Sharm el-Sheikh

In early 2017 we decided to take advantage of the school breaks that the kids have throughout the year and use them as travel opportunities. By the time their spring break rolled around in March, we were all a little exhausted. I had started working at Glowork the month before, kids had been busy with school and extracurriculars, and Wade’s work schedule had been heavy. So we decided we needed something easy and relaxing. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt was the perfect answer. 

The beaches are beautiful, the Red Sea water is crystal clear, the coral reef is unreal, the city itself is calm and charming (I nicknamed it Charming Sharm), and the all-inclusive resorts are very affordable and make a vacation so much easier.

We stayed at the Coral Sea Resort, and I will say it was a little dated, but it was perfect for us. The staff was incredibly nice and helpful, the kids had their own room, breakfast lunch and dinner were served in a nice dining hall that had everything you could possibly need including endless desserts and ice cream, our maid would make a different towel-animal for the kids every morning (they still talk about how much they loved that), our beach was lovely, there was a huge water park onsite for the kids (including an 8-story-high slide that Aliya went down and wanted to go down again and again but then we found out she wasn’t allowed 😬), and plenty of sunshine. We spent most of our days at the beach or water park, eating fries and ice cream poolside (does it get any better?). One interesting observation, most of the guests at our resort were either from Poland or some Arab country. So at the pool there would be a big white guy in a speedo and women in birkinis just a few feet away. It was a funny comparison but so good to see everyone just enjoying their time.

We did venture out and took a glass boat ride to see the coral reef in the Red Sea. The kids had caught some stomach bug (#Egypt) and there wasn’t a bathroom on the boat, so I had them drink Pepsi in the hopes that the rumors were true (that it kills everything inside you). I will say that we made it though the boat ride without incident. Thanks Pepsi. This is the place for some of the best snorkeling in the world, and if we are still here when the kids are old enough to snorkel I think we will head back to Sharm el-Sheikh and take advantage. What we saw through the glass bottom of the boat was breathtaking.

I also did a little shopping in the market. At one shop the owner made me some hibiscus tea with a real dried roselle flower. It worked becasue I spent my money there. But the people were intensely kind. Sharm el-Sheikh is another beautiful corner of the world and we loved our time there.