Sinai

The waters surrounding this peninsula, 20km west of Sharm El Sheikh, are home to spectacular coral reefs, including the world-famous Shark and Jolanda Reefs dive sites. Snorkelling just off the shore here is truly rewarding with plenty of corals and an incredible array of fish life. Back on land, Ras Mohammed's landscape of isolated beaches, mangrove forest and mammoth surface cracks (caused by ancient earthquakes) are a harshly barren counterpoint to the bright lights of nearby Sharm.

The alternative path to Mt Sinai's summit comprises the taxing 3750 Steps of Repentance, which begin outside the southeastern corner of St Catherine's Monastery compound. They were laid by one monk as a form of penance. The steps – 3000 up to Elijah’s Basin and then the final 750 to the summit – are made of roughly hewn rock, and are steep and uneven in many places, requiring strong knees and concentration in placing your feet.

This ancient monastery traces its founding to about AD 330, when Byzantine empress Helena had a small chapel and a fortified refuge for local hermits built beside what was believed to be the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses. Today St Catherine’s is considered one of the oldest continually functioning monastic communities in the world. If the monastery museum is locked, ask at the Church of the Transfiguration for the key.

Low-key, laid-back and low-rise, Dahab is the Middle East’s prime beach resort for independent travellers.

The startling transformation from dusty Bedouin outpost to spruced-up tourist village is not without its detractors, who reminisce fondly of the days when beach bums dossed in basic huts by the shore. But for all the starry-eyed memories, there are plenty of pluses that have come with prosperity. Diving is now a much safer and more organised activity thanks to better regulation of operators; the town is cleaner and more family-friendly, offering accommodation choices for everyone rather than just hardened backpackers.

This is the one town in South Sinai where independent travellers are the rule rather than the exception, and Dahab’s growth has not destroyed its budget-traveller roots. Reeled in by its mellow ambience, many travellers plan a few nights here and instead stay for weeks.

The coastline between Nuweiba and Taba is Egypt's last bastion of the traditional beach camp. For years this region's business came from Israelis looking for a closer-to-home Goa. Plenty of the more adventurous are now venturing back but Sinai's security issues continues to keep the masses who once descended here away while other foreign travellers are still to venture north and discover this tranquil beach-bum haven. Ideal for those who want to seriously veg out, this stretch of shore is all about back-to-basics beach living where lazing in a hammock is still the de rigueur activity.

We name just a small selection of the beach camps here. There are plenty more for those who want to explore. All the camps recommended have restaurants and can help organise desert treks for guests who tire of slothing out on the sand. Note that breakfast is usually not included in the room rate. For travellers who don’t have their own transport and don’t want to hire a taxi, the East Delta buses running between Dahab and Taba can drop people anywhere along this shore.

• Sawa Camp A wide strip of perfect soft white sand beach, hammocks on every hut porch, solar-powered showers and a restaurant dishing up delicious meals: Sawa ticks all the boxes for a laid-back, family-friendly travel stop that's great for unwinding. Bedouin owner Salama has got all the little touches right. Simple hoosha (palm-thatch) huts all have electricity and the communal bathrooms are kept spotless.
• Sabah Camp Speckled with trees and shrubs and fronted by the golden sand of Bir Sweir beach, Sabah is a long-time hit with young hippy Israelis, who come here for serious chill out time and to doss in basic but well-kept hoosha huts just steps from the sea.
• Basata Its name meaning ‘simplicity’ in Arabic, Basata is an ecologically minded settlement that uses organically grown produce and recycles its rubbish. Self-catering is the norm – there's a communal kitchen and a shop where cooking ingredients are available to buy – but it does serve dinner for those feeling lazy. The ambience is laid-back and family-friendly with a New Age twist.
• Magaana The yellow, very pebbly sand of Ras Shaitan may not be the best patch of beach along this stretch of coast but that doesn't put off Magaana's legion's of fans who come here for the bohemian vibes and laid-back social scene around the bar. All accommodation is well-maintained and clean though the teepee accommodation is best left to the non-claustrophobic.

The starkly beautiful Ras Abu Gallum Protectorate covers 400 sq km of coastline between Dahab and Nuweiba, mixing coastal mountains, narrow valleys, sand dunes and fine-gravel beaches with several diving and snorkelling sites. Scientists describe the area as a ‘floristic frontier’, where Mediterranean conditions are influenced by a tropical climate. With its 165 plant species (including 44 found nowhere else in Sinai) and wealth of mammals and reptiles, this environmentally important area is a fascinating place to visit.

One of the top five wreck dives in the world, the Thistlegorm is a 129m-long cargo ship built in Sunderland, England, which was sunk during World War II. The ship had been on its way to Alexandria carrying supplies to restock the British army there; its cargo of armaments and vehicles including Bren gun carriers, motorbikes, Bedford trucks and jeeps can all be seen on dives within the wreck. Depth: 17m to 30m. Rating: intermediate to advanced. Access: boat.

Egypt's first long-distance through-hike, the Sinai Trail (www.sinaitrail.org) is a 250km, 12- to 14-day trek traversing from the coast's vast sand plains and narrow canyons into the rugged mountain heartland around St Katherine. Organised by a cooperative of three Bedouin tribes (the Tarabin, Mizena, and Jabaliyya), the Sinai Trail offers a desert experience steeped in local culture.

Although the idea of multi-day desert trek may at first seem a challenge best left to the seriously gung-ho, the Sinai Trail has been designed and is run for anyone with a good level of fitness and a sense of adventure. Most of the trail, utilising age-old Bedouin routes, is straight hiking with small sections of scrambling (which can be avoided if necessary). Local Bedouin – all trained in wilderness first aid – provide guiding services along the entire route, giving this hike a rich cultural component that allows an insight into Sinai's traditional Bedouin life. For the tribes themselves, the trail offers a small but sustainable economy, creating jobs and other tourism opportunities; it's a vital initiative in a region where the Bedouin communities have often been sidelined in Sinai's tourism economy.

The main trail has its trailheads on the coast between Nuweiba and Taba (at Ras Shaitan and Bir Sweir) and at St Katherine's, and can be walked in either direction. If time restraints mean you can't complete the entire trail, sections can be hiked individually, and a network of shorter hikes at various points along the trail is being developed.

The daily hiking costs (per person per day in a group of six/four/two people LE750/850/950) cover everything: guiding fees, food, water and camels (for carrying equipment and packs). The Sinai Trail is committed to paying a fair wage to guides and cameleers.