Egypt Guide
Sinai
Shark Bay
Ten kilometres up the coast from Na'ama, the once tranquil and secluded resort of SHARK BAY is now overlooked and overwhelmed by large holiday villages, and the sandy track that used to lead there has been replaced by a variety of surfaced roads servicing the hotels. But that hasn't deterred its many visitors, particularly the scores of day-visitors from Na'ama. Despite the bay's forbidding name (Beit el-Irsh, "House of the Shark" in Arabic), all the sharks have been scared away by divers, leaving a benign array of tropical fish and coral gardens just offshore, with deeper reefs and bigger fish further out. There's a £E10 charge to use the beach, which includes the use of showers and a soft drink.
You can stay here at Shark's Bay Umbi Diving & Camp ( 
069/360-0942, 
www.sharksbay.net ; Price: £E150-200), a pleasant mix of bungalows and beach huts, some with air conditioning and en-suite bathrooms. It has its own private beach, jetty and a dive centre that runs boat trips to the Tiran Strait (day-dive €35; liveaboards €90 per day), while Bedouins who hang out there can arrange Jeep safaris into the interior. Its restaurant and Bedouin café are quiet nightspots that close around midnight; guests wanting more action can club together for a taxi into Na'ama. Package tourists generally stay at the nearby HolidayInn, 1km south ( 069/360-2130, www.holidayinnsharm.com ; Price: £E450-900), which boasts 520 rooms, suites and villas and the usual luxury facilities, though its architecture is some of the least appealing in the area.