Dahab is a former Bedouin fishing village on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula, about 90 kilometres north of Sharm El Sheikh, facing across the Gulf of Aqaba at the mountains of Saudi Arabia. It became a backpacker legend in the 1980s and has stayed recognisably itself: low rise, cushions on the seafront, a promenade of dive centres, and a pace that makes the Red Sea resorts look frantic. The reef starts a few metres from the shore, which is why people come and why many of them stay for months.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Sinai Advisory Boundary, Set Out Plainly
Because "Sinai" appears in travel advisories attached to serious warnings, this belongs at the top, with the actual wording rather than a summary.
The UK FCDO advises against all travel to North Sinai Governorate. That is a genuine and long standing restriction, driven by insurgency and attacks on security forces, and it is not a place to go.
South Sinai is treated differently, and the difference is the point. The FCDO "advises against all but essential travel to the northern part of South Sinai Governorate, beyond the St Catherine to Nuweiba road, except for the coastal areas along the west and east of the peninsula." Dahab sits on the east coast of the peninsula, south of Nuweiba, inside that coastal exception. The same guidance adds that "travel to Red Sea tourist areas in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula is generally low risk" and notes the routine security checks protecting resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh.
So the honest position is this: Dahab and the Sinai coast road to Sharm are excepted from the restriction and are treated as low risk, the interior of northern South Sinai beyond the St Catherine to Nuweiba road is not, and North Sinai is off limits entirely. Two practical consequences. First, the standard trip to St Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai sits near that boundary and is normally done with an operator on an approved route, so book it rather than driving yourself. Second, the FCDO's own advice is to book activities outside resort areas through approved agents. Read the current pages linked in Essential Resources before you travel, because advisory geography does change.
What Makes Dahab Different to Pack For
Desert heat by day, genuine cold at night
Summer, June to September, runs 33°C to 40°C and is uncomfortably hot on land while the sea stays pleasant. Winter, December to February, is 20°C to 24°C by day and drops to 10°C to 14°C at night, and because this is desert the drop is fast and because the buildings are open and unheated it is felt indoors. A Bedouin dinner in the desert in January is properly cold.
That is the case for a merino wool base layer for women here: a thin layer that works as sun cover in the day and as the layer you are grateful for on a desert evening or a dawn boat.
You will be in and out of the water all day
The water sits at roughly 22°C in winter and 28°C in late summer. That is warm for swimming and cool enough that repeated diving in winter needs a decent wetsuit, which dive centres provide.
The reef is right there, and it is sharp
Most Dahab diving and snorkelling is shore entry, walking in over coral rubble and rock. That makes reef safe footwear a genuine requirement rather than a nicety, both for your feet and for the coral.
Modest dress on land, swimwear at the shore only
Dahab is the most relaxed place in Egypt about this and it is still Egypt and still a Bedouin town. Swimwear is fine at the dive centres and on the beach, and covering up for the town, the market and any trip inland is expected.
It is dry, dusty and the sun is brutal
Almost no rain, high ultraviolet, and reflection off both water and pale rock.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Dahab Packing List
Footwear
Water shoes or reef booties are the most Dahab specific item on this list. Shore entries are over sharp coral rubble and rock, sea urchins are present, and stonefish and scorpionfish sit camouflaged on the bottom, so bare feet in the shallows is the local injury.
Flip flops for the promenade, which is what everyone wears. Waterproof hiking shoes or sturdy trainers for the canyons and for Mount Sinai, which is a three hour climb on rough rock and loose gravel in the dark. Warm socks for the desert nights and the Mount Sinai summit.
Clothing
Two or three swimsuits, because one will always be wet, and a rash vest or long sleeved sun hoodie, which is the best single purchase for a diving and snorkelling trip: you are face down on the surface with your back in full sun for hours and that is how visitors get seriously burned here.
Loose light long sleeved tops and long trousers or long skirts for the town, the market and any inland trip. A scarf, useful for sun, dust, a mosque and a cold evening. For winter and for any desert night or Mount Sinai climb, a proper warm layer: fleece or light insulated jacket, warm hat, and the base layer. The Mount Sinai summit before dawn in January is close to freezing with wind, and people do it in a t shirt and regret it.
A light windproof layer for boat dives. A rain jacket is nearly pointless here given how little it rains, so a light windproof shell is the better use of the space.
For sun
A wide brim hat with a chin strap for boats and wind, sunglasses, and high factor reef safe sunscreen in quantity. Reef safe matters here in practice: this is a protected marine environment, some dive centres ask about it, and the reef is the reason the town exists. Reapply after every entry. Lip balm with sun protection.
Practical
Your dive certification card and logbook if you have them, and your dive insurance details. Check that your travel insurance covers diving to the depth you intend, because standard policies frequently cap at 18 or 30 metres or exclude diving altogether, and Dahab is a place where people dive deeper than they planned.
