Dahab

A shaft more than 100 metres deep opens right at the shoreline. Accidents happened here often, so the rules are posted in large letters.

Wading in off the town front brings coral and fish at once. No boat is needed, so first time divers learn here.

A narrow split in the sandstone is walked into and it runs shoulder wide. Light entering the gap above changes the colour of the walls hour by hour.

Setting out at night, 3750 steps lead to the summit for the sunrise. A camel covers the lower half and the rest is on foot.

It has stayed open since the sixth century, set below the mountain. Its library holds many early manuscripts and only part is shown.

No road reaches this coastal reserve, and a camel or a boat has to do. People sleep a night in a Bedouin tent and dive the next day.

Three shallow basins connect by narrow passages that lead out to deeper water. There is no current, which makes it a favoured spot for photographs.

Tents go up in open desert and tea boils on the fire. With no lights anywhere, lying back is enough to fill the view with stars.

A wide shallow lagoon takes steady wind, which suits a beginner. The water sits at waist height, so a fall means standing straight back up.

Minerals in the sandstone band the walls yellow, purple and red. On the way down a tight section calls for a hand on the rock and a low crouch.

A sandy slope entered from the beach north of Assala, where hundreds of garden eels sway half out of their burrows. Swim close and they all vanish into the sand at once. The water is clearest in the calm of the morning.

A dive site off Dahab's southern shore where coral peaks and gullies tangle into a maze. You enter straight from the beach and see it in shallow water. Losing your way is easy, so the first time it is better to follow a guide.

The Bedouin fishing village that was here before tourism, now the northern end of Dahab town. Fishing boats sit pulled up on the beach and goats roam the lanes. Calmer than the lighthouse shopping strip, it is where long-stayers rent many rooms.

A canyon of white rock in the mountains near Nuweiba, reached by four-wheel drive and crossed on foot. Where the floor narrows you climb down the rock holding a rope. It is often paired with the Coloured Canyon as one day out.

Egypt's highest mountain, climbed up and down in a day from St Catherine village. Hikers are scarce next to Mount Sinai's crowds, and a small chapel crowns the summit. A Bedouin guide is required, and winter sometimes whitens the top with snow.

A coral wall dive site down the shore from Dahab, reached by boat because no road goes there. The name means the girl's grave, after a Bedouin legend of the beach. With so few visitors, the coral stays healthy.