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I'd sold Egypt, and the Red Sea many time, but have never visited myself. So, I was keen to find out about an area that was becoming extremely popular with my clients. This May I had the chance to do so, and went to Taba, and then on to Eilat in Israel. This proved to be a great contrast between two nearby resort areas.

My first surprise was how far Taba airport is out in the desert, about an hour from the resort itself.
Therefore, you need to arrange your transfers before you leave the UK, if you don't want a possible long wait at the airport before a taxi can come out to fetch you. Also, our bus waited in line with others at the airport checkpoint, before starting in convoy for the resort. We always had an armed guard on board, if we went outside of a resort area, so security is tight. It didn't detract anything from the trip though, because it is well documented about Egyptian security, so I knew about it before I went.

One thing to remember about Taba is that it is a man made resort which is mostly hotel based.
But what a choice of hotels. Everything is close together, and most hotels offer a dine around service, complete with shuttle transfer. The quality of the hotels were good. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency - a beautiful 5 star property on the beach front. With beautiful landscaped gardens. For a more traditional feel, try the El Wekala Resort, which is next to the shopping centre. Taba has a golf course, the shopping centre and many excursions, so for some sunshine, and a relaxing beach holiday is ideal. And, yes, and the weather was very hot, but dry. You need plenty of water with you, and a hat.

We did a fair bit while there. One day we went down to Nuweiba where we visited a bedouin camp and rode camels (not for me) and one afternoon we had a Red Sea boat trip, which was relaxing. Then we did another excursion to ride quad bikes out in the hot, arid desert. I didn't think I'd like this, but it proved to be fun. You can also do boat trips to Aquabar and Petra in Jordan from here, and various trips to Eilat, with all it has to offer.

This part of the Red Sea is fairly low key and quiet, which was in direct contrast to it's near neighbour Eilat.
A surprise was that there are a couple of hotels practically on the Egyptian side of the border itself. One of them, the 5 star Movernpick was a lovely resort hotel. Beautifully landscaped again. From here you could walk the few minutes to the border, and spend an evening in Eilat if you wished.

The frontier crossing was the most stressful part of the trip. Lots of red tape and terse questions, which given the area, was expected. But Eilat itself, is only about a 20min drive from the border, so it was all pretty straight forward.

Eilat is a sprawling city by the sea, with many well established hotels, and is busy. So, it was intitially
a shock to come from quiet, laid back Taba, to bustling Eilat. We stayed at the Royal Beach Hotel, which had great views of the beach and resort. We were also there during the Sabbath, so that was interesting to see the dietary restrictions, and way of life of Jewish holidaymakers. The buffet food in the hotels was fantastic, especially the salads. The night markets, and shopping were good also. Because the wine is local, it was reasonable compared to being very expensive in Taba. My favourite excursion was to the Dolphin Reef one afternoon, where we saw these fantastic creatures swimming around us. It also had a nice beach resort built into the complex. The trip to the Dead Sea and Masla came a close second.

So, a trip of many contrasts. And one which I would recommend. The Red Sea is HOT at the moment with UK visitors, and the resorts all vary tremendously. I look forward to hearing from you if you decide to visit this interesting part of the world, whether for a relaxing beach, and diving holiday, or for some sightseeing.