Ready to go I: Sharm el-Sheikh

The simplicity of sun, sea and sand. 

The luxury of five-star hotels, water sports, shopping and entertainment. 

This is Sharm el-Sheikh, one of the most accessible and developed tourist resort communities on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on the coastal strip between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai with a population of approximately 35,000. 

Before 1967, Sharm el-Sheikh was little more than an occasional base of operations for local fishermen. 
Commercial development of the area began during the Israeli presence in the area. The Israelis built the town of Ofira overlooking Sharm el-Maya Bay, and the Nesima area, and opened the first tourist-oriented establishments in the area six kilometers north at Naama Bay. These included a marina hotel on the southern side of the bay, a nature field school on the northern side, diving clubs, a now well-known promenade, and the Naama Bay Hotel. 

After the Sinai was restored to Egypt in 1982, the Egyptian government embarked on an initiative to encourage continued development of the city. Foreign investors - some of whom had discovered the potential of the locality during the Israeli occupation - contributed to a spate of building projects. 

Nowadays, all around there are Bedouins, colorful tents, mountains and sea. There are small, intimate hotels with modern designs, as well as larger hotel complexes belonging to International chains, plus about all the amenities one could expect of a tourist center, including casinos, discos and nightclubs, golf courses and health facilities. 

 In fact, with diving and snorkeling, windsurfing and other water sports, horses and camel riding, desert safaris, and great nearby antiquities attractions, it is almost impossible for a visitor to ever suffer from boredom.