For Event Enthusiasts: The Best Things to Do in Sharm El Sheikh—Beyond the Historical Sites
If you’re the kind of traveller who plans a trip around a festival lineup or a race bib rather than a museum ticket, Sharm El Sheikh has quietly become one of the most exciting places on your radar. If you’re searching for things to do in Sharm El Sheikh beyond the usual beach resorts, you’re in for a surprise: desert music festivals, off-road adventures, theatre nights, and boat trips that fill an entire day. I’ve just returned from a trip built almost entirely around these experiences, and I want to walk you through it the way I’d tell a friend planning their own itinerary.
Why Sharm El Sheikh Is Becoming a Top Spot for Event Lovers
Over the past few years, Sharm El Sheikh has been building an identity well beyond sun loungers and coral reefs. International DJs now play in desert amphitheatres nearby, marathon runners race along the coastline, and theatre festivals draw a young, creative crowd. When people ask about the best places to visit in Sharm El Sheikh today, the answer isn’t limited to beaches anymore. It’s a resort town actively investing in modern entertainment, which means your trip can now revolve around what you actually love.
The Best Places to Visit in Sharm El Sheikh for Adventure and Events
A Yacht Trip to Ras Mohamed Island: My Personal Favourite
This was, without question, the highlight of my trip, and it’s one of the most popular trips to do in Sharm El Sheikh. The boat picks you up from your hotel around 7:30 am and returns just before sunset, so it takes up a full day, but it’s worth every hour. The package includes an open buffet lunch (fairly simple, but decent), soft drinks, and water. Midway through, the boat stops near a coral reef where you can snorkel freely, or pay separately for a scuba dive with full gear down to about 6 metres. Diving isn’t included in the base boat price; expect to pay around 1,000 Egyptian pounds (roughly 20 US dollars) for a 10-minute dive, with the option to extend. One honest warning from experience: some operators quietly extend your dive time and then pressure you to pay for the extra minutes you never asked for, so agree on the exact time and price before you go under. Ras Mohamed itself is essentially a sandbar in the middle of the sea, ideal for photos and swimming in water so clear it looks like glass.
Quad Bike Safari Through the Mountains
The desert safari is another must if you want a proper adrenaline hit. You ride quad bikes through mountain trails with genuinely stunning scenery, then stop at a designated spot between the mountains for dinner and a short show featuring acrobatics and sleight-of-hand performers. Afterwards, you ride back to the pickup point where your bus is waiting. The whole experience, start to finish, takes around 4 to 5 hours.
Parasailing Over the Red Sea
Parasailing is one of the simpler but genuinely fun activities available right off the beach. Solo flights cost around 800 Egyptian pounds, while a tandem flight for two people (which I did) runs about 1.100 Egyptian pounds . It’s short, but the view over the coastline is worth every pound.
A Day Trip to Dahab
If you fancy a change of pace, a full-day trip to Dahab is one of the most relaxed things to do in Sharm El Sheikh as an add-on excursion. The pickup is from your hotel at around 7:30 am, and the day runs until sunset. It covers lunch, camel riding, wandering around the old souk for some low-key shopping, and viewing the coral reefs from the surface of the water. One thing to know before you go: the trip price itself doesn’t include snorkelling gear. On the way there, the bus usually stops at a strip of shops selling swimwear, goggles, and snorkelling equipment for hire rather than purchase, and you simply return them on the way back. I skipped renting any gear myself, since I’d already done my diving and reef-viewing on the Ras Mohamed yacht trip. Still, it’s a genuinely enjoyable day out, and I’d especially recommend it if you’re travelling with family.
Nightlife and Festivals Worth Building Your Trip Around
Zamna Festival at Khoroum Valley
For electronic music lovers, this is the big one. Zamna takes over Khoroum Valley, a natural sandstone amphitheatre near Sharm El Sheikh, for a multi-day event blending international DJs with a desert setting unlike anywhere else in the region. You can check dates and line-ups on the official Zamna Festival website. If your trip planning centres on live music, this is worth building your dates around.
Naama Bay and the Marina Walkway
When it comes to evenings, nothing beats the Marina Walkway. It’s the most famous and liveliest nightlife spot in Sharm El Sheikh, packed with cafés, restaurants, and shops that stay busy well into the night. It genuinely never gets boring, and I’ll come back to hotel recommendations near this area separately.
Sharm El Sheikh International Theatre Festival
This one flies under most tourists’ radar, which is exactly what makes it special. Expect experimental theatre, street performances, and a young, creative crowd, without the inflated prices you’d find at bigger, more commercial events.
Sharm El Sheikh Half Marathon
If you’d rather participate than just watch, the annual half marathon route runs through Ras Mohamed National Park along the coastline every November. Registration details are usually posted on the Egyptian Marathon organiser’s website.
Practical Tips From My Own Trip to Sharm El Sheikh
Pay in Egyptian Pounds, Not Dollars
The biggest mistake I saw tourists make was paying in dollars for everything. Vendors often double or triple prices when they see foreign currency. Exchange your money into Egyptian pounds and negotiate, since the first price quoted is usually inflated and drops significantly once you push back. The exception is hotels and organised tours, which tend to have fixed pricing where paying in dollars is fine.
Bring Your Own Water and Snacks
A bottle of water that costs 10 to 15 pounds near your hotel can jump to 100 pounds or more once you’re out on a desert safari or boat trip, far from any shop. Pack water, juice, and snacks before heading out on any excursion; it’s a small habit that saves a surprising amount of money.
Skip Street Taxis, Use inDrive Instead
Flagging a taxi on the street as a tourist often means paying three times the normal fare. I used the inDrive app throughout my trip: you propose a price, and drivers either accept or counter slightly higher, which is still far cheaper than a street taxi. It’s worth trying at least once to feel the difference yourself.
Choose a Hotel Near the Marina Walkway
Pick a hotel close to the Marina Walkway if you can. It’s the most famous evening destination in the city, packed with cafés, shops, and nightlife, so you won’t need transport to enjoy your evenings, and you genuinely won’t get tired of it.
Best Time to Visit Sharm El Sheikh for Events
Most major events cluster in the milder months. Zamna Festival typically runs in late autumn, the theatre festival often falls in spring, and the half marathon takes place every November. If you’re planning around a specific event, book flights and hotels well in advance, since dates around Eid holidays and major festivals fill up fast.
Beyond Sharm El Sheikh: A Few More Places Worth the Trip
If you have extra days, it’s worth venturing beyond Sharm El Sheikh. Hurghada and its neighbour El Gouna offer some of the best things to see in Hurghada Egypt, including the glamorous El Gouna Film Festival every October and diving sites suited to every skill level. Cairo hosts its own International Film Festival each November at the Cairo Opera House, while Alexandria comes alive in summer with open-air concerts along its Mediterranean Corniche. For motorsport fans, the Pharaohs Rally cuts through the Western Desert’s dunes, drawing drivers from across the region. None of these require giving up your Sharm El Sheikh base entirely; most are reachable as add-on trips if your schedule allows.
Final Thoughts: Planning Your Sharm El Sheikh Trip Around What You Love
Sharm El Sheikh no longer asks you to choose between lounging on a beach and chasing real experiences. Whether it’s a yacht trip to Ras Mohamed, a desert quad safari, a day out in Dahab, or a night on the Marina Walkway, the best places to visit in Sharm El Sheikh now cover far more ground than most guidebooks admit. Build your itinerary around what actually excites you, and you’ll come back with a completely different kind of Egypt story.