A dry bag. A quick drying towel. Ear drops if you are prone to ear infections, which repeated diving causes. Antihistamine and hydrocortisone for coral scrapes and stings, and vinegar is the local first aid for a sting. Rehydration sachets, because you dehydrate fast diving in heat without noticing.
Cash in Egyptian pounds in small notes, since Dahab is a cash town for most things and card acceptance is patchy outside the bigger dive centres and hotels. A refillable bottle plus filtered or bottled water. A head torch for the pre dawn Mount Sinai start and for the Bedouin camps. A power bank. A photocopy of your passport, since the Sinai coast road has checkpoints and they do ask.
What to Wear and Know at Key Sites
The lagoon and the promenade dive sites
Eel Garden, the Islands, the Lighthouse and a string of shore entries right off the seafront.
Practically: swimwear, rash vest, water shoes and reef safe sunscreen. Shore entries are over rock and rubble and the surge can push you onto it, so booties and a bit of care with timing. A cover up for walking back along the promenade.
The Blue Hole
A submarine sinkhole about 100 metres deep, eight kilometres north, with a tunnel at around 56 metres called the Arch that connects it to open water.
Practically, and this needs saying directly: the Blue Hole is one of the most dangerous recreational dive sites in the world and has killed a large number of divers, the great majority of them attempting the Arch beyond their training, depth limit or gas planning, often on a single tank and on air. There is a memorial wall of plaques at the site. As a snorkelling and shallow diving site it is genuinely beautiful and entirely reasonable, with the reef rim in a few metres of water. The danger is specific and avoidable: do not attempt the Arch without technical training, appropriate gas and a competent team, do not let anyone talk you into it, and be sceptical of any operator who offers it casually. Nitrogen narcosis at 56 metres removes your judgement before you know it has. For everyone else, bring snorkel kit, water shoes, a rash vest and sun protection, and enjoy the rim.
Freediving and courses
Dahab is one of the world's freediving centres, with courses and deep training lines.
Practically: a swimsuit you can move in, a rash vest, and a willingness to be cold on repeated descents in winter, when a wetsuit is worth it. Choose a school with recognised certification and a stated safety protocol, and never freedive without a trained buddy watching, which is the rule that blackouts make non negotiable.
The Three Pools, canyons and desert trips
Shore sites north toward Ras Abu Galum, plus the Coloured Canyon and Wadi Gnai inland by jeep or camel.
Practically: closed shoes, long sleeves and trousers, a hat and a great deal of water. Ras Abu Galum is reached by boat or camel with no road, so take everything you need. Desert trips are hot by day and cold after sunset, so carry the warm layer even when it seems ridiculous. Go with a Bedouin guide or an established operator, which is both the safe and the right way to do it.
St Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai
A sixth century monastery at 1,600 metres about two and a half hours inland, and the climb to the 2,285 metre summit, usually done overnight for sunrise.
Practically: book through an established operator on the approved route rather than driving yourself, both because of the checkpoints and because of the advisory boundary described above. The climb is three hours up on the camel path or the harder Steps of Repentance, in the dark, on rough ground. Take a head torch, closed shoes with grip, and far more warm clothing than the daytime coast temperature suggests: hat, gloves, fleece and windproof, because the summit before dawn is near freezing in winter with wind and you will be standing still waiting for the sun. Modest dress is required at the monastery: covered shoulders, covered knees, no shorts, and the monastery has restricted opening hours and closes to visitors on Sundays and some feast days.
The town, the market and Bedouin dinners
Assalah and the Masbat promenade, the market inland, and Bedouin camps in the wadis.
Practically: covered shoulders and knees for the town and the market, which is a working Egyptian and Bedouin place rather than a resort strip. A warm layer for a desert dinner. Cash.
What Not to Bring
Leave bare feet for any shore entry, which is how people meet a sea urchin or a stonefish.
Leave non reef safe sunscreen. Leave the assumption that the Sinai desert is warm at night, because it is not and Mount Sinai at dawn is close to freezing. Leave swimwear as your town clothing. Leave a reliance on cards. Leave a travel insurance policy you have not checked for a diving exclusion. Leave any intention of diving the Arch at the Blue Hole without technical training, which is the one decision available here that genuinely kills people. Leave a drone, prohibited in Egypt. Leave the plan to drive yourself into the Sinai interior. And leave a tight schedule if you are diving, because you cannot fly within 24 hours of a dive.
Essential Resources for Women in Dahab
Emergency numbers in Egypt: 122 reaches the police, 123 the ambulance service and 180 the fire service. 126 is the Tourism and Antiquities Police. For a diving emergency the number that matters is your dive centre, which will have the protocol and the oxygen, and the decompression chamber: there is a hyperbaric chamber in Dahab and another in Sharm El Sheikh, and every reputable dive centre knows how to get you to one. Know which chamber your centre uses before you dive.
Tourist support: Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Police operate along the Sinai coast and there are regular checkpoints on the road between Dahab, Nuweiba and Sharm, which are routine and where your passport copy is asked for. The FCDO's own guidance is to book activities outside resort areas through approved agents or tour operators, which applies directly to desert trips and to St Catherine's. A theft is reported at the local police station for the insurance report.
