Ras Um Sid

Ras Um Sid is a headland at the southern end of Sharm El Sheikh, on the Sinai side of the Red Sea, where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Straits of Tiran. The beach below it is small; what matters is what lies immediately offshore.

The Red Sea reef here is among the most accessible walls of coral anywhere. The shelf drops away within a few metres of the shoreline, so a swimmer reaches deep water and full reef structure almost immediately — the reason Sharm developed as a diving destination from the 1980s and why almost every hotel here is organised around a dive centre rather than a beach.

The shore itself is coral rubble and rock rather than sand, which is why entry is by jetty at almost every property along this coast. Walking in over the reef is both dangerous and destructive and is prohibited. Once in the water the fish are immediate and abundant, and the coral is in better condition than the region's reputation suggests, partly because the Egyptian marine park regime has been in place since the 1980s.

Development is a line of hotels along the headland, each with its own jetty, sunbeds and dive operation. Public access is limited in practice; most visitors reach the water through a hotel or a day-use arrangement. Ras Mohammed National Park, the country's first, is a short drive south. The lighthouse on the headland is the landmark that gives the point its name, and the reef wall running north from beneath it is continuous — the same coral shelf serves a dozen hotels, each entering it from its own jetty.

A reef wall a few metres from a rock shore, reached by jetty because the shore is living coral. That is normal on the Red Sea and catches out visitors expecting sand. The lighthouse headland is the landmark, the water is warm all year, and summer air temperatures are what govern when to come.