To wonder why the fuck anyone would want to go to Sharm El Shek anyway?

[GlitteryRollerGirl]

Just that really.

That part of the world is incrediably volatile at the moment, even more so since the terrorist attack in Tunisia. The foreign office advised against travelling there after that. I've always wanted to go to and see the pyramids but accept its not going to happen for the foreseeable future, it's not worth the risk . Now this terrible incident with the plane, clearly there is intelligence telling the government that it's just not safe to fly to or from there at the moment.

Aside from that, I've known loads of people who've been there and none have liked it. Huge purpose built resorts with gates and armed guards on them?! No thanks! I'd never be able to relax.

If you want some winter sun what's wrong with the good old Canaries?

So the Foreign office say previously that somewhere like Sharm is safe, when clearly it isn't.
The news reports and eye witness accounts have been saying the security is very lax at the airport.

Makes you wonder where else they say is ok to go to but they probably don't really know.

YANBU OP, it looks hideous to me and I would never want to go there, nor to any other big resort full of hotels, beach umbrellas and bars. That would be like hell on earth to me.
But I am delighted that so many people do like places like that, as it means fewer people in the places that I like to visit!

For the amazing diving?

For the relatively close warm weather?

Because you like being in an all inclusive hotel and don't care what's happening in other parts of the country?

Egypt works pretty hard to keep sharm safe whilst there is unrest in other areas.

We went to sharm in 2007. Went for diving. Amazing diving due to the high salt content it makes it easy for beginners.

The high security didn't bother me at the hotel. Wasn't that intrusive. I've been to the Maldives a few times and the security at the hotel is the same.

Sharm airport is the worst airport I've ever been to. Going by the news reports it looks like it has been upgraded since I went. It was when I went there shabby, crammed and full of cigerette smoke. When we arrived we handed our passports to passport control and they took them away!!!!
We all got them back on the coach, but I was very concerned.

Sharm has had a few attacks. I remember the Hard Rock Cafe bomb a few years before we went there.

The news reports and eye witness accounts have been saying the security is very lax at the airport.

Aren't they saying that actually passenger security was 'acceptable' but cargo security (which holiday makes can't see to give an uninformed opinion on) was lax?

I've known loads of people who've been there and none have liked it. Huge purpose built resorts with gates and armed guards on them?!

And as for the diving, it's amazing :)

Been three times and everyone I met whilst there, on the way there and since on FB message boards has loved it. I've yet to see armed guards. Security, yes.

whois
Holiday makers have been saying that the security men on the X-ray machines where sat on their phones playing games.
One lady said she was approached and told she could by pass security for a price!

I was in Taba, another dive place like Sharm, just after their bomb. I don't like those kind of all-inclusive places at all. But when you are underwater for a lot of the day, it's great. We had individual lessons. in one of the best places for diving in the world.

And, we got to go to Petra.

People go because it's hotter than Europe, and your money goes much further. Diving in the Red Sea is stunning.

I haven't been to Sharm since 1999, and wouldn't go if only because already by then it was too vulgar-touristy (Italian women in string bikinis strutting down the main roads - not appropriate anywhere in the world imo: swim wear is for the beach or the pool...), too towels-reserving-sunbeds, too much reliance on baksheesh etc without any of the good bits of Egypt to recommend it. That said, if I wanted guaranteed hot weather, five star hotel and great diving, on a budget - it would appeal.

I think people are ridiculous to be put off travelling to all of North Africa because of what happened in Tunisia in the summer, or because there was a horrendous terrorist attack in Luxor in 1997: people don't not travel to London because of 7/7. That said, part of my job is having a detailed understanding of the Arab world, particularly in terms of politics, security and religion, and I do speak Arabic, and I appreciate that some people's only knowledge comes from mass media. We have to make the decisions with the information we have and what we are comfortable with, at the end of the day.

