Dahab Tips

Dahab has a wide range of accommodation, restaurants, shops, markets, coffee shops and bars.

It’s not possible to include them all on our web site, so here are some Dahab tips to make the best of your holidays.

Remember, good places go bad, bad places change names and new places are always opening. These pages are designed to only be a guide as to how things are at the present time.

Check pages such as ‘TripAdvisor’ for the most recent reviews.

Many hotels have good quality restaurants and the beach front is lined with places offering a massive range of different dishes, the quality can vary in the same place from day to day, so it’s impossible to give these a fair review.

There is a problem with illegal fishing in the Red Sea, so for this reason Sea Dancer does not encourage you to eat local seafood, but if you do, always check for freshness!

Head away from the beach to find where the locals eat, there are good chicken and vegetarian shops in Mashraba and Assalah, they may not have the sea view, but they do have great prices, good food and less tourists. To find a good one, just check out where the locals are!

Restaurants and bars open and close all the time, explore, experiment or just find one you like and stay there, the choice is yours.

Lots of it is mass-produced tourist tat! Look around for what you are after and haggle hard! Offering 20% of the asking price is not unreasonable, if they don’t chase you as you leave the shop you’ve gone too low! Browsing is an exercise in patience, remember that the guy who’s is hassling you probably works on commission, don’t get angry, he’s just trying to make a living (but don’t get ripped off either!)

If you’ve forgotten to pack something, you can pick up most essentials around town but the choice of swimwear, particularly for women, is restricted. Other clothes tend to be overpriced and of not particularly good quality.

Small supermarkets are everywhere. Some have a rather flexible approach to pricing, a good test is to ask the price of a 1.5 lt. of drinking water, if it’s more than 3 or 4 Egyptian pounds, it may be worth looking elsewhere. Be very careful at pharmacies, many rip off tourists badly. Ask someone you trust where to go and what to pay. On the plus side, many medications are generally available here that are prescription only at home.

Diving gear is good value in Dahab, most of the big brands are available at, around, 25% less than European prices. Again, look around, find what you like and always try to bargain, not as much as in the tourist shops, but you may get something off (or something thrown in for free!)

A popular item to buy is a ‘sheesha’, also called a ‘water-pipe’ or ‘hookah’. If you want a good quality one at a good price, get a trusted local to help you. They may take a small commission, but overall you will probably get a much better deal. Make sure you stock up with the different flavours of tobacco (double apple is a favourite) it may be hard to find at home!