Egypt in October: water, heat and daylight in Sharm El Sheikh

While snorkeling I estimated visibility, water temperature and depth, just as I experienced them on the days I was there. On dives the dive computer measured depth and duration, and values with a named source show what is usual there, not how it was for me.

It was fall in Germany when we flew out at the end of October 2025. During the stopover in Milan it was already a little warmer. Then we landed in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, and the air stood in front of us like a warm wall. In that moment it wasn’t too hot. It was very pleasant.

At the end of October it is still swimming season in Sharm, in the water just as much as on the beach. What changes over the course of the month is the daylight, because at the end of the month the sun already sets just before five.

At a glance

Our trip	October 26 to November 2, 2025, Sharm El Sheikh, Serenity Lodge
Water	between 26 and 30 °C at our dive sites at the end of October 2025
Air	31 to 34 °C on our diving days
Visibility	30 m at all three dive sites
Wetsuit	didn’t need one for snorkeling; for diving we were given shorty wetsuits
Room	about 100 € a night for the room, October 2025
Boat trip to Ras Mohammed	25–40 US dollars per person, food, national park entrance fee and snorkeling gear included, October 2025
Flight	out Berlin–Milan–Sharm El Sheikh, back direct to Berlin, about 4.5 hours
Winter time in Egypt	2025 during the night into October 31, 2027 during the night into October 29

Contents

1. At a glance
2. How warm is the water in Egypt in October?
3. How hot is it in Sharm El Sheikh in October?
4. How windy does it get on the Red Sea in October?
5. What changes at the end of October?
6. Is October high season in Egypt, and what does it cost?
7. My conclusion
8. Frequently asked questions
9. Where the information comes from
10. Further reading

How warm is the water in Egypt in October?

At the end of October you don’t need a wetsuit for snorkeling. The sea off Sharm El Sheikh cools down only slowly in the fall, and on land it stays warm too, as the averages show:

Month	Water	Air during the day	Air at night	Rain in the month
September	27 °C	36 °C	27 °C	0 mm
October	27 °C	32.5 °C	24 °C	1.6 mm
November	25 °C	28 °C	20 °C	2.2 mm

I was almost never cold. Only in the morning, after an hour in the water, I started to get slightly chilly. For diving we were given shorty wetsuits, and in those I never got cold.

How hot is it in Sharm El Sheikh in October?

For the end of October, pack nothing but summer clothes. I never needed a jacket.

On our diving days it was 31 to 34 °C. During the day it was hot, and at night it stayed warm too, so that I wore nothing but summer clothes the whole trip.

How windy does it get on the Red Sea in October?

Wind didn’t keep us out of the water on a single day. Even so, before every entry ask the crew how strong the current is at that reef. For us the current was different at every reef, even though the weather was good throughout.

In Ras Mohammed National Park the surface lay calm while we were diving, and nothing was pulling. Diving at Gordon Reef, out in the Strait of Tiran, the surface was choppy, and down below it pulled hard. On our second boat trip the sky above us was cloudless.

The dolphins came on that trip too. They surfaced off to the side of the boat and kept pace with us for two, three minutes. Again and again they pushed forward to the bow, until at some point they veered off. All the tourists on board were thrilled.

What changes at the end of October?

It is best to go into the water in the morning and to plan a shorter afternoon than you know from the summer. Swimming at twilight is prohibited in Egypt. That is what the Egyptian environment ministry laid down in 2025, for the morning as well as for the evening.

On October 1 the sun in Sharm sets around half past six, after that a little earlier every day, and by the end of the month just before five. On top of that comes the clock, and the changeover does not fall the same way every year. In 2025 Germany changed its clocks on October 26, Egypt only during the night into October 31. In between, Egypt was two hours ahead of the German clock. In 2027 it is the other way around: Egypt changes during the night into October 29, Germany only on October 31. For two days both clocks then show the same time, after that Egypt is an hour ahead again.

Our vacation in 2025 fell right across the changeover, and we did not notice any of it. Dark did not mean cool there. In the evenings in town I walked around in flip-flops.

Is October high season in Egypt, and what does it cost?

October was not quiet. On the excursions, count on a lot of people, and look for the quiet hours at the house reef, if your accommodation has one.

There were around 50 people on our boat into Ras Mohammed National Park. On top of that came photographers who sold their pictures expensively afterward, and at the harbor hundreds of tourists headed out at the same time in the morning. The house reef in front of our accommodation, by contrast, we often had to ourselves in the morning.

Our room at the Serenity Lodge cost about 100 euros a night. We booked the boat trip in the Sharm Gate app, for 25 to 40 US dollars per person, and food, entrance fee and snorkeling gear were in the price. Anyone who wanted to dive booked that on board with the dive team. How water and visibility change over the year is shown by the overview of the months on the Red Sea. Whether other months are cheaper I cannot say, because we were only there in October.

My conclusion

At the end of October you go from German fall into a different season in a few hours. For the whole week, what you would pack in July is enough, for the evenings too. Only the days are shorter than in July.

Frequently asked questions

Can you still swim in Egypt at the end of October? Yes. We were in the sea regularly, and the water was warm on every dive.

Do you need a wetsuit in Sharm in October? Not for snorkeling; only for diving were we given shorty suits.

Does it rain in Egypt in October? Hardly. On average, 1.6 millimeters fall in all of October. We had good weather throughout.

Are there jellyfish or mosquitoes in October? I did not see any jellyfish. There were very few mosquitoes, and they were no bother. The flies were annoying, landing on you constantly and taking off again right away.

What is the weather like at the beginning of November? Right up to our departure on November 2, I wore summer clothes. On average the water in November is still around 25 degrees Celsius, the air during the day just under 28.

The whole day in Ras Mohammed National Park, with the full boat and the Napoleon wrasse, comes as a report of its own. It is below under “Further reading”.

Where the information comes from

I estimated water, air, visibility and current at the reefs myself in October 2025; the dive computer measured depth and duration of the dives. The averages for air and rain come from the 1991–2020 climate normals of the World Meteorological Organization for Sharm El Sheikh airport. The monthly average water temperature is in the overview by month on wassertemperatur.org. The sunset is given by Weather Spark, and I recalculated the times myself. The time change is in the international time zone database (IANA). The ban for twilight was issued by the Egyptian environment ministry, reported by Egypt Independent (May 10, 2025). I checked the state of the sources on September 29, 2026. Everything else we experienced ourselves.

Further reading

• Day trip to Ras Mohammed National Park: how the day on the boat went, from casting off to the last reef
• Best time to travel on the Red Sea: all the months with water and visibility at a glance
• Snorkeling experiences in Sharm: where you get from the beach to the reef, at Ras Bob and at the jetty of Ras Umm Sid
• Beginner reefs in the Red Sea: four reefs around Sharm compared, from the beach and from the boat