Egypt or Maldives for snorkeling? Our comparison

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.

From our hotel in Sharm El Sheikh we snorkeled now and then to the reef in Shark Bay. I didn’t see a shark there. Not a single one, during the whole trip. Instead, we came across blacktip reef sharks in the Maldives, while snorkeling right in front of the beach.

We spent eight days in Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea in October 2025 and were in the Maldives twice, in April 2025 and in August 2026. The reefs in both countries are equally colorful. We saw mantas, a whale shark and sharks in the Maldives, and the journey to Egypt is much shorter. Which destination suits you depends on what you want to see and how much time you have.

At a glance

	Sharm El Sheikh	Maldives
Our trips	October 2025, eight days	April 2025 and August 2026
Getting there	Berlin via Milan, back directly to Berlin in around 4.5 hours	Berlin via Doha, two flights of around 6 hours each; then boat
Entry (as of September 24, 2026)	national ID card is enough; Sinai stamp free (15 days, four places), otherwise visa 30 USD	passport only; visa free; declaration online, at most 96 hours beforehand
Reef from the beach	Ras Bob over 50 meters of reef flat, Ras Umm Sid from the jetty	depending on the island, close to the beach up to around 50 meters; on Dhigurah no reef at Bikini Beach
Big animals	blue-spotted ray at the house reef; when diving, eagle rays and Napoleon wrasse; one turtle	mantas, a whale shark, reef sharks at the house reef
Water	26 to 30 °C (end of October 2025)	29 °C in April, 28 to 29 °C in August
Accommodation	around 100 euros per room per night	around 90 to 115 euros per night for three people (August 2026)
Mosquito repellent	—	be sure to pack it

Contents

At a glance
Where are the reefs more colorful?
Where do you see big animals?
Red Sea or Maldives for diving?
Where can you reach the reef from the beach?
How clear and warm is the water?
How far is the journey, and what does it cost?
Egypt or Maldives with kids?
My conclusion
Frequently asked questions
Further reading

Where are the reefs more colorful?

The reefs off Sharm El Sheikh are just as colorful as those in the Maldives. What struck us was the density. Clouds of orange anthias hover above the corals, masked butterflyfish trace their paths in between, and the reef lies just two to five meters below us. In the Maldives it changes from island to island: dense coral gardens like Faana Faru in Baa Atoll, elsewhere reefs with lots of sand in between.

Densely overgrown reef with corals in many colors in the Red Sea off Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. — A reef off Sharm El Sheikh, as densely overgrown and colorful as the reefs in the Maldives.

Where do you see big animals?

We saw them in the Maldives.

Off Sharm El Sheikh we saw one turtle. One. There were special animals all the same: snorkeling from the beach, we saw a blue-spotted ray at the house reef, eagle rays when diving at Gordon Reef, and in Ras Mohammed National Park a Napoleon wrasse came along the reef edge. On a boat trip, dolphins came by. Sharks, mantas and whale sharks exist in the Red Sea too. They live at the reefs far offshore, and you get there on a liveaboard dive safari boat. We didn’t do that.

The Maldives showed us more. In Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll, the mantas pass beneath me so closely that I pull in my arms and legs. On our day there were around fifty. Off Dhigurah in South Ari Atoll we saw a young whale shark, and at the house reef of Rasdhoo a reef manta came by in the morning.

Several manta rays move close together through Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives. — Mantas in Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives, in August 2026.

Red Sea or Maldives for diving?

In Egypt, I dove without a certification in October 2025. I didn’t have one yet. On the boat tour to Ras Mohammed National Park, you added the dive on board with the dive team, and an instructor stayed by my side the whole time. How the dive went, I tell in the report on diving without a certification in Egypt, including the moray eel and the lionfish.

A Napoleon wrasse moves past a densely overgrown reef edge while diving in Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt. — A Napoleon wrasse at the reef edge in Ras Mohammed National Park, filmed while diving.

Ten months later, I dove in the Maldives with a certification. In Ras Mohammed National Park there was no current on our day. At Madivaru Corner off Rasdhoo it pulled hard, and about ten reef sharks calmly circled as it did. Our son did a trial course on Maalhos at eight years old, the Bubblemaker. Diving works in both countries, even for beginners.

What you should know in Egypt is summed up in the article on the dangers of snorkeling in Egypt, from fire coral to the current. I myself felt safe there the whole time, snorkeling and diving.

Where can you reach the reef from the beach?

Both countries have reefs right in front of the beach, just not everywhere. This is how it was for us:

Ras Bob in Sharm El Sheikh: first around fifty meters over a shallow reef, then comes the edge.
Ras Umm Sid in Sharm El Sheikh: A jetty leads to the reef edge, and behind it the reef drops off steeply.
Rasdhoo in the Maldives: the edge after about fifty meters over shallow reef.
Kamadhoo: The reef begins after around thirty meters.
Maalhos: The reef lies close to the beach.
Dhigurah: From Bikini Beach, you can’t easily reach a good reef. There, you go to the reefs by boat.

