Visa for the Sinai

[DaveMercer]

Hiya,

There are two correct assumptions going on here, Chiara is correct in that to go to "mainland" Egypt ie the western desert, pyramids, Luxor, Cairo you need to get the full visa.
There is also the local Sinai and Marine Park visa stamps that are bought at the airport (bureau de change office) which cost £10 sterling. Believe me it's worth the £10. Not only because you may well end up diving in the marine parks, and certain sites off of Dahab are officially marine park. But it makes life just so much easier getting through the airport. Trying to convince an idle, bored, Egyptian that you are not going to dive in the most reknowned parks in the northern hemisphere while he oggles a lady in the next queue is not the best start to a red sea holiday!

A note about getting to Thistlegorm from Dahab, some centres offer a trip which leaves Dahab late evening, sleep on the boat and sail early morning to get the early dive(s). Then return Dahab about 10pm after a great day diving....... They normally want a minimum party of 4 divers to make this viable..

Cheers
Dave

 

[Conor]

Thanks all for the input. I have just got back from a fantasic two weeks in Dahab, I'll post a trip report when I get some more time.

I ended up getting the visa, simply because , as Dave says, it simplified matters at the airport which was confusing enough. We just followed the crowd.

We didn't end up leaving the Dahab area, but it was good to have the option. In the end my gf's AOW and our EFR and Rescue courses left little enough time to dive Dahab.

Thanks again

Conor

 

[marc carroll]

Help
reading through all 3 pages of this has just added to my confusion
after e-mails to the Egyptian consulate and to the dive centre we are planning to use
I thought we had this visa thing just about covered
we are going to taba plan to visit ras mohammed and sharm but also possibly plan
to cross to Israel and Jordan so we have decided on a full Egyptian multi entry visa
now it appears that a visa is required for the marine parks?
has any one any idea what visa we need

 

[ArthurGerla]

Help

I've researched this recently. AFAIK the current situation is as follows: There are three kinds of visa that are relevant to western divers/tourists:
- The regular egyptian tourist visa, obtainable from either the bank teller or the local agent of your travel organisation in the arrival hall of the airport. This is valid for one month and practically all of Egypt, costs about $15 from the bank and and a few bucks more from the agent. Takes the form of two postage stamps.
- The multiple entry visa, I assume same validity as above but a bit more expensive. This would be your best choice if you plan to hop some borders during your trip, and want to visit other parts of Egypt than the Aqaba coast.
- The 'Sinai Only' or 'Small' visa, valid only for two weeks and only the Aqaba coast between Taba and Sharm. No use if you want to dive Ras Mohammed. Can be obtained by writing 'Sinai only' on the back of your disembarcation card and joining the customs queue to have it rubberstamped.

Getting a visa through an Egyptian embassy or consulate is a procedure geared more toward people wanting to settle in Egypt. It's more expensive, takes a few days and doesn't make things any clearer, as you have noticed The Egyptian visa rules and procedures arent just regulations, they're a business model.

Enjoy your trip anyway (i know you will),

Art

 

[mania]

to make the long story short - this is all what you need :

The regular egyptian tourist visa, obtainable from either the bank teller or the local agent of your travel organisation in the arrival hall of the airport. This is valid for one month and practically all of Egypt, costs about $15 from the bank and and a few bucks more from the agent. Takes the form of two postage stamps.

This is visa is multiply entry valid for a month!!!!! So it allows you to go to Isreal and come back. There is no such thing as separate visa for Ras Mohammad but you anyway have to pay extra for diving there (sort of a ticket to National Park).
It's better to pay them US$ rather than Euros because they charge 15 US $ and 15 Euros )))
And simply get the visa at the airport - this is the first thing you should do there.
Have fun
Mania

 

[DesertEagle]

Just to add to this, the requirement to register with the police within 7 days was dropped years ago. If anyone thinks this is confusing now, my first visit was in 1990, crossing from Eilat. Back then Egypt had just regained Taba through international arbitration. The Egyptian side of the crossing was just a group of shacks. You were supposed to go to one, then the next. When I did, one was closed. The officer in the one after the closed shack said, no you have to go back. Luckily there weren't many crossing at the time and it worked out all right.

 

[stiwi]

If you go to Sharm, Dahab - in general if you stay in Sinai and you don't plan to dive in Ras Mohammed - you don't need to pay 15$ for tourist Visa. On declaration card which you receive to fill you just have to write on the other side: "Sinai only" and you will receive free visa valid for Sinai and Aqaba.

Last time I was in Sharm (3 weeks ago) i bought tourist visa because I wanted to dive on Ras Mohammed - but no one even checked it.

15$ is not so expensive but if you go with your wife/gf and child or with many friends it is better to save that money.

Cheers,
Sebastian.

 

[mania]

stiwi - sorry but this is not completely true.
First of all "sinai only" allows you to stay ONLY in your destination. It's not about diving in Ras or Tiran (without visa you can't go to neither of them). You also can't go from Sharm to Dahab.
So really saving 15US$ and being grounded is simply stupid.
Mania
PS. And - sorry to stay - a bit too typical for my fellow countryman.

 

[stiwi]

I can't agree with you Mania, entering to Sharm El Sheikh through "Sinai Only" visa you get a stamp:

"valid for Aquaba Coast and St Catherine Protectorate"
You can go on this visa from Sharm to Dahab/Taba/Nuweiba but you can't go outside the Sinai peninsula - it means if you plan to visit Cairo or Luxor you have to buy normal visa which cost 15$.

And here are some links for you Mania (in polish languague):
http://forum.gazeta.pl/forum/72,2.html?f=622&w=24640184&v=2&s=0
http://egipt.org.pl/forum/read.php?2,54

As well I am not sure what did you accuse me of. I am in Egypt 3-4 times a year with my girlfriend, why do we have to pay always 30$ if it is not necessery. It is completely legal to enter Sinai peninsula through this free visa and I don't see any reason why ScubaBoard users should pay the price if they don't plan going outside Sinai.

Cheers,
Sebastian.

 

[mania]

Sebastian
This is - sorry to say - very Polish. I'm in sharm and in Egypt every two months for quite a some time. And I know this place and have seen a lot there.
anyway - if anything hapenned and you have to go outside of Sinai you are grounded.
Not to mention the fact that right now the security is much tighter than it used to be - so you will not be able to enter Dahab without visa.
Not to mention the fact that I had the pleasure to be controlled by local police on the sea - whether we had passports - not to mention our equipment and even computers. How many timea have you actually dived in Egypt taking into account that you got your OWD certificate June this year?
This is a wrong attitude - saving as much as you can. Some expenses have to be because this gives you either freedom or security. Better pay than later on be sorry. And this is something that most of my fellow countryman haven't yet learnt.
Mania

Mania