Things to do in Taba
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Taba
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best all round window: warm sea, comfortable desert trips and the best Fjord and canyon light.
Peak winter sun: cool evenings, sea around 21 to 22C, busiest resorts and highest prices.
Shoulder sweet spot with warming seas. Passover spikes border hotel prices and crossing queues.
Fierce heat and warmest sea: lowest prices, land excursions at dawn only.
Transition: still very hot, sea at its warmest, prices rebuilding toward the autumn holidays.
What's on
- Christmas and New Year's Eve 25 December / 31 December
Large resorts run gala dinners and programmes for the winter sun crowd.
- Orthodox Christmas 7 January
Also marked by resorts in Taba.
- Passover Spring, lunar, verify year dates
Border hotels fill with visitors crossing from Israel and crossing queues lengthen.
- Ramadan Lunar, moves each year, verify
Daytime service quiets outside resorts while resort service largely continues.
Best things to do in Taba
Pharaoh's Island
Granite island with a restored medieval fortress rebuilt by Saladin, reached only by a short boat ride.
Fjord Bay
Narrow inlet south of Taba with a road viewpoint over four countries and a quiet swim and snorkel bay below.
Taba Heights Beach
Managed resort beachfront in Taba Heights for walk in snorkelling over the Gulf of Aqaba house reef.
Aqua Sport
The long standing dive operator listed for Taba, running guided dives and snorkel trips to local sites.
Where to stay in Taba
Border cluster, Taba town
crossing, island and value
Large resorts south of the border with Pharaoh's Island in front of you and Eilat a short ride away, but no town to walk in.
Taba Heights
families and a planned resort holiday
Purpose built resort development with beach hotels, a marina and Uptown dining, manicured and entirely artificial.
Think twice about
- Standalone properties alone on the Nuweiba to Taba coast road
Away from both clusters, with no walkable beach scene or restaurant choice and a taxi negotiation for every movement.
- Taba town as an independent town stay
No guesthouse, cafe or long stay scene exists at any scale. Come for a resort, or do not come to Taba.
Best restaurants in Taba
Shahrazad
Lebanese and steakhouse dining room inside the Mövenpick, the most reviewed standalone restaurant in Taba.
Nelson Restaurant & Bar
Seafront seafood restaurant of the Nelson Village, the romantic dinner of the border cluster.
Marhaba Restaurant
The Steigenberger's Egyptian restaurant, the place in Taba for the country's own cooking at sit down level.
Casa Taba Restaurant
Italian dining room at the Steigenberger made for romantic dinners, with a mushroom risotto worth ordering.
Chopsticks
Chinese restaurant inside the Mövenpick, a useful change of pace from another resort buffet night.
Sea Shells
Casual pizza and seafood inside the Mövenpick with a sea view, the least formal border cluster pick.
Flying Carpet
Seafood restaurant on the Uptown side of Taba Heights, praised for what its cook does with fish.
El Fuego
Mexican restaurant in Taba Heights that gives all inclusive guests variety by night four of a stay.
Outdoor things to do in Taba
Coloured Canyon
Narrow sandstone slot canyon banded red to purple, reached by 4WD with a Bedouin guide on a desert day.
Taba Border Crossing
Walk across the land border into Eilat for the day, the excursion no other Egyptian resort can offer.
Aqaba
Jordanian Red Sea city reached via Eilat and a second crossing, with Petra as the long onward version.
Taba desert safari and Bedouin dinner
Late afternoon jeep trip to a Bedouin camp for fire cooked dinner, tea and stargazing in dark skies.
Best hotels in Taba
Steigenberger Hotel & Nelson Village
Taba's flagship on the former Hilton site by the crossing, with a private beach and the best restaurant set.
Strand Beach Resort
Largest Taba Heights resort, the former InterContinental, with private beach, pools and the biggest spa.
Mövenpick Resort Taba
Large resort by the crossing with a 400 metre private beach, three pools and a strong restaurant bench.
The Bayview Taba Heights Resort
Former Marriott resort in Taba Heights with a lagoon pool, spa and a wide set of restaurants and bars.
Mosaique Beach Resort Taba Heights
Former Sofitel beach resort in Taba Heights with a large pool scene, direct beach access and a kids club.
Tolip Taba Resort and Spa
Large resort on its own beach south of Pharaoh's Island, with a heated pool and a 350 metre sandy beach.
Taba Sands Hotel & Casino
Small adults only casino hotel at the border, a base for the casino and the crossing rather than a resort week.
Tobya Boutique Hotel
The one credible small independent hotel in Taba town, with a pool, garden and terrace near Princess Beach.
Is Taba expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | EGP 2,200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | EGP 4,800 a person |
| Splurge | EGP 10,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Aqua Sport: a few days ahead
- Coloured Canyon: a few days ahead
- Aqaba: a few days ahead
- Taba desert safari and Bedouin dinner: a few days ahead
- El Mar Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Castle Zaman: weeks ahead
- Book Castle Zaman ahead always, as it is reservation led.
- Arrange Pharaoh's Island through your hotel on arrival and keep a spare half day for sea or security pauses.
- Confirm Aqua Sport diving the day before, as small operations cancel for numbers.
- Book border cluster hotels early for Passover, the autumn holidays, Christmas and New Year.
Is Taba safe?
- Taba is a border area with visible security, controlled resort access and a tourist police presence.
- Never photograph military, police or border installations, and never explore desert or mountains unguided.
- Use reputable drivers, carry water, and treat heat, currents and road travel as the main daily risks.
Taba travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Dead hotel names sold as live brands: Hilton, InterContinental, Marriott, Sofitel and Hyatt in Taba are old flags.
- The golf promise: hotels carry golf in their names while current evidence points to a course closed years ago.
- El Wekala Aqua Park Resort listings for a hotel whose official page states it is temporarily closed.
- Border taxi opening quotes are the most optimistic on this coast. Agree the full price first.
Getting around Taba: public transport and more
- Walk inside your resort and use the Taba Heights shuttle inside the development.
- Use a hotel car or an agreed fare taxi for the border, Taba Heights, the Fjord and Castle Zaman, and agree the fare in Egyptian pounds before you move.
- Reach Taba by Taba Airport with a hotel transfer, by road from Sharm in about three hours, or on foot across the border from Eilat.
Who Taba suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | OK |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Taba your trip
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