Rock Climb, Hike and Snorkel in Egypt

Marta Marinelli, raised in Italy’s serene Prosecco Hills, dreamt of global adventures, inspired by her father's travel stories. Her passion evolved into a career, backed by a decade of studies including degrees in international tourism and destination management. She’s worked in the adventure travel sector since 2012, living in Italy, the UK, and now sunny Portugal.

Over twenty years, Marta has explored over 55 countries, visiting remote areas like Ghana, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Haiti and Nepal’s Upper Mustang region. As a Senior Adventure Expansion Manager at Much Better Adventures, she focuses on creating life-changing experiences, ranging from multi-activity adventures, challenging treks to ultimate adventures in iconic places. She loves the challenge of finding the best local adventure hosts around the world, collaborating on adventures that offer genuine immersion, pushing beyond the beaten path and working on exclusive itineraries that challenge your comfort zone.

What makes her tick? Enabling people to live adventure-rich lives while positively impacting and empowering local communities around the world, generating sustainable opportunities for both the host, guides, community, and the environment.

Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in Sinai. Water will be provided throughout your time hiking in the desert and will carried by the jeeps. This will be bottled water in large bottles, which you can use to refill your own water bottles. We do encourage you to bring a refillable bottle to reduce plastic waste.

As you will be starting and ending your trip in Dahab, you can leave any extra luggage at the hotel if needed.

During snorkelling and climbing, you will be accompanied by expert local guides. Out in the desert, you'll join a team of Bedouin guides who were born and raised in the area and know how to guide you through the remote places and desert environment safely and expertly. One of the unexpected highlights of the trip is watching how the Bedouins move through the desert, organise camps and cook according to ancient traditions. This is an incredible opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the local culture and get to learn survival skills from the Sinai’s original desert people.

This trip includes two nights of wild camping under the stars – your Bedouin team will set up the cooking area and make a fire at each location. Sleeping will be under warm blankets or in your sleeping bag, with no tents or shelters. Washing will be predominantly done with wet wipes - there won’t be showers until you reach Dahab.

For toilets, you can find a convenient boulder or dig a small hole, as the exceedingly dry temperatures of the desert disintegrate waste rapidly. Biodegradable paper can be burnt on the fire and you will need to carry any extra waste in ziplock bags. Your host will give you a full briefing on the etiquette and practicalities of outdoor toileting. Whilst this is all part of a wilderness adventure, it can have a negative impact on the surrounding environment, if not practiced carefully. For those who have periods, we have also written a handy guide, to help you manage these whilst adventuring.

You can hire the climbing shoes locally or buy your own. If you decide them to purchase them prior to the trip, these can be bought for approx. £30 from Decathlon or similar. You should buy those that fit comfortably in the shop: don't follow advice for them to be extra tight or a smaller shoe size than you would normally wear, because your feet will swell with the heat in Egypt anyway so finding a pair that fit like normal shoes and no tighter is important.

We recommend you pack a 4-season sleeping bag (-10 C comfort rating), or 3-season (for October/early November/March/April), a sleeping mat and if you wish, a camping pillow.

Please note that there is no phone signal throughout the desert safari. Please let your loved ones know so that they don’t worry. You can give them this number for emergency calls +20 1004040181.

Yes, however you may bring your own snorkel and mask if you prefer.

Dahab is an amazing adventure destination and your local host is a true activity specialist, offering a wide range of extra optional tours such as bouldering, climbing, diving and mountain climbing. Just reach out to them prior to your trip and they'll be happy to provide any information and arrange extra services for you. If you wish to extend your trip in Cairo & the pyramids, the easiest is to fly from Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo (1 hr). There is also a bus which connects Dahab and Cairo 4 times daily and takes approx. 9 hours (go-bus.com / bluebus.com).

In Egypt, it is a legal requirement for all hotels and tourism operators to take a copy of guests' passports (or local ID for domestic travellers), which they must submit to the tourist police.

In addition, your host must submit a copy of your passport to the National Park authorities for permission to travel in the area visited on this trip. The application for this permission must be completed at least a day in advance, so your host asks for these in advance of travel to ensure trip preparations are complete in time for your arrival. Passport scan copies held by Much Better Adventures are deleted after your trip has finished.

Most people (UK/EU citizens) will not need a Visa for this trip, but please do check this prior to travel. On arrival at Sharm El Sheikh airport, you'll get a free entry stamp at passport control, and good to go! However, you will need a full Egyptian Visa in these circumstances:

• If you arrive via Cairo, or plan to do more traveling around Egypt (Cairo, Luxor etc), then you must buy a Full Egyptian Visa.
• If you plan to stay more than 15 days in South Sinai.

A full Egyptian Visa is USD $25 on arrival at the airport (please try to have exact USD change), or you can do an eVisa https://visa2egypt.gov.eg/

If you are not a UK/EU citizen; some nationalities must obtain a Visa before arrival from the Egyptian embassy in your country. If in doubt, please ask.

This trip operates in areas where daytime temperatures can reach extreme highs, where limited shade and high humidity can also be a factor. These conditions can affect physical performance and increase the risk of dehydration or heat-related illness. Your guide will adjust the pace and monitor the group closely, but hydration, proper clothing, and sun protection are essential.

Before travelling, consider your ability to be active in high temperatures and consult a medical professional if you have concerns – especially if you have any cardiovascular or heat-sensitive conditions. Arriving a day or two prior to the trip may help you adjust gradually to the heat.

Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.

Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.

Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).

For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.

We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.

We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.

If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.

All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.

You're always in good company on one of our adventures.

Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.

Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.

It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.

Don't just take our word for it:

• 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
• 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
• 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends

See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.

This trip runs between October and April, when the daytime temperatures are lower and more pleasant for climbing and trekking (usually ranging 18-35°C). Your guides will also schedule the activities to avoid the hottest hours of the day, and will seek shade during lunch breaks. Nights can get very cold in the desert, with temperatures sometimes plummeting down to 5°C or lower depending on the time of year. Cosy blankets are provided but a good sleeping bag is important (3 or 4 season sleeping bag depending on the time of year - please see the kit list for more details).