Way back in the early nineties when the Red Sea came into prominence it was only Taba and Eilat just over the border that was known to the select few diving enthusiasts that had 'discovered' what that part of the world had known for a few thousand years before that 'discovery', that the Red Sea and the coral reefs nestled therein where pretty astounding; lets face it The Red Sea was parted by Moses himself, mentioned in the Old Testament so it wasn't exactly a secret now was it, I mean how many people have read the bible? So to be fair let's say this area was rediscovered by some diving enthusiasts, who fell in love with the gentle lapping waters of the Red Sea framing the golden sands of the desert.

I have a strong belief that some parts of this world have a direct effect on your psyche, an effect that cannot be quantified or fully explained by the written word or the spoken word until it is seen by your very own naked eye, felt in the first breath of air you breathe in your lungs and felt with the warmth of the sun caressing bare arms and if you are lucky maybe a teeny tiny bit of breeze. This is what I felt back in 1992, when I crossed the desert from Eilat through Taba to the then unheard off Sharm El Sheikh with a select few travel agents been introduced to this part of the world. We travelled by coach across desert terrain, that was so uniformly golden it looked like we were in Gods very own brown crystal sugar bowl, I half expected a big old spoon with a mighty big hand to scoop up some desert sugar to stir into His imaginary coffee (my God drinks Coffee sorry tea lovers) that's how I felt, but I have been known to have a fantasy life equal to Walter Mitty, so once again I am digressing and waxing lyrical. That was of course then, this is now, and in the last 17 years alone the little unknown resort with its two solitary hotels standing alone at the edge of the desert that I first came upon when I was first in Sharm El Sheikh has undergone a metamorphosis worthy of mention.

At twenty four kilometres long this little desert place in Egypt has become the top holiday destination for us and our European cousins'. It is peppered with a wide selection of five star hotels offering either very luxurious ultra modern five stars like the Four Seasons Resort or smaller and more affordable three to generic tourist five star hotels, most offering all inclusive, but as a rule of thumb All Inclusive Hotels can get a bit repetitive after five days so be warned. Speaking for myself I have never really liked the concept of and "All Inclusive Holiday", I would much prefer exploring local delicacies and culture and staying in small and friendly family run hotels, but nonetheless given the nature of cheap Sharm El Sheikh holidays and the fact that it's a purpose built holiday resort, unless you are prepared to go deep into the sandy desert and hunt down some very shy Bedouin locals puzzled by the crazy English man who is trying to go local, All Inclusive holidays are the best option, of course if you are going to stay around Naama Bay, Sharks Bay or Ras Om El Seid Hill, you can get away with little BB's and eat local but as most hotels stretch over some serious kilometres along the coastline of Sharm El Sheikh then All Inclusive is easier by far! If you are going on an All Inclusive Holiday in Sharm, remember that no two five star hotels where ever created equal, price IS the indicator here.

You have Tourist fives, and Family fives, and of course luxury five stars, an experienced travel agent will point you in the right direction and remember tripadvisor.com is a very good resource of reviews both positive and negative, however, I have known many holidaymakers been undone by the good marks and points given by the people who have looked at Sultan Garden's for example, but, and this you need to take into consideration, the Sultan Gardens is absolutely perfect if you are going as a family with children in tow, older couples with no kids may find the Sultan Gardens teeming as it will be with lots of families with kids, doing what kids do on holiday may result in the hotel been unsuitable and a tad overwhelming, this means you would not enjoy it as much, so when you are looking at advise websites you really need to actually read between the lines and check out who has posted the review. Apart from choosing where to stay, holidays in Sharm El Sheikh are best known for diving and what a fantastic place to dive it is, if the City of Atlantis was meant to be beneath the sea, then this is where it would be. Once you have a snorkel on and your head submerged beneath the sea you are in a different world, a world brimful of colour, with every coral and every fish imaginable just there in front of you, you get to see the yellows and purples and the turquoise of all the darting little fish, the sway of sea anemones and the brain coral and best of all you are there, sensing and touching all these new and wonderful techni-coloured visual stimuli which bares no comparison to you gazing in brochures and on the internet at all the photos and snapshots.