Dahab - Hotel Advice

I stayed and dove with the Red Sea Relax. Can't recommend them enough. I had free dorm room accommodation as I was diving but if I wanted to upgrade to the rooms, they were willing to offer me the discount rate of about 230 LE a night (~$30). A good deal for sure but as I was there long term, I didn't want ot spend my money on it. I met plenty of people staying and diving here. Some nights we'd all go out for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. Usualy, there was always someone that was down to smoke a shisha with me (I'd smoke it myself even if there was no one).

I was in Dahab this Feburary and it was indeed very quite. Penguin and Alaska were practically deserted. The only backpacker place that seemed in full swing was seven heaven. They have a very active dive operation and had the only place with a semblance of a traveler scene.

I'm here now staying at the Neptune Hotel and I love it. It's very basic, nothing fancy but it's everything we need plus AC and satellite TV! The rooms we were so cheap (120 EGP/night) my friend and I decided to spring for 2 rooms! The location is great, it's right in the middle of everything and only a few meters away from the water. Dahab is definitely suffering from the tourism crisis and it's heartbreaking, but it's not a total ghost town. Walking past all the closed up shops and restaurants is sad indeed, but there are still plenty of businesses operating and there's just enough buzz to keep it lively. I do hope tourism continues to pick up, this is a great little beach town and the people are incredibly warm and welcoming. As for diving, there are more than a few options and it would benefit you to shop around. We've decided to go with Big Blue. Their prices are really reasonable and they're rated #1 on TA. Hope this helps! Enjoy your holiday :)

Dear scowley88, we were in Dahab 2 weeks ago and stayed in 2 different hotels (to try it out mainly and to have a swimming pool once, for the kids, for the heat was almost unbearable at that time): the Bedouin Lodge hotel (that also have a divers centre and a restaurant adjacent and the beach right at hand), see www.bedouin-lodge-dahab.com. It is cheap, good, clean and the owner is really friendly, and the location is very good. The Bedouin divers centre is also very well recommendable for snorkelling, diving excursions and for just hiring a snorkel/water shoes, etc when you want to take a few swims right at the beach there. When entering Dahab fr Sharm el Sheikh, it's just before the main street, right hand side, in the directon of the beach/boulevard. The reasons why we switched to another hotel, was thus the lack of a swimming pool, the room was a bit too small for 2 adults and 2 larger kids, and there was a bar next door which liked to play music until 2 am.
So the 2nd tip is Sheikh Ali, which is doable on foot from the Bedouin lodge hotel but then 100 metres or so from the beach. Still very central though. It is more expensive but you can bargain a lot better than we have, certainly if one is staying for more than 3 nights. More info on: www.sheikhali-dahab.com.
Hope you have a lot of fun in Dahab!!

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