Compounds in Sharm El Sheikh: the residential complexes area by area and how to choose yours

'The best compound in Sharm' is a question that cannot be answered honestly: the best for a family with children, for a diver and for someone letting a studio to tourists are three different complexes. A different question can be answered: which compounds exist, how they differ and what to choose by. Below is an overview of Sharm El Sheikh's residential complexes by area, from the Dommare directory. Every figure here comes from a named source — the developer or verified agencies; where sources disagree we say so plainly and give no number.

What a compound is and how it differs from a street building

A compound is a gated residential complex with shared grounds: security at the gate, pools, gardens, sometimes its own shop, restaurant, generator and water treatment. All of it is paid for by the service charge owners pay; the charge stays with the flat for good and usually rises. It is a different way of owning from a flat in an ordinary building: more predictability and service, but a standing cost. That choice is examined in a separate article.

Five attributes that set compounds apart

• Relationship to the sea: a private beach at the grounds, a beach elsewhere with a transfer, a neighbouring hotel's beach under an agreement, a public beach nearby, or no access to the water at all.
• Age and stage: an established complex with mature gardens and settled management, a recently handed-over one, or a building site with a stated date.
• Developer: a known group with other projects in town, or a complex whose developer is not named in open sources.
• Scale: from a house of sixteen flats to a resort of thousands of units — different density, different charge, different life.
• Facilities on the grounds: shop, café, medical point, gym, aqua park — and the rules: letting, pets, guests.

Naama Bay and the slope along El Salam Road

Sunterra is Al Ahly Sabbour's resort of villas and flats on Peace Road; according to the developer, a site of about 200,000 sq m and 338 units, roughly two kilometres from the centre of Naama. Pools, gardens, a gym, tennis, a shop, a restaurant and a medical point on the grounds. Sources disagree on whether the complex has its own beach, so we do not claim it.

Delta Sharm is a large residential resort on the plateau above Naama with its own beach — but the beach lies in Naama Bay rather than at the grounds and is reached by the complex's minibus. Pools, a children's pool, a gym, a spa, a restaurant, a shop, a medical point and a dive centre on site. The developer and build year are not named in open sources.

Sunny Lakes is a resort of flats on Peace Road by Naama; according to the directory's source it was built in 2007 and has no direct access to the sea. Pools, a playground, security, a shop, a café. Diar Al-Rabwa offers villas, flats and studios by Dorra, one of Egypt's oldest construction groups, near the Roman Theatre. Jasmine Residence is a complex with pools and water slides on a site of about 40,000 sq m; sources conflict on the number of flats. Cliffs, Curio Collection by Hilton, is a branded-residence project on the cliffs above the bay by Sharm Dreams Group with Hilