Best period in Egypt

[ctaut]

Hi

I want to ask you, which is the best period for snorkeling and freediving in Egypt, when is no wave and the sun is not to hot. Also, please tell me some good places for freediving and snorkeling.

Thank you!

[Marwan]

Hi CTAUT,
Egypt has great weather all year round, but most europeans find it a bit hot from june to september. I would recommed october/November as the best period in terms of weather, sinai is a great place for snorkelling/freediving, sharm el sheikh, dahab are great places. Ras Mohammed national park (sharm el Sheikh) hosts some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world.

[ctaut]

Thank you for your reply!
What can you said about spring period? Are big waves in the spring?

[Marwan]

Normally the waves arent that high especially near the shores, but at the end its weather, so its quite unpredictable, like i said, its mostly great weather all year.

[trullalla]

hi,

sharm area is quite protected from the wind (unless you get the wind for the south, but that happens just a couple of times a year), so it's always rather calm and there's no waves. but unless you go to ras mohamed national park, by boat or by car and pay money to the travel office, the snorkelling around sharm is generally bad (reef is quite dead) and anyway confined to your resort.
dahab is quite exposed to the wind (so there's waves) with the exceptions of few divesites. wind is stronger during autumn and winter, not so bad in spring, and usually very mild in summer. but of course is also very unpredictable! the reef around dahab is still very colorful and lively, divesites are easy to reach. sharm is not so far away, so if you stay in dahab you can still do one day trip to ras mohamed.

hope that helps,

linda

[ctaut]

Do I need any passport, or any tax to go in Ras Mohamed National Park? Can I sleep there on the water's edge, or there are some accommodation places?

[trullalla]

hi,
you need the passport, with the egyptian visa (and not the "sinai only" visa). you can get the visa at the airport, 15 euro, one month.
you pay 5 us or soemthing like that as entry fee at the national park. you can camp there if you feel like sleeping in a tent in the middle of the desert... camping is allowed. but there's nothing around so you have to be totally self sufficient.

[ctaut]

Thank you Linda. Your answer is very helpfully.