The beaches were rather empty but the sunset over the Sinai mountains was breathtaking

Dahab has all the goodies Sharm El Sheikh has but without the soaring prices and extravagant luxury. It is town full of budget hotels and cozy restaurants and bars. Most of its sights are under water and it has rightfully grown into a reputable diving hub. Find out what places we discovered and how we spent our last days in Egypt relaxing in a true backpackers paradise.

Dahab Day 1: A Sinai Sunset

• Sights:       Dahab Town Centre, Laguna Beach
• Lodging:   Dahab Plaza Hotel
• Budget:    £ 965

Stressing out in vain

We got up in time to grab some Hyatt breakfast buffet before checking out. We wanted to grab a cab in front of the gate, which they assured us would be there. Of course it wasn’t and they couldn’t even call one apparently. We started walking the long way towards the main road hoping we would make it to the bus stop in time. A cab pulled up and eventually took us to the bus station in time for only 10 LE too much after driving a hard bargain. When we got there we found out all our stress was useless since the bus would be at least an hour late. So we consumed our Netflix downloads waiting for it. Finally we loaded our backpacks and ourselves onto the bus and started the relatively short ride to Dahab.

Finding a Dive Center

The Dahab Plaza Hotel was right next to the bus stop. We had booked up front for one night. The owner gave us the room with the best (new) airco and gave a tour of the town. By then we were very hungry and we got some lunch at Yalla Bar, a cozy and place with delicious food. After we walked back to the hotel, I asked around for the prices of diving. ORCA diving was by far the cheapest and looked popular and decent. It also came recommended by our friendly hotel owner. So I decided to go there, which turned out to be a great idea.

A Sinai Sunset

Daisy took a nap in the hotel while I walked all the way to the Laguna beach at the edge of town. It was clear the revolutions had striked hard in Dahab as well. I saw many abandoned and half built hotels. Loads of once probably cozy hotels were totally abandoned. The beaches were almost completely empty but the sunset over the Sinai mountains was breathtaking. The sun gliding down behind the mountains put the peaks in several shades of black and grey.

I got back just after sunset and woke up Daisy. We changed and showered and walked into town for dinner. After long consideration about the many dinner options, we decided to go for some Chinese food. It was very nice but rather spicy. We looked around and ended up having a drink at the very cheap and popular Churchill’s before heading back to the hotel.

Dahab Day 2: Diving Day

• Sights:       Mashraba, Lighthouse, The Islands
• Lodging:   Dahab Plaza Hotel
• Budget:    £ 675 + 1050 (Diving)

ORCA

I saw a ton of lionfish and other colorful reef life

I got up and went straight to the orca diving shop. My first dive at Mashraba was just me and Salah, one of ORCA’s diving instructors. He did some quick review exercises with me like mask clearing, regulator recovery and fin pivot. After going through them smoothly, we had a very nice dive along some coral and swam back along some statues that had been placed under water. I saw a ton of lionfish and other colorful reef life. Salah told me I swam better than most advanced open water divers and they gave me the option of going along with two advanced dives somewhere out-of-town. After discussing with Daisy I decided to stay in town and we had brunch together at everyday Cafe before my next dive.

Private diving

While she enjoyed the sun and the beach, I did my second dive in the Lighthouse reef. A beautiful spot full of life. Swimming through wonderful coral reef the entire time. Finally I had gotten the hang of equalizing my ears, my eternal problem. The only problem remaining was my mask pressing hard above my nose. The dive went smooth though and again it was only me and Fadel, the guide without anyone else.

I found Daisy at Yalla Bar, lounging in the sun. We enjoyed a juice and a short swim before heading back for my last dive. I chose to go to the Laguna beach and again it was just me and the instructor: Mohamed. We loaded the gear up in a pick up and drove to the beach, the same I had walked to the day before. We had to swim above the coral, which was barely possible due to the tide, to get to our entrance point of a dive spot called the Islands.

The last dive

We headed back up through a tunnel in the reef and could barely make it back out of the water without actually climbing the reef

The dive was again beautiful however and Mohamed helped me figure out the mask problem. So finally I was fully comfortable underwater and enjoyed the reef live. We saw a blue stingray and other cool fishies. We headed back up through a tunnel in the reef and could barely make it back out of the water without actually climbing the reef. We drove back to the dive center and cleaned up our gear. Most importantly I had done three basically private dives for only 50 euros. I found Daisy back in the room and we decided to go Thai for dinner. The Pad Thai at Blue House was amazingly delicious and we gobbled it up. Satisfied about our day of diving and relaxing we went to sleep in the cozy Plaza Hotel.

Dahab Day 3: Our last day of relaxation

• Sights:       Dahab Town Centre, Dahab Bay
• Lodging:   Dahab Plaza Hotel
• Budget:    £ 676

Lounging in the sun

We relaxed and snorkeled the entire day and enjoyed the most wonderful sunset

Since I had gone diving the day before almost the entire day, this day was all up to Daisy. We slept in and went to get yummy breakfast again at the Everyday Cafe. After we went back to relax a bit by the pool of our hotel. We went looking for a cheap spot along the beach with good lounge chairs. We found it at Bedouin Son’s and on our way there we rented some snorkeling gear at ORCA dive center.

We relaxed and snorkeled the entire day and enjoyed the most wonderful sunset. Our day was only interrupted by our Arab friend, Daisy had met the day before at Yala Bar, who invited us for tea to tell us about his life in Dahab. Before going back to the hotel to change we had some Pad Thai as an appetizer (it was just so damn good). We had dinner at Nemo’s and I finally got the balls to order some fried fish and it turned out really nice. We went back to Churchill’s for a drink to end our last day. We had already booked our Gobus for the next day back to Cairo so the vacation was practically over. It was with a sad but very satisfied feeling that we went to sleep that evening.

The next two days we made our way back to Cairo and back home to Madrid.

Day 21: The long road home

• Sights:       The Bus
• Lodging:   The Plane
• Budget:    £ 815

The next day we got breakfast at the hotel and we went into town to buy some last-minute souvenirs. We picked up some Pad Thai to go as lunch and said goodbye to the friendly owner of the Plaza Hotel. He ended up giving us a huge real papyrus since Daisy told him we hadn’t gotten the chance to buy one. Amazed and grateful we boarded our last bus and headed for Cairo. The bus was a class higher than we normally took and even had an entertainment center. So we enjoyed movies (and Daisy slept) until we arrived in a random place close to the airport in Cairo.

We got off dazed and took a cab to the airport. Only after queueing for 15 minutes somebody told us we were in the wrong terminal and showed us the way to the monorail that would take us to the right one. He had the balls to ask for tips which he did not get. Again we had to go from terminal 2 to three which was not as clearly indicated as it should be. Finally in the right terminal we still had to wait two hours before check in would open. We waited in Burger King which was unfortunately just closed. Daisy found some diner elsewhere and we waited with the SpongeBob Movie on. Finally we could go through the first security check to check in our luggage. And go to the gate. Sad but happy we would be home soon we boarded our flight out of Egypt.

Day 22: Home Sweet Home

The transfer in Athens was short. Daisy had some issues at customs because she had left her residence card in the luggage but thankfully she found a picture of it on her phone and the guy let her through. I hadn’t slept on the plane due to crying babies and being incredibly uncomfortable. So naturally I was a complete zombie. We waited a while before boarding the second flight. In Madrid we had to wait again for our luggage. We were so tired we even took a subway in the wrong direction before we finally got home. It was a trip to never forget with amazing places and a fascinating if not irritating culture. Full of new memories and experiences we went straight to bed and slept the rest of the day.