Red Sea Retreat: Sharm El Sheikh
Five days where Sinai's mountains meet the clearest water in the northern hemisphere — reefs, desert evenings and deliberate idleness.
What does Red Sea Retreat: Sharm El Sheikh include, and what does it cost?
Red Sea Retreat: Sharm El Sheikh is a private 5-day, 4-night journey through Sharm El Sheikh and Ras Mohammed, from €979 per person. It includes 4 nights' accommodation in a 4- or 5-star Red Sea resort (half board), a private full-day Ras Mohammed boat charter with snorkelling equipment and Sinai desert evening with Bedouin dinner. International flights are not included.
Overview
Sharm El Sheikh sits at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, where desert mountains drop into water so clear the reefs read like maps from the surface. It is Egypt's great exhale — which is exactly how this itinerary treats it. Two anchor days are arranged privately: a boat day in Ras Mohammed National Park, whose coral walls at the meeting point of the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba rank among the finest snorkelling on earth, and a Sinai desert evening of Bedouin tea, grilled dinner and astronomy in some of the darkest skies reachable from any resort. The rest is unscheduled on principle. Works as a stand-alone escape or the closing chapter of a longer Egypt journey — Luxor is under an hour's flight away.
Itinerary
Arrival on the Red Sea
- Private airport meet and resort check-in
- Orientation over drinks — the week shaped around your preferences
Ras Mohammed by boat
- Full-day private boat into the national park
- Two or three snorkelling stops over coral walls and gardens
- Deck lunch on board
At leisure
- A free day — introductory dive, spa or simply the beach
- Evening stroll through Old Market Sharm and the Al Sahaba Mosque
Sinai desert evening
- Late-afternoon 4x4 into the Sinai interior
- Bedouin tea, charcoal dinner and star-gazing far from resort light
Departure
- Morning at leisure and private airport transfer
Included & not included
Included
- 4 nights' accommodation in a 4- or 5-star Red Sea resort (half board)
- Private full-day Ras Mohammed boat charter with snorkelling equipment
- Sinai desert evening with Bedouin dinner
- Private air-conditioned transfers
- Hotel pickup & drop-off
- Bottled water every day
Not included
- Scuba diving (arranged on request with licensed centres)
- Marine park fees where applicable
- International flights to and from Egypt
- Egypt entry visa
- Tipping (gratuities)
- Personal expenses
- Optional extras — Abu Simbel, camel rides, dinner cruise, drinks
Comfort & pace
Good to know
When is the sea warm enough?
Essentially always. Water temperatures run 21 °C in winter to 28 °C in late summer; snorkelling is year-round, and even January is comfortable in a shorty wetsuit, which the boat carries.
Do I need to be able to dive?
No. Ras Mohammed's reefs rise close enough to the surface that snorkelling shows you most of the spectacle. If you want to try diving, we arrange a licensed introductory session at your resort's house reef.
Does this combine with the Nile itineraries?
Perfectly — that is how most guests use it. Luxor–Sharm is a short flight, and four Red Sea days after a week of temples is the best-ordered version of Egypt we know.
How demanding is Red Sea Retreat: Sharm El Sheikh?
The walking on Red Sea Retreat: Sharm El Sheikh is light — it is a journey for resting. Nights: One Red Sea resort for all four nights. There are no long drives. There are no pre-dawn starts.
Is this journey right for you?
- Travellers who would rather see four things properly than twelve badly
- Anyone who wants a licensed Egyptologist beside them, not a headset and a flag
- Couples and families for whom pace, comfort and privacy decide whether a trip works
- Visitors marking something — a honeymoon, an anniversary, a milestone birthday
- Anyone looking for the lowest price on Egypt — we are not the cheapest and do not try to be
- Coach tours, shared group departures and itineraries sold by the seat
- Hostels, dormitories and hop-on backpacking routes
- Travellers who would rather organise the logistics themselves
What this journey is, without exception
Every operator in Egypt uses the word luxury. These are the specifics behind ours — checkable before you pay for anything.
A licensed Egyptologist, not a guide
Every journey is led by a guide licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism with a degree in Egyptology. They are with you at the monuments, not waiting in the car park — and they are yours for the day, answering your questions rather than reciting to forty people.
Your party only
No shared coaches. No fixed departure dates. No strangers on your itinerary. If you are two people, the vehicle, the guide and the pace belong to two people.
Built around you, then written down
We design the itinerary from your interests and your dates — not from a catalogue page. You receive it in writing before anything is paid, and it changes as often as you want it to until it is right.
One price, itemised
The quote lists what is included and what is not, line by line, before you commit. Your Egyptologist, private air-conditioned transfers and lunch on touring days are inside the price on every journey, and entrance fees are inside it on every multi-day one. Where something sits outside — monument tickets on a day tour, for instance — it is named on the page you are reading, at the rate the ticket office charges, not discovered at the end.
Reachable while you travel
You have a direct line to the people who planned your journey for the whole time you are in Egypt — not a call centre, and not a number that stops answering after the deposit clears.
Time protected, not filled
A day with four sites crammed into it is a cheaper day to sell and a worse day to live. We plan around light, heat and crowds — the Valley of the Kings at opening, the Egyptian Museum when the coaches have gone — and we leave the afternoon alone.
On price, plainly
Kemet sits at the upper end of the Egyptian market and we are comfortable saying so. A private Egyptologist for a week costs what it costs; so does a car that is yours alone and a room that faces the river rather than the car park. What we will not do is quote low, then recover the difference through optional extras, shopping stops and an itinerary that quietly turns into a group. Every price on this site is a per-person starting point for a private journey, and the written quote that follows is the price you pay.
Moments from this journey
Preparation reading
Guides to help you prepare for this journey.
Egypt Travel Guide
Everything you need to plan a trip to Egypt — visa requirements, the best time to go, getting around, top destinations, culture and practical essentials.
Best Time to Visit Egypt
Egypt's best travel season is October to April, when Nile Valley temperatures are mild and monuments are comfortable to explore. Here is what to expect season by season and destination by destination.
Getting Around Egypt
How to travel between Egypt's cities and sites — domestic flights, the sleeper train, Nile cruises, the Cairo Metro, taxis and private transfers explained.
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Talk to a local expert
Our team lives and breathes Egypt travel. Share what draws you here — we'll help you design the journey that fits.