Ships buzzing near the shore at the town of Sharm el Sheikh in the Red Sea in Egypt

Large number of yachts and small ships near the town of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, at the Red Sea. Sharm el Sheikh is now a tourist own, offering a large number of resorts, access to water, and plenty of snorkeling and scuba diving. Sharm el Sheikh has an interesting history, being used as an Egyptian naval base in the 1960's, and then being conquered by the Israelis twice, first in 1956 and then in 1973. Both times, they were handed back to the Egyptians. It was also during this time that the development of Sharm as a tourist center started taking place, greatly helped by the presence of coral formations in the water near the town (with the entire water around these coral formations now being designated as protected water bodies). Now of course these coral formations attract a large number of people who do snorkeling around these coral formations and enjoy their beauty (these are fairly shallow waters with the maximum depth being around 15-20 feet0 at the point of the coral formations).

Sharm El Sheikh (New Millennium Collection: North Africa)	View Larger Map