Three Pools from Sharm: is the Dahab quad-and-camel day worth booking?
4 min read
The short answer: yes, if you would rather sample a lot of Dahab than dwell on one thing, and eight hours is your limit. The Dahab tour to the 3 Pools with quad, camel, Red Canyon and lunch costs from €19.36, lasts eight hours and has 4.8 stars from 364 reviews. If you want the Blue Hole or real snorkelling, take one of the longer jeep days instead.
What is in this day?
The listing’s building blocks are Dahab’s 3 Pools with free time for snorkelling, a camel ride and lunch at a seaside restaurant; the beach quad ride comes only with the option that includes it. The Red Canyon appears by that name only in the title; the inclusions list a Salama Canyon visit by jeep and the notes mention walking in the Colored Canyon, but the itinerary shows no canyon stop, so ask which canyon you visit and for how long. It is sold as an all-in-one adventure from Sharm El Sheikh, and that is how it reads: four activities in one day, not one place with plenty of time.
The water part is thinner than the name suggests: the description promises free time to snorkel at the 3 Pools, the listing says snorkelling equipment is not included and a life jacket is mandatory, and snorkelling depends on the weather and sea conditions; a snorkelling stop at Abu Galum National Park is an add-on. The itinerary gives the 3 Pools three hours, which also have to cover the camel ride, the quad if you booked it and shopping, so if the water is why you are coming, ask before booking how much time you really get in it.
Check availability and prices for the Dahab 3 Pools tour
Two options, and what hangs on them
The description ends by saying guests can choose between two options. The page does not set the two side by side, but its inclusions mark the quad ride as ‘if option selected’ and the Abu Galum snorkelling stop as an add-on. Whether the from-price of €19.36 applies to both and what each includes only shows when you pick a date. Compare them line by line there before you treat the price as your benchmark.
Against the long jeep days
Several Dahab days leave Sharm with similar ingredients. Two of them are the real comparison:
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dahab tour to the 3 Pools with quad, camel, Red Canyon and lunch | 8 hours | €19.36 | 4.8 (364) | a short day of beach, camel and canyon |
| Jeep, Colored Canyon, snorkel, camel, ATV & Dahab | 13 hours | €16.80 | 4.8 (1,362) | snorkelling and the town of Dahab in the programme |
| Jeep adventure to the Blue Hole, canyon & Dahab | 10 hours | €18.70 | 4.8 (732) | the Blue Hole, with the option that includes entry |
Set €19.36 for the 3 Pools day against €16.80 for the 13-hour day: what the shorter day saves you for certain is time, five hours of it. None of the three prices is the whole day: on the 3 Pools tour snorkelling equipment is not included, on the 13-hour day you bring your own or rent it on site for an extra fee, and the ten-hour jeep day asks you to bring cash for optional activities and equipment rental. The 13-hour day is also for good swimmers only; non-swimmers and weak swimmers stay on the beach. What the small print says on the jeep days we took apart in our comparison of the Dahab days with the Blue Hole and the Coloured Canyon.
Who should skip it?
Skip it if you want to dive or stay long at a reef, or if the Blue Hole is your reason for going to Dahab. Anyone who finds the camel superfluous still pays for it; the quad you can leave out, because it belongs to an option.
For families: check the booking page for a minimum age; the listing names pregnant women and wheelchair users as not suitable and warns of off-road driving and moderate walking. Quad and camel ride are separate activities, so ask about each one separately for your child. Bring original passports for everyone; the listing calls them mandatory for all customers.
Our recommendation
Book the Dahab 3 Pools tour if your group cannot choose between beach, camel and canyon and a day of eight hours is your maximum. For the Blue Hole take the ten-hour jeep day and pick the option with Blue Hole entry; it covers snorkelling from the beach area of the national park, not the deep Blue Hole itself, where swimming and diving are not permitted on this excursion.
