Nabq protected area — 600 square kilometres of mangrove, dune and reef.

What you are looking at

The Nabq Protected Area is a 600-square-kilometre national protectorate declared in 1992, covering the inland strip and coastal zone immediately north of Sharm El-Sheikh, between roughly kilometre-30 and kilometre-50 along the coastal highway toward Dahab. It holds three principal ecological features: the largest surviving stand of Avicennia marina mangrove in Egypt (approximately 4.8 square kilometres along the shallow tidal zone), an arid acacia woodland on the inland alluvial fan that supports a small but viable Nubian ibex population, and a fringing coral reef along the Gulf of Aqaba coast that is comparable in quality to the better-known Dahab and Blue Hole reefs but with substantially less visitor pressure.

Inside the protectorate boundary lives the small Bedouin fishing village of Khreiza, which holds traditional fishing rights in the bay and operates a single Bedouin restaurant and three or four guest cabins. The village is the only permanent human settlement inside the protected area and is governed by the same Muzeina family that holds the adjacent Nuweiba coastal strand. Visitor access to the village is open during protectorate hours; the cabins are bookable but typically full in winter.

The third feature of the protectorate, somewhat hidden but worth the trip alone, is the wreck of the Maria Schroeder — a German cargo ship grounded on the fringing reef in 1956 and abandoned where it lay. The hull is broken in two; the bow section sits high on the reef, visible from the coastal track at a distance of approximately 200 metres. The wreck has become a habitat for reef fish and small octopus and is a striking visual marker of the boundary between the open sea and the protected mangrove bay.

On the ground

Entry to the protectorate is via the SCA-Nature Conservation Sector gate at the south end, accessed from the Sharm-to-Dahab coastal highway at the kilometre-30 turn-off. At the last verification (25 May 2026) the foreign adult ticket was EGP 80, the Egyptian national ticket EGP 10, and a vehicle fee of EGP 40 was charged separately for the 4×4. The photography permit (cameras only) is EGP 50.

Opening hours are 09:00–17:00 daily (the gate closes earlier in winter, typically 16:00). The protectorate is open year-round, but the comfortable visiting season is October to April. May–September daytime temperatures regularly exceed 38°C and the mangrove boardwalk in particular is uncomfortable above 32°C; visit in the early morning if you have to come in summer.

Snorkelling inside the protectorate is permitted from the designated lagoon at the south end of the mangrove zone; the SCA does not permit shore-snorkelling at the Maria Schroeder wreck due to the current and the broken metal hazard. Boat-snorkelling at the wreck is occasionally arranged through the Khreiza Bedouin host family during the calm season; the same is true for the offshore reef points outside the lagoon.

Reading list

• Nature Conservation Sector, South Sinai. Nabq Protected Area Management Plan. Most recent edition 2022.
• Said-Ibrahim, N. South Sinai Mangrove Ecosystem Report. Tih Press subscriber annual, 2025.
• Vine, P. and Vine, M. Red Sea Coral Reefs. Immel Publishing. Chapter on the Gulf of Aqaba protected reefs.
• Tih Press field notebooks 2014–2026, "NPA" tag.