A 7km Loop in Nabq Bay, Sharm el Sheikh that can easily be shortened/lengthened based on your hotel
At the end of November I was lucky enough to spend a few days at the Rixos Premium Seagate in Nabq Bay, Sharm el Sheikh with work. As soon as I knew I was going, thoughts started to shift to the question of if running while I was there was an option? There were a group of us who often run and fortunately finding a nice route proved quite easy.
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2115862?units=km
Fortunately for those looking to run, there is a continuous path along the front of all the Nabq Bay hotels from Nubian Village at the southern point to Barcelo Tiran Sharm at the top. From one end to the other is about 5km.
On our first morning in the hotel we headed South from our hotel along the path. It was about 2km down and back and after a huge storm the previous night, it was very humid. A few of the hotels have gates with guards and whilst we had no problems passing through at around 7am, I can’t be sure you’d always pass unchallenged. At the end of this run I then took advantage of the 750m long pier at the Rixos to add a bit more distance.
On the 2nd (and 3rd) mornings we instead headed North and this is the route here. The first thing to note is that whilst the path does go along the entire seafront, it isn’t a promenade and the quality varies from hotel to hotel. Some are ultra 5* and really well maintained, other sections such as the bit that I think is the public beach access are less well maintained and there was at least one hotel that seemed to have been closed some time, an unfortunate effect of the region being shut to many countriesfor several years after security concerns and then Covid. That said, it was always smooth enough to run on.
The end of the path on the Northern tip currently ends with a dirt track heading away from the sea. It looks like the plan has been to build a holiday village here but it appears to be another victim of the tourism lull. However the roadway through was fine and you were able to easily access the main road (just go to the left of the security hut!)
From here we then ran back down the main road towards our hotel. During the day the road is busier but at around 730am it was very quiet. You probably wouldn’t want to be too much later anyway with the temperature hitting the high 20s even in late November. With COP27 having been held in the resort just a couple of weeks earlier there had obviously been a lot of work done to make it tidy so the paths were in good condition, the only downside being that the kerbs were very high if you needed to go up/down. It does give you a slightly different view than just the sea and helps close the loop nicely.
If you have done this route yourself, or have any questions, then please do leave a comment below!
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