I did, however, have a fantastic summer in Luxor, when I was able to stay at hotels I have always fancied because the failed suicide bombing at the start of the summer, which led to tour operators from the UK pulling out immediately until October (yet in Sharm, Thomson and TC are saying until next Thursday so far? Cynical ploy to grab back money for the low season in Luxor, hmm?). It was totally safe, people could not have been nicer, there was none of the incessant hassle you get on the beach in Sharm or in Khan el Khalili in Cairo, of people trying to get money from you etc etc Staff at the hotels couldn't do enough for you, and you practically had to ambush them to get them to accept tips. Security was second-to-none throughout - better than it was in 1997, in fact, when I took a group of Americans on a tour to Egypt a few months after the massacre...

But again: people have to make the choices they are comfortable with. I can't bear Dubai, because of the rampant materialism and perpetual racism against the guest workers from the sub-Continent: and because it's bloody boring because there's not much culture-wise to see or do. So I wouldn't go there by choice. I like Morocco and Tunisia; I love Lebanon; Syria was great before the war, and Jordan is also a lovely place. But it's horses for courses, and people have the right to choose where to have their holidays and how to spend them, whether that's at Disneyworld, on a beach, or looking at antiquities: wouldn't it be a dull world if we were all the same?

(And fwiw, until the "bomb" - and was it really a bomb? After all, the Islamists claim responsibility for absolutely everything: surely if they'd successfully got a bomb on a plane, they'd have been crowing about it in the usual fashion? After all, they are still saying they shot it down - which they most certainly don't have the capacity to have been able to do: and the pilot requested permission to land urgently because of technical problems... but anyway - Sharm was still green on the FCO maps: meaning that travel was considered to be safe and there were no restrictions. This current incident will not just have an impact on the people of Sinai, but of Egypt in general - the majority of those in industries related to the tourist trade are not from the Sinai peninsular...)

Isn't it inside a "ring of steel" Like a prison then.

Sounds my idea of hell,

There's lots of countries that I would love to see, the ancient buildings, fauna and flora, etc, but would never travel because they are too dangerous for me as a woman. And that includes such countries that are deemed stable and safe.

If the government hates women, they won't get my money, simple as that. (Yes, I am fully aware that this very much limits my travel options to, like, Sweden and Iceland, in theory. However, I also consider acceptable those countries that hate women no more than the country I live in and spend money in, anyway. Means I am not going to see Ireland again anytime soon, sadly.)

I've been many times for the SCUBA diving. There are fantastic reefs out there and nowhere else with such high quality diving is as near or cheap.

There were no warnings against travel to that part of Egypt. It was specifically exempt from the warnings.

broken, airport security in Egypt racial profiles, btw - a white/foreign holiday maker is not a threat and likely to bomb a plane: try doing the same thing as a Libyan passport holder, who are currently the Egyptian governments number one targets...

There were no warnings against travel to that part of Egypt. It was specifically exempt from the warnings.

maybe that was more to do with money than safety?

To be fair, I've been in hotels with armed guards in Thailand and Malaysia - once you move away from Europe or NAmerica, it's not that strange, and they tend to make an effort to be nice and smiley with their guests...

A 'week in the hotel, don't leave it' style holiday isn't for everyone, and pre-DCs it wouldn't be for me, but it's fine for a no effort holiday - if the resort is big enough it doesn't feel too constrained to stay on it.

We've not been to Sharm and now probably won't for a fair few years, but i'm not someone who thinks it's automatically foolish to holiday in a poorer, non-Christian country. Nor is it only a 'worthy holiday' if you eat your meals in small restaurants where the owners speak only 3 words of English and you never spend more than 2 nights in the same hotel, having only travelled between locations using local public transport. Loved that sort of trip before DCs, post-DCs, it seems a lot of hassle until they are old enough to carry their own suitcases...

Wrt children being there and stranded, I know two families, both with three children out there at the moment. Our school doesn't go back until Monday (Kent).

As for the OP, no, YANBU. I went to Tunisia (under duress) in April, just after the Tunis attack, and listened to everyone that told me it was probably the safest place I could go at that point because 'lightning doesn't strike twice'

Unfortunately I think this will do to Sharm's tourist trade what the Sousse attack did to Tunisia's.

