Sharm El Sheikh with children: what works, what does not, and the beach nobody warns you about
8 min read
With small children, start with the Seascope semi-submarine – 90 minutes, hotel pickup included, from €32.65 per person, 4.4 from 1,305 reviews. Nobody has to swim, nobody gets wet, and a toddler, a child who will not put their face in the water and a grandparent who does not swim all fit into the same booking. If your children already swim, the one boat day that works is the six-hour White Island and Ras Mohamed trip, from €20.69 – three hours shorter than the big nine-hour version, and with children that is the whole difference. And the thing nobody warns you about: the shore here is reef, not sand.
Most of what makes Sharm El Sheikh good for children is obvious from the brochure: warm shallow water, sun you can rely on, short boat rides, animals. One thing is not in the brochure at all, and it is the thing that most often surprises families in the first hour.
The shore is reef, not sand. Along most of the coast you do not walk into the sea from a beach. You walk out along a jetty or a floating pontoon and get in at the end of it, because the coral shelf ends in a drop-off and walking on it would destroy it. Ras Um Sid is the clearest example: at the end of the pier a ladder leads down, and “you can easily enter the water, directly on the reef”. Snorkeling Report
Easy for an adult. For a four-year-old who wanted to build a sandcastle and paddle, it is a completely different holiday from the one on the poster. Hotels vary enormously on this, and it is the single most useful question to ask before booking a room: does your beach have a sandy entry, or a ladder off a pontoon into deep water?
The water itself
| Month | Sea |
|---|---|
| January | 23°C |
| February | 22°C |
| March | 22°C |
| April | 23°C |
| May | 25°C |
| June | 26°C |
| July | 28°C |
| August | 28°C |
| September | 27°C |
| October | 27°C |
| November | 26°C |
| December | 25°C |
Sharm el Sheikh climate averages
Between February and April the sea is 22 to 23°C. Adults call that refreshing; small children get cold in it within twenty minutes and stay cold. If you are travelling in that window, a heated pool matters more than the beach, and a child-sized wetsuit or rash vest is worth the suitcase space. July and August give you 28°C water and daytime air of about 35°C, which is the opposite problem.
The excursions that actually work with children
The semi-submarine. A yellow boat with a glassed observation deck about three metres below the surface, ninety minutes including hotel pickup, from €32.65 with 1,305 reviews. Nobody gets wet, nobody needs to swim, and the listing describes it as “ideal if you’re not a fan of the sea”. The same listing, however, explicitly marks it “not suitable for wheelchair users” — do not count on step-free boarding. It still works for a child who will not put their face in the water, a grandparent who does not swim, and a toddler, all in the same booking. Pickup is roughly 45 minutes before the trip time.
See availability and prices for the Seascope semi-submarine
A short snorkelling boat day. The six-hour trip to White Island and Ras Mohamed runs from €20.69 with 3,870 reviews – three hours shorter than the big nine-hour version and, with children, that is the whole difference. The sandbank stop is the part children remember, because it is the only place on the trip where they can run.
See dates and prices for the six-hour White Island and Ras Mohamed trip
The town, in the evening. 12 city tours from €7.47, which is as low as any category on this site starts. An hour in the Old Market after the heat has gone is an easier evening than a restaurant.
The five boats, side by side
| Boat | Duration | From | Rating | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seascope semi-submarine with pickup | 90 minutes | €32.65 | 4.4 (1,305) | toddlers, non-swimmers, grandparents – all in one booking |
| Royal Seascope submarine cruise with pickup | 90 minutes | €46.80 | 3.9 (89) | families with a bigger budget who want the same idea |
| Coral reef glass-bottom boat tour | 1 hour | €32.25 | 3.7 (7) | families on a small budget, and very short attention spans |
| Glass-bottom boat tour with transfer | 2 hours | €24.26 | 3.5 (31) | families who want a little longer on the water |
| White Island and Ras Mohamed snorkelling trip | 6 hours | €20.69 | 4.7 (3,870) | children who already swim, and a whole free day |
Read the review counts, not just the stars. Seven reviews and thirty reviews are a first impression, not a verdict; 1,218 and 3,811 are something you can rely on. That is the real argument for the first Seascope and for the six-hour snorkelling day over the cheaper glass-bottom options, and it is a stronger argument than any price difference on this list.
The age rules, and the gap in them
The quad safaris are the excursion where children come up against written rules, and the rules stop halfway. Both of the big listings say on their listing page that the tour is not suitable for children under 3. Both say:
Children aged 5-15 may participate only as passengers on a double quad bike with an adult.
Nothing anywhere covers a three- or four-year-old. Nobody is hiding it; it simply is not written down. Ask the operator directly and get an answer before you pay, because the alternative is finding out in a car park with a child who has been promised a quad ride. The same listings also state a maximum combined weight of 150 kg for a double quad – relevant if the plan was one parent plus one child plus one more child.
The full options are under desert safaris, from €12.09, and are taken apart in the quad safari article.
The two days to think hard about
Cairo by coach. The operator states that the convoy makes the journey “between 7 and 9 hours” one way, and the cheaper coach trip lists its own duration as 22 hours. Whatever the pyramids are worth, ask what your child does between hour nine and hour fourteen. If Cairo matters to you this holiday, the flight options exist and cost roughly four times as much; the numbers are in Cairo from Sharm, honestly calculated.
The jeep day to Dahab and the canyon. Ten to thirteen hours, and the listings say it involves off-road driving and “a lot of walking”. They list themselves as unsuitable for people with mobility impairments and, on one, for people with heart problems. Nothing there is aimed at children specifically, which is exactly the point: nobody will stop you bringing a six-year-old on a thirteen-hour off-road day, and it is still a bad idea. The jeep day, taken apart.
Practical things nobody mentions
Pickup times are confirmed the day before. Every listing says it. With children, that means you cannot plan the previous evening properly until the call comes, so book the early excursion for the first half of the week rather than the last.
There is no shade on the sandbank. None. Not a tree, not an umbrella. Hats, long sleeves and a plan for the middle of the day are not optional there.
Take cash in small notes. Scarves, equipment rental, a camel photograph, drinks with lunch – these are the things that are not included, and they are all cash transactions in the middle of a tour.
Seasickness. If a child is prone to it, take the shorter boat, go in the morning, sit them mid-ship and give them the horizon to look at. Anything beyond that is worth talking through with your pharmacy or your family doctor before you travel.
What we would not do
Book a nine-hour boat day in week one with a child who has never been on a boat. Book anything at all on the arrival day. Or choose a hotel by the photograph of its beach without asking how you get into the water – that question decides more of the holiday than the excursion list does.
Our recommendation
For most families: the Seascope semi-submarine, from €32.65, 4.4 from 1,305 reviews. Ninety minutes, pickup included, and a toddler, a child who refuses to put their face in the water and a grandparent who does not swim can all do it together. It is not step-free – the booking page says so itself – and it is not an afternoon in the water, so if everyone in the family swims happily you are paying for the wrong thing.
See availability and prices for the Seascope semi-submarine
If your children already swim: the six-hour White Island and Ras Mohamed trip, from €20.69, 4.7 from 3,870 reviews – the best rated of the five above, and the sandbank stop is the one hour of the holiday children talk about afterwards.
On a small budget, or with a child who lasts an hour: the coral reef glass-bottom boat, from €22.12. The cheapest look at the reef on this page. It also has the fewest reviews of the five, 7 – which is why it is the third recommendation and not the first.
If your children are old enough to want to snorkel properly, start with snorkelling for beginners in Sharm, which covers what the jetty entry really involves.
