Umbi Sharks Bay Diving Village

Opened in 1983, this is a small-scale Bedouin-style resort built around the practical pleasures of a Red Sea stay: a private beach, a private pier, a restaurant, a bar and a dive centre within the same village complex. You can choose between accommodation above the shore with Gulf of Aqaba views and wooden cabins placed directly on the beach.

The atmosphere is informal rather than polished-for-show. A supermarket, coffee house, shaded beach bar and Bedouin tent keep the essentials nearby, while the sea remains the main event. English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside Arabic, German and Italian, so you can deal with the useful things without resorting to underwater sign language.

You are in Sharks Bay, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, directly beside Sharks Bay Beach. The village sits on the shore above a private sandy beach, with the Red Sea and the house reef immediately in front of you. Sun loungers are set out for the part of the day when doing absolutely nothing becomes a perfectly respectable plan.

White Knight Bay Beach is about 1.5 miles away, while Ras Nasrani Beach is roughly 3.8 miles away. For an evening beyond the village, Naama Bay is about 6.2 miles by car and Sharm Old Town about 9.3 miles. Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport is about 2.8 miles away, which makes the arrival considerably less of an expedition than the flight may have been.

The choice is mainly about where you want to wake up. Wooden Beach Cabin Room puts you down by the sand, useful if opening the door onto the shore matters more to you than having the room high above the bay. Rooms and wooden huts on the cliffs look towards the Gulf of Aqaba, giving you the higher viewpoint and a different relationship with the water.

For a couple, the standard accommodation keeps things straightforward, with twin beds, a private bathroom, a wardrobe, towels and a hairdryer. The Standard Triple Room is the practical pick when three single beds matter more than a romantic view; family rooms are also available. There are no cots or extra beds, so the sleeping arrangement needs to work as booked.

Air conditioning is available in some accommodation, and a refrigerator and electric kettle are provided. A mosquito net is another useful detail in a warm coastal climate. Tile or marble floors, non-smoking rooms and daily housekeeping keep the setup uncomplicated, while the private beach cabins save you the daily trek from an inland block to the water.

The Seaview Restaurant handles breakfast as a buffet and serves lunch and dinner on its terrace. Seafood leads the menu, but you can also find international dishes, pasta, pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads, tajines, grilled meats and vegetarian choices. The view reaches across the Red Sea towards Tiran Island, which is a more useful dinner companion than another television screen.

The kitchen's distinctive move is pizza from a wood-fired oven, alongside local touches such as Bedouin bread, creamy soup and hummus. Breakfast covers continental, Italian, vegetarian, vegan, halal and kosher options. A special-diet menu can be arranged, and children's meals are available.

There is one named bar, the Bedouin Tent, beside the restaurant. It serves shisha, Arabic coffee, Bedouin tea and hot and cold drinks, with views towards the beach and Tiran Island. The board basis is half board, and drinks are not included in that arrangement; the beach bar and snack bar are there for something lighter between meals.

The private beach is the obvious place to reset your surface interval, with sun loungers and a tidy stretch of golden sand. The coral offshore is close to the pier, so you cannot simply swim straight out from the beach; a nearby bathing area gives you deeper water instead. Snorkelling is available, as are on-site water sports and boat excursions.

If you prefer movement with a little less salt, the resort can arrange horse riding, quad excursions, safaris and cultural trips. Options include Mount Moses and Saint Catherine, Abu Galum and the Blue Hole, Petra, Jerusalem, Cairo and Luxor. There are also water-based diversions such as water skiing, wakeboarding, crazy donuts, banana rides, glass-bottom boats, speedboats, parasailing and an aquapark.

When the light softens, the Bedouin tent becomes the natural stopping point. You can sit with Arabic coffee or Bedouin tea, take in the moonlit view towards Tiran Island and let somebody else worry about the itinerary for a while. Massage is also available when your shoulders have filed a formal complaint.

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport is about 2.8 miles away. An airport shuttle is available; arrange it with the hotel before travelling. A 24-hour front desk, luggage storage, a tour desk and daily housekeeping make the practical edges of a dive trip easier to manage, particularly when flights and boat departures refuse to behave symmetrically.

Check-in starts from 14:00 and check-out runs until 12:00. You need photo identification and a credit card at check-in, and the hotel needs your expected arrival time in advance. Cash is accepted for payment. The hotel also has a safety deposit box, laundry service and a minimarket on site.

Free Wi-Fi is available, including in public areas, although the connection can be intermittent in rooms and elsewhere around the property. Children of all ages are welcome, and the Bubblemaker programme starts from age eight; the Scuba Diver programme is aimed at children aged 10 to 12. Smoking is allowed in designated areas.

The village has a plastic-free initiative and a stated commitment to protecting the natural character of the Red Sea. That matters here in a very practical way: the beach, pier and house reef are not decorative extras but part of the daily setting.

The approach is centred on preserving the sea and its surrounding environment, keeping the focus where it belongs — on leaving the Red Sea in good condition for the next dive, not merely admiring it from the restaurant terrace.