It's cheap, hotels more luxurious for the price, driving is great, good base for exploring - we did a trip to Jordan from another resort. We've also been to Luxor which is amazing for the sites but just as awful for the harassment, although Cairo is much worse in that respect, even around the tourist sites. But you put up with that to visit the archaeology and Sharm etc is a safer place to base yourself. Although I'm glad I've been and hope it's more stable once the kids are old enough to visit - I'm an archaeology graduate but still enjoy a little beach/pool relaxation.

Thank god we're all different. Holidays would be a nightmare if we were all sat on the same beach!!

I've been to Sharm several years ago (2006? ish) ..as the cheapest way of seeing the pyramids and Luxor.
I found a cheap package deal to Sharm then we had a tour organised by an Egyptian tour company (before we went).
So we had two days in the hotel in sharm then early flight to Cairo. A personal guided tour of the Pyramids, Museum, Old town etc then sleeper train to Luxor - then a guided tour of the temples etc on East bank, overnight in a hotel, then a guided tour of the West bank (valley of kings, queens, colossi of memnon, temple of hatshepsut). Then a late flight back to sharm... The tour cost more than the package holiday but absolutely worth it. In retrospect it was a bit rushed at times but still the experience of a lifetime...(private tour guides are so worth it)
Can't remember airport security...but all the hotels had armed police outside and a metal detector you had to walk through ...which as obvious tourists we were waved through - even DP who is actually of arabic descent. So I can imagine if you look like a tourist the international airport security would be pretty lax too.
And I was shocked by the internal flight security - there wasn't any really tbh. (I didn't even fly in my name - I'm not married...to spare me the embarrassment they made out my ticket in the name 'Mrs. DPs surname' even though I paid for the flight with a card in my name...a misunderstanding which got refunded later)

But then I will say that I flew back from Spain in 2008-9 with a 1.5L bottle of water in one of the DC's hand luggage bags (meant to get rid of it before security and forgot) and it wasn't picked up on.
And flew back from Crete this year and found their security didn't seem any where near as strict as it was flying out from the UK ...

Same reason people go to Turkey,I guess.

It's cheap and warm for people who just want to bake on a sunbed for a fortnight.

There is the diving, I suppose.

There are families with babies there, I have to say I am very surprised someone would travel there with a baby.

Not my cup of tea.

Does anyone remember the huge f* off shark that was reported in the sea at Sharm a year or two ago? That alone would be enough to put me off but I've also been to Luxour and wouldn't go back as I was constantly touched, whistled at and bartered for camels. My DM thought it was hilarious but as a sensitive young soul I truly hated the intimidation.

ihatethecold I don't think so: the FCO makes the warnings, not the Egyptian government- and, for example, in 2012, it was still safe to go to Nuweiba, Dahab, Taba etc further round the peninsular, and they were also part of the safe zone. There hasn't been a specific attack on tourists there, but the deteriorating security situation in Sinai led to the decision, presumably.

Sharm is easier to segregate off, though, and defend, because of its location, and there is also the Presidential Palace there, a unit of the UN nearby (not that they'll do anything, mind, but another reason for the Egyptians to be mega-tight with security) and it's frequently used for high-level diplomatic meetings for the Arab League and other IOs etc It's also been the "main" resort in southern Sinai for maybe 25 years, which also means it's the main money spinner, and has, as a result, had the highest number of hotels etc, five star and otherwise - but that's also because it's closest to Ras Mohammed, the national park where there is amazing diving, even for the Red Sea.

The Egyptians in general are fairly fanatic about making sure guests are not targeted: if you're travelling independently more or less anywhere that has the potential for any kind of shadiness (the places you can, at least) your car will be escorted by armed police trucks in front and behind, and at every checkpoint, these will change. There is a rumour too that the various governors (of each "district") have told the police that any commander who loses a tourist on his watch will find himself posted to a very remote part of rural southern Egypt to reflect on his sins... They are aware that tourism is vital to their economy, and want to make people feel safe on their visits.

There is also - and I certainly didn't get this from the press and the Egyptian bloggers before I went this summer: quite the opposite, in fact- an incredible hostility to religious extremism of any kind, hatred for terrorists and a general relief that Sisi is tightening up security-wise.

I don't support any regime which has a 90% practice rate of FGM.