Sharm's coral starts at the shoreline, so the best snorkelling in Egypt costs nothing but a borrowed mask. This route sticks to free reef entries, the Old Market's charcoal grills, blue minibuses at 10 EGP a hop and Hadaba clifftops at sunset.
Completed 2017 in mixed Ottoman-Fatimid style, with twin 76 m minarets and Andalusian plasterwork over the prayer hall. Entry is free and open to non-Muslims outside the five prayer times; abayas and headscarves are lent at the door.
The pre-resort town centre: alabaster, hibiscus, cumin and Bedouin silver sold from open-front stalls along a 400 m pedestrian lane. Wandering costs nothing and opening prices run three to four times the fair rate.
A wall of gorgonian fans drops from three metres to sixty right off the public steps below the lighthouse, so snorkellers see the same fish as boat divers. Public access is free; mask, snorkel and fins rent for about 150 EGP a day nearby.
The 2 km waterfront walkway runs free of charge from end to end, past dive-centre noticeboards where last-minute boat spots get discounted. Cafés set chairs on the sand; buying nothing and sitting on the sea wall is normal here.
The residential fruit and vegetable market where hotel kitchens buy. Tomatoes, guava and dates sell by the kilo at mainland prices rather than resort ones, and the bakeries alongside sell fresh baladi bread by the stack.
Rice, lentils, macaroni, chickpeas and fried onion under tomato sauce, ladled into three bowl sizes. The small feeds one hungry person for around 40 EGP, the large for 70, and the chilli and garlic-vinegar bottles are free.
Fixed-price supermarket a block behind the promenade, useful for stocking a room fridge: 1.5 l water, local Domty cheese, tinned foul and fruit come in well under a single restaurant main course.
You pick fish off the ice by weight at the door, then it comes back grilled with tahina, salads and bread on a plastic-tablecloth table. Sea bream or bolti runs roughly 250-350 EGP per kilo cooked, cheaper than any Naama Bay equivalent.
Sinai's northern headland faces the Straits of Tiran, and the reef table is reachable straight off the rocky shore near the lighthouse. Currents bring in jacks and barracuda; entry is free where public access has not been fenced by hotels.
The Hadaba plateau sits about 60 m above the sea, and the unfenced path along its lip gives an uninterrupted line from Tiran Island to Ras Mohammed. Free, unmarked and best done with two litres of water in hand.
Thirty kilometres north of town, the largest mangrove stand on the Gulf of Aqaba fringes a shore where Bedouin fishing families still live. Storks and ospreys work the shallows; entry is the cheapest protected-area ticket in Sinai.
A stack of carpeted terraces cut into the cliff face with salvaged doors and lanterns, dropping toward the water. Nothing is charged for the view; a pot of mint tea or karkade holds a cushion for the whole sunset at 60-90 EGP.