The way over the shallow reef at Ras Bob isn’t pleasant for everyone. You swim over sharp corals there, where you can touch down. If you then look over the edge, the reef drops away in front of you into the blue.

A turtle swims just below the water's surface at the house reef of Kamadhoo in the Maldives. — A turtle at the house reef of Kamadhoo; the reef there begins around thirty meters off the beach.

How clear and warm is the water?

Off Sharm El Sheikh, when diving at the end of October 2025, visibility reached thirty meters at all three dive sites. The current changed from reef to reef, from none to strong. Snorkeling in the Maldives, the visibility varied a lot: little in the stirred-up sand off Dhigurah, around twenty-five meters in the morning at the house reef of Rasdhoo. On Dhigurah, snorkeling at Bikini Beach didn’t go well. In the afternoons, my son and I played in the shallow water there, and I really enjoyed that.

It was warm in both countries. Which season it is in the Maldives when is shown in the comparison of rainy season and dry season with our experiences from April and August. According to the German Weather Service’s climate table for Malé, the water there is between 27 and 29 °C all year round.

How far is the journey, and what does it cost?

To Sharm El Sheikh we flew from Berlin with a change in Milan. The way back was direct, in around four and a half hours. To the Maldives, in August 2026, we went via Doha, two flights of around six hours each, and after that by speedboat to the island. In April 2025 there were even two changes, via Warsaw and Dubai. In Egypt the clock is usually only one hour ahead, in the Maldives three to four hours. Egypt is close enough to fly there at short notice. The Maldives are a long-haul trip.

Item	Sharm El Sheikh	Maldives
Accommodation	around 100 euros per room per night (October 2025)	around 90 to 115 euros per night for three people (August 2026)
Boat trip	25 to 40 USD per person, with food and entrance (Ras Mohammed, October 2025)	whale shark tour 90 USD, children under 12 half price; Hanifaru from Maalhos 70 USD per person (August 2026)
Speedboat to the island	—	for example 65 US dollars per person to Kamadhoo (August 2026)
Local tax	—	6 US dollars per day in small guesthouses on inhabited islands (Green Tax, since 2025)

Room prices depend heavily on season and occupancy. Anyone who goes into the water in Hanifaru Bay pays an additional 310 rufiyaa (around 17 euros).

Egypt or Maldives with kids?

Our son was only with us in the Maldives, twice. There he saw rays and sharks up close.

At the house reef of Rasdhoo, we snorkel from the beach over the shallow reef to the edge. He spots a moray eel first. Five minutes later he spots a reef manta, even before I see it. The manta passes by around ten meters away, for about thirty seconds. Afterward he was really proud.

In the Maldives, children may come along to the mantas if they swim confidently or wear a vest.

More than once, mosquito bites kept him out of the water. He had scratched them, and in the salt water they stung so much that he didn’t want to go back in. Pack mosquito repellent, a spray and something for after the bite. More on this in the article Maldives with kids, including the islands with shallow water to play in.

Yellow masked butterflyfish above the Ras Umm Sid reef in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, near the jetty. — Masked butterflyfish at Ras Umm Sid, where a jetty leads to the reef edge.

Because our son wasn’t with us in Egypt, I can only describe the entry points there. From the jetty at Ras Umm Sid, you get into the water without having to cross corals. Behind it, it gets deep immediately. With children, you don’t first have to swim fifty meters over the shallow reef there, as at Ras Bob.

My conclusion

For a short-notice week at a dense reef, Egypt is close enough. If it’s going to be the Maldives, you don’t have to wait for the dry season. Our August was in the middle of the rainy season, and I would fly in the rainy season again. Then many large animals can be seen, and prices are much lower. The weather, on the other hand, is more changeable.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a visa for the Maldives?

According to the Federal Foreign Office, tourist visas for up to 30 days are issued free of charge on arrival. Beforehand, you fill out an entry declaration online, at most 96 hours before arrival (as of September 24, 2026).

Do you need a passport for Egypt?

No. According to the Federal Foreign Office, a national ID card is also enough for Egypt, in that case with two biometric passport photos. For the Maldives you need a passport (as of September 24, 2026).

Where do you see sharks when snorkeling?

We only saw them in the Maldives, for example at the house reef of Rasdhoo. Off Sharm El Sheikh I didn’t come across any, not even in Shark Bay.

Where the information comes from: entry from the travel and safety advice of the Federal Foreign Office for Egypt and the Maldives, the water temperature in Malé from the climate table of the German Weather Service, the Green Tax from the Ministry of Finance of the Maldives, the time difference from the international time zone database (IANA). Accessed on September 24, 2026. Everything experienced is from our trips in April 2025, October 2025 and August 2026.