During my trip to Egypt, I learned about a small town on the Red Sea coast named Dahab.

Apparently the “hipster meeting point” for North Africa, filled with digital nomads, backpackers, yogis, divers, and foreign expats.

As you know, that’s totally my kind of scene so I planned a one-week trip to the coast to check it out.

Getting To Dahab

Getting there is reasonably easy.

Since the Egyptian Red Sea is a popular dive mecca, you can fly directly into the coast from Europe and other places.

The airport you will land at is Sharm El Sheikh.

If you’re coming from within Egypt, most likely Cairo or Alexandria, you can fly domestically into Sharm El Sheikh.

From there, you book a taxi to wherever you need to go along the coast (you could even stay in Sharm for a night or two to check it out, it’s a nice place!)

I arranged my taxi through my accommodation, which came to a total of $40. That may not be the cheapest you can find, but it’s about what you’ll pay for a private airport pickup. You could land without plans and just negotiate with the airport taxis, but getting much cheaper than $30 will be a hard ask.

From there – everything is easy! The road is great and you’ll be in Dahab in an hour or so.

Where To Stay In Dahab

Most people stay on the main boulevard, which is exactly what the name implies.

There’s a long wooden boulevard filled with restaurants and bars and shops and it stretches for a good twenty or thirty minutes walking. You’ll find many affordable accommodations around here, and this is where most people stay.

I stayed a bit further away (about 15 minutes walk) which I think was a good choice. You have a part of the ocean to yourself, things are not so busy or noisy, but everything is close.

Personally I think this is the best place to stay in Dahab, but be mindful that you’ll need to do a bit of walking to get your groceries and food etc. I stayed at the Skyrock Garden which was perfect!

There are a lot of great places to stay along that stretch of beach, great deals can be found here.

Getting Around Dahab

Hiring bicycles is popular, but honestly, there’s no problem just having a slow holiday and walking around.

I spent several hours walking every day and it was not too hot nor tiring.

I enjoy walking, so if you hate it, you might want a bike or to get the number of a taxi, but otherwise Dahab is reasonably small and everything you need on a daily basis is nearby.

What To Do In Dahab

There’s a lot of interesting things you can do from Dahab as your launchpad.

It’s right at the border of Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, so naturally the area is home to a lot of history.

I did the St Catherines Monastery Tour which takes you up Mt Sinai, it’s very affordable (maybe $50) and well worth the overnight climb. You can read my recap of that here!

I also did a day trip to the Blue Hole to do some swim training.

It’s a popular dive spot which is very deep and the water is very blue.

It’s a busy place and there will be many other divers and snorkellers there, but still it’s huge enough that you won’t feel like you’re in a mosh pit.

It’s only a 15 minute drive from Dahab so very easy and you’ll only pay around $20 or $30 or so for a guide to take you there and bring you back, with a lunch included.

Since I went alone it got boring after swimming through the hole two or three times, but this would be a really fun day out with a group of friends.

There are countless other tours you can do around Dahab, along with day trips to Cairo for the pyramids, Luxor to see the old emperor city, and even day trips into Israel and Jordan.

I had planned to do the Petra tour which takes you into Jordan for an afternoon, however it only goes one day per week, which I missed. The Jerusalem tour was also on my list, but they weren’t running due to the war with Palestine at the time.

I booked all my trips on GetYourGuide! Highly recommended.

Other than that, I mostly spent my time just wandering the Dahab streets exploring at and eating, which leads us to…

What To Eat In Dahab

I tried to eat out at a different restaurant every day, and there’s definitely no shortage to choose from.

On the first night I ate at an Italian place not far from my guesthouse which I have no idea what it’s called anymore (it was average anyway) then popped over to a nearby cafe called Treats for dessert and a drink. It’s a charming little teahouse kind of place, they serve great food, desserts and drinks. Also owned by the friendliest and chattiest guy ever! Definitely recommend a visit.

My next dinner was at the boulevard. There is a string of about 4-5 restaurants with fresh seafood sitting outside and you can choose things to have cooked for you. I had fish (grilled) and calamari (fried). It takes a while but the food is fresh and you can eat it on the balcony overlooking the beautiful Red Sea!

Dinner #3 was an Italian place that came highly recommended called Dai Pescatori.

It’s not quite on the boulevard, it’s on a normal stretch of beach has a very homely vibe.

I had the risotto and the mozzarella salad. Pretty good, but nothing to go crazy about. Good choice for an easy, quiet dinner.

Dinner #4 was at Alibaba Restaurant – recommended to me by a local.

Inside they also have their own fresh seafood counter – I chose another fish I’ve never seen or heard of before, and they brought it out with a million other things.

This is one of the good things about Egypt – all their meals come with so much bread, rice and dips that you’ll always be full no matter what you order! As for the food at Alibaba – also good but nothing spectacular.

Dinner #5 was at a local homestyle Egyptian restaurant.

I came here because Rawan from my Mt Sinai story told me I had to try a few Egyptian dishes before I left.

The two she recommended were the koshari and the mahshi.

I was skeptical because upon Googling I learned koshari is pasta and rice, topped with grilled onions. I was waiting to read what the rest of the dish was… but that’s the full recipe. Interesting. The mahshi was green peppers stuffed with rice. Again – interesting…

As it turned out, both were not bad!

Not the healthiest thing, but for a broke backpacker or student this would get you through many a day! Cheapest and most filling thing I ate in Egypt.

Dinner #6 was Italian again at a restaurant called Happy Hour.

Came here because it was nearby and wasn’t expecting much, but turned out to be one of my best meals in Egypt. I saw them spinning and wood-firing the pizzas from scratch, so I had the four-cheese pizza and the Italian meatballs. Well – both were superb! Would definitely come again.

For my final night in town, I went looking for more Egyptian food and came across Red Cat in one of the boulevard side streets.

Small but busy restaurant with an exciting menu. I went for the traditional lamb and beef mixed dumplings.

Delicious!

Not quite Chinese dumpling level delicious, but hey, that’s almost impossible.

Overall – Dahab has a thriving food scene and you definitely will not go hungry here!

My Thoughts On Dahab

Dahab is a sleepy place, ideal for relaxing near the water, eating some good food, and doing a bit of sightseeing.

It’s not the type of place where you come to party until sunrise (although that’s around, if you want it), but a way to detach from the chaos of places like Cairo or Alexandria and enjoy no traffic, bicycles, fresh pomegranate juices, laid-back people and lots of sun!

I had never been to the Red Sea before and was looking for a place to enjoy the water without crowds, eat well, do some reading, take a few long walks each day and sleep in – and Dahab was perfect!

It’s actually a landing spot for divers, and many people come here to get their PADI and enjoy the many good diving spots along the Red Sea, so you will definitely see a lot of Europeans around.

Curiously I saw quite a few Japanese and Korean tourists wandering around too (almost all divers) so it’s obviously a popular spot for them as well.

And – it’s a hugely popular holiday spot for locals, so many of the restaurants will be filled with Egyptian tourists coming from the cities, indulging in days-long shisha and drinking sessions.

That being said it’s not tacky or boisterous like something you’d see at Thai beaches or Bali – much more reserved and private.

The best thing about it is I didn’t seem to get bothered on my walks by people trying to sell t-shirts or tours or any of that other nonsense.

I walked the boulevard countless times and don’t think I was ever approached once!

People seem to leave you alone and let you mind your business.

Would I recommend Dahab?

Definitely! It’s a different side of Egypt not many people get to witness, but I enjoyed my time there far more than exploring the bustling streets of Cairo.

Of course, you owe it to yourself to see both.

Enjoy 🙂