naama bay, fairly nice food. This hotel isnt stuck in the middle of nowhere and is a nice stroll to NB. If you want cabs, they are always waiting outside for customers.This will be my 7th time at the SBR as going back again a week today

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen

Hi Michelle
Thanks for your reply, the Sonesta beach resort sounds good, we have been looking for ages and reading all the reviews on the hotels and they are quite mixed, in there views but I know you cant please everyone we have been in some great hotels and people have still complaned, about everything.
what is the heat like in Egypt is it really, hot we went to Turkey last year and it was 52c I think that was about 135f.
were hoping to go to Egypt in january is it still hot then, for swimming and Diving.
what do you think of the food you seem to have been there alot is it alright.

thanks Fred

Hi Fred, as i said i like the sbr alot, i havent anything to compare it to although i have been in the Marriott and Hilton. All were nice but the rooms are a lot smaller. The rooms if you do a real cheap upgrade are huge, almost like a ground floor flat. The diving like so many of the dive hotels are amazing. The sbr as i said do have their own school, but i particularily like the Oonas bar and dive centre next door (cheaper) and if you get your own flights, they have excellent rooms for divers to stay in, real cheap as well. We went in the hotel this time because we got a fab deal with thomson, had we got a cheaper flight, we would have stayed in the Oonas. I like the food in there, very cheap and the roof top bar is the only pararamic view of sharm, you can eat up there and chill with a drink and have a go on the shisha pipe sprawled along the sofas on the floor.
At the sbr i enjoy the vast variety of food at breakfast, possibly the norm in hotels but nice, drinks etc are all A1 (local), i enjoy the lunches, the dinner is fine if you like what they have on offer. I tend to go for the chicken or have pasta. It is fine if it suits your palate. I personally prefer to eat out abit, just to sample some egyptian food.

Be careful to study the map where your choosen hotel is, you could be in the centre of Naama Bay, or miles away in an A1 complex but find there are buses/cabs to get you in and out to NB.
If you want to be near the centre but not right in it, then i would recommend sbr, jolieville movernpick (in nb itself at the end of the promenade), Marriott, or the Hilton. Apart from sbr all the other hotels i mention look like ordinary hotels, sbr has coloniel style buildings and have an arabic feel to them.
I will sort some links for you, Egypt is an all round destination for the weather.

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen
edits for info

Ooonas dive club etc..............
http://www.oonasdiveclub.com/low-oonas/dive.html

Weather averages .............72 in January
http://www.holiday-weather.com/sharm_el_sheikh/averages/

Sonesta Beach Reviews and photos (some of the Oonas roof top)
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g297555-d302333-Reviews-Sonesta_Beach_Resort_Casino-Sharm_El_Sheikh_South_Sinai_Red_Sea_and_Sinai.html

Hi I am planning on going to egypt for the first time next year in May and was wondering what it was like that time of year?? Also I want to do alot of snorkelling but also visit the pyramids where would be the best place to stay?

Any info would be very much appreciated xx

I've found it interersting to read this post...

I always find it difficult to comprehend when someone says they're going to Egypt for the first time, then want to know where the best AI hotels and beaches are....

To me "Egypt" just has to be Cairo, Luxor or Aswan and the next question would be "how do I fit them all in during one holiday".

I've never been to Sharm yet but I've taken 7 trips to Egypt. We took an overnight stay in Hurghada from Luxor on our 2nd visit and yes, it was a great experience to snorkel in the turquoise sea from Gifton Island but then so was our visit from Cairo to Alexandria where we visited Pompeii's Pillar and the catacombs before taking a stroll along the corniche by the sea.

Egypt just smacks of temples and tombs for me and my other half and I still can't get my head around the seaside AI aspect of it. For dedicated snorkellors or scuba divers, I have a different outlook and yes, I can appreciate it - but I can't understand flying 6hrs to a country so racked with history to spend all of it on the beach and be worried about getting hassle if you leave your AI hotel when there are so many closer places that offer the same holiday.

Maybe now we're living in Cyprus, we may just take the short hour flight to Sharm to see what all the fuss is about. You never know, we may become one of the converted.....

Enjoy everyone - but please, if you get the chance to travel whilst you are in Sharm el Sheikh - do it. You won't be disappointed...

CwB

what hassle ,i have have never been hassled in sharm ,in fact its the one place in the world where i feel totally safe ,it also up to now seems to be yob and lager lout free .love the place

what hassle ,i have have never been hassled in sharm ,in fact its the one place in the world where i feel totally safe ,it also up to now seems to be yob and lager lout free .love the place

I actually agree with blackfox, some places they can become over-powering, but the thing is go with the flow, also it is there way of life. I find there custom and hospitality second to none, and as BF says lager lout free. Its very safe and unless it changes for the worse, shall continue to keep going there, as well as the USA.

You may need to check some prices, Cyprus100. I go there for the aquatic wildlife - diving, snorkelling mainly, but for the beach lovers the cost has been very attractive - I've told people, tongue firmly in cheek, who ask why we keep going back that 'there are far worse places in Europe I can't afford!' But it's true.