Sharm El Sheikh is a tourist town at the edge of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.  The landscape is complex with flat, desert sands, sharp monolithic-type hills, and the turquoise waters of the Red Sea.

We stayed at the mind-blowing, all-inclusive Sunrise Arabian Beach Resort and could not have been more impressed. Although our room was simple, the mini-fridge was stocked with complimentary goodies each day and the beds were comfortable. We also had a great view from our balcony of the whole complex, pool and beach.

Sunrise Arabian has multiple pools, water slides, and a lovely little beach. It’s easy to get beds and the guests aren’t in the awful habit of reserving the best beds at 6am. The beach is super-special. Once you put your toe in the warm Red Sea, you’re immediately able to see all kinds of tropical fish. The resort has a small, patrolled jetty area reserved for snorkelling  - there’s no need to pay for a day of snorkelling with this treat. We saw trumpet fish, angel fish, and many other kinds of tropical beauties. For a cool $45, you can also go ‘banana’ boating at the resort next door.

There’s a really fun vibe at this resort with most guests getting involved with the activities on offer. The aqua fitness was great exercise and a good laugh. The animation team ensure that you know what’s available to participate in each day. The staff could not have been more helpful. The Kids Club was also brilliant with sand-castle competitions and pizza-making. After visiting just once, the staff knew both the boy’s names when they saw them in the complex.

We booked 2 tours plus a diving day for Rob. The first tour was a Bedouin experience that, I’d hoped, would be a much more intimate experience than what we had. Basically, everyone is herded into an arena where you are given a chicken and rice dish (quite delicious), and then a series of shows perform in the stage in the centre - traditional twirling, belly-dancing, and fire-twirling. It seemed like many people were doing an ATV experience before or after this dinner which could be fun. If you do decide to do this experience, sit closer to the stage; the top sections are super hot and stuffy.

The second tour that we booked was a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National (marine) park. In this trip, you’ll be collected from your hotel at around 8am and shuttled to the port. There are hundreds of boats that go out everyday and this part is pure madness so, if you have your own gear, I recommend you bring it to save hassle. We were lucky to be accompanied by Mohammed from Planet Tours who looked after us all day (it was like having our own, personal butler on the boat!).

Ethan and I decided to give a trial dive a go. If you want to do that, it’s half the price if you book it a couple of days beforehand (about $15). In my opinion, the first site was better for snorkelling and the second was better for diving. You’ll also get to go to White Island which is a small, sandy Island in the middle of the marine park. Whilst it’s lovely, you won’t see many fish there.

The food in the resort was excellent with something to suit all tastes. Archie was most impressed with the swim-up bar that served kids and adults. The alcohol wasn’t great quality but that allowed me to be a bit healthier ;) When you get tired of the buffet, there are multiple a la carte restaurants in the complex that can be booked; we had Greek and Italian but there’s also Thai, Turkish and Mongolian.