please can someone tell me if u can windsurf in the beaches on the doorstep and hire equipment, or if u have to travel to a different resort???
No, I don't know about Sharm itself, but if you have the time you can travel an hour to Dahab and hire gear and sail there. If you book the trip through a hotel it is much more likely to be cheaper than if you caught a taxi from the airport.
I think I paid less than half using a hotel organised shuttle bus (with airconditioning and safe driver) than I did with a local taxi (no air con, no english, and local driving style).
Have you tried doing an internet search on windsurfing at Sharm?
Don't know of anywhere in Sharm you can sail from.
If I were you I'd head to Dahab, and scrap Sharm altogether. Check out www.clubvass.com for info on holidays to Dahab - they will also hire kit to you on a daily basis. Yeah, it's about an hour. Taxi should cost about 200 egyptian pounds one-way (about AUD50 I think), or there are buses. Other centres in Dahab include Happy Surf and Harry Nass (there are three Harry Nass centres - the one furthest down wind is the one to go for if you're a half-decent sailor... not the "Swiss Inn" centre, not the "Corolla" centre - or whatever it's called - the other one).
Neilson also have a big centre there, but it's a long way upwind and a pig to get back to from the sailing spots of Baby Bay and Speedy, and it's a massive hanger of a place right on the beach with a MASSIVE wind shadow! Genius idea to place a huge structure dead upwind of the sailing area... Avoid...
Enjoy mate - it's an awesome spot!
I agree with FlickySpinny, go for Dahab an awesome place. I went there for two weeks, wind everyday, biggest sail was a 5.3m
. I went to the Harry Nass centre Dahabeya. Its the one furtherst from Baby bay and I found it easy to go from there to the speed strip or to Baby bay without any trouble. I arranged a taxi from the hotel. Was met at the airport at 2.00am. It was the most nerve wracking drive I have ever been on. Drivers tend to turn off their lights when passing (it it pitch dark as there are no street lights), a truly f#*kin stessful experience.
One problem I had was blisters. I don't know if it is due to the warm water but I had about 8 blisters per hand after the first week
. A guy reccomended surgical gloves which he swore by. I know it looks wanky, but I found it helped big time. Anyone esle know how to combat blisters in tripocal seas? The only other thing to take is a Gath helmet (there wern't any to hire).
Enjoy
Well, I would recommend you forget Sharm, and Dahab. If you want a real undiscovered gem check out Ras Matarma Bay, Ras Sudr... about 3 hours from Sharm, or 2 from Cairo by a cheap €40 cab, fab conditions, with a lagoon bay the size of that at El Yaque in Margaritta but with a dozen people on the water on a busy day. Cheap as chips, really laid back and friendly, I have been sveral times and I think it is the bee's knees... check out a web site, something like www.surfegypt.wordpress.com or maybe .co.uk, not sure
yeah use a hotel to arrange a tranfer, also bishi bishi in town (masbat) is a cheaper option they will also send a suttle, u can stay there for 30le a night which is about 10aud.. come to club dahab we have 09 gaastra tabou and skinnys up to 5.3, yeah!!
No wind at all in Sharm, and as others above have said you should head north east to Dahab, or North west to El-tur/Moon Beach/Ras Sudr for windsurfing. If however, you're stuck in Sharm for whatever reason, it does have arguably the best diving in the world, which isn't to be missed if you're there.