US Embassy: the Embassy is in Cairo at eg.usembassy.gov, about eight hours by road or a flight via Sharm El Sheikh, and there is no consular presence in Sinai. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: Dahab has a small hospital and several private clinics used to treating divers, plus a hyperbaric chamber. Anything serious means Sharm El Sheikh, about an hour and a half by road, where the International Hospital is the main facility and where there is a second chamber, and anything major means Cairo. Travel insurance that explicitly covers diving to your intended depth and includes hyperbaric treatment and evacuation is essential here rather than advisable, because a decompression incident is both likely enough and expensive enough to matter. DAN membership is worth considering if you dive regularly.
Official health authority: the Ministry of Health and Population at mohp.gov.eg. Do not drink the tap water, including ice and washed salad, and travellers' diarrhoea affects a high proportion of visitors to Egypt. There is no malaria and no yellow fever requirement. Marine injuries are the destination specific health issue: sea urchin spines, coral cuts that infect readily in warm water, fire coral stings, and stonefish and scorpionfish, which are camouflaged on the bottom and whose sting is a medical emergency requiring hot water immersion and a hospital. Do not touch or stand on anything. Heat and dehydration matter, particularly combined with diving. Sunburn through water is severe. There is no bilharzia risk on the Red Sea, unlike the Nile.
US State Department travel advisory for Egypt: current advisory level and detail. Egypt carries a nationwide caution with specific do not travel areas including the Sinai interior, and the Red Sea coastal resort areas of South Sinai are treated separately. Read the Sinai section directly rather than relying on this page, because the geography is precise and matters.
UK FCDO travel advice for Egypt: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, with the regional risks section carrying the exact wording quoted at the top of this post: all travel advised against in North Sinai, all but essential travel advised against in the northern part of South Sinai beyond the St Catherine to Nuweiba road, except for the coastal areas along the west and east of the peninsula, which is where Dahab is. The safety and security section carries the detail that the landing page only summarises, and it is the page to read before you travel. Check it before you travel.
Official tourism authority: the Egyptian Tourism Authority at experienceegypt.eg, with egymonuments.gov.eg for St Catherine's Monastery opening hours and ticketing, which are restricted and change.
Solo women safety assessment: Dahab is the most comfortable place in Egypt for a woman travelling alone, and it is a genuine outlier in the country rather than a marginal improvement. It has decades of independent traveller and dive culture, a large long staying international community, a Bedouin population that is courteous and protective toward guests, and a social structure built around dive centres, which give a solo traveller an instant group and a routine. Women dive here alone, stay for months, and walk the promenade at night without incident as a matter of course. Street harassment exists but is mild and far less persistent than in Cairo, Luxor or Alexandria, and is mostly commercial: restaurant touts on the promenade competing for your custom, which is tiresome rather than threatening and stops at a firm no. Covering shoulders and knees in the town and the market removes most of what remains. Violent crime against visitors is rare. Practical risks: petty theft from dive centre benches and from shared accommodation, so use a locker; the usual care over drinks in the bars; and taking a registered taxi or a lift arranged by your accommodation rather than an unknown driver at night. The risks that actually injure and kill people in Dahab are in the water, and they are worth stating without softening. The Blue Hole has killed a large number of divers, overwhelmingly through attempts on the Arch at around 56 metres by people without technical training, gas planning or an appropriate team, and narcosis at that depth removes the judgement needed to turn back. Do not do it, and do not dive with anyone who treats it lightly. Beyond that, the ordinary diving risks apply and are elevated by how easy and cheap diving is here: people dive too many days consecutively, too deep, too soon after arriving, and then fly. Respect the no fly interval, check your insurance depth limit, choose a centre on safety culture rather than price, and be willing to call a dive. Freediving blackout is a real risk and is why the buddy rule is absolute. Shore entries over urchins and stonefish cause the most common injuries. Sun exposure on the surface is severe. On land, the desert is genuinely hot by day and cold at night, Mount Sinai at dawn is near freezing, and the desert trips should be with a Bedouin guide or an established operator both for safety and because the FCDO advises booking activities outside resort areas through approved agents. Finally, the advisory boundary at the top of this post is the thing to re-read before you travel: Dahab sits in the excepted coastal strip, the interior of northern South Sinai does not, and North Sinai is off limits.
Reading On
Dahab is about an hour and a half north of Sharm El Sheikh airport by road and is the least resort like place on Egypt's Red Sea. The Egypt travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Egypt packing list for women covers a trip across it, including the dress code in more detail. Across the country, the Cairo packing list for women covers the capital and the pyramids, the Luxor packing list for women the temples, the Aswan packing list for women the Nubian south and the Alexandria packing list for women the Mediterranean coast, which is the coldest and wettest Egypt there is. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer earns space on a diving trip, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, the merino wool in warm weather guide covers wearing wool in heat, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
