Quote Originally Posted by mrs767er View Post
I personally would never go to Sharm--partly that I'm not diver/snorkler (he's PADI) but I understand it's gotten so horribly touristy and cheap. Some people refer to it as the land of black socks and sandals, referring to the tourist population.
Sharm has become a tourist Mecca for package holiday makers from Europe.
In fact, some of the hotels are geared towards certain markets : Italians one brigade, German another, Brits etc. It is known in airline speak as ' Poor Mans Dubai '. We're snobs, but isn't any part of the world sacred from second hand car salesmen
By North American standards, I guess the easiest comparison would be Cancun. Beach, cheap drinks and historical sites close by, if you're that way inclined.

In a way, a shame. It was, for many many years, the area where Egyptians from Metropolitan cities took their vacation. Clearly, some folk recognised it's potential and voila' .... so popular is it now, once the domain of charter flights, BA now have a scheduled non stop.

St Catherine's Monestary would be the main attraction you would miss - a shame.