Dahab Paradise

A cute hotel bang on the water with great prices, a happy vibe and some of the best diving in the Red Sea on your doorstep

Dahab Paradise offers what a lot of people want: an easy style, a cool pool, guaranteed sun, excellent value for money. It’s a friendly place which stands ten paces from the sea with views across the Gulf of Aqaba to the mountains of Saudi Arabia. It’s slightly out of town, which keeps it quiet, and, there’s a great little restaurant/bar where you can stop for a pizza or a beer. Camels lope past on the small beach across the road several times a day. The hotel comes with a dive school attached, so arrange a trip to Blue Hole or pick up some flippers and head out to snorkel in the big, blue sea.

Rooms come over two floors and all have terraces or balconies. They’re fairly simple, but have everything you need: comfy beds, warm colours, air conditioning, compact shower rooms. Back downstairs a circular pool sits in the middle of a well-tended lawn. You’ll find sun loungers, deck chairs, pool towels piled high. It’s a quietly sociable place with barbecues and music nights – Bedouin laments in front of the fire one evening, an acoustic Bob Dylan session the next. The hotel is floodlit at night and the palm trees are wrapped in fairy lights at Christmas. As for Dahab, it’s getting bigger by the day, but the diving here is fantastic, so don’t delay.

Highs

• The price: it’s hard to fault what you get for the money
• The attitude: this is a very friendly place with owners who care
• The vibe: it’s relaxed, the sun shines, the pool shimmers, the staff smile
• The bar: a good spot for lunch and supper with a beer to keep you cool
• Dahab itself - for the time being, at least, it retains the laid-back charm which Sharm so conspicuously lacks

Lows

• The wind can blow in off the sea, but they put up wind breaks to protect you from it
• You're advised not to swim or snorkel from the beach across the road unless conditions are calm; the hotel can advise alternative sites and arrange transport
• The shower cubicles are small, so prepare to practice your silkiest moves
• Bathrooms can occasionally smell of drains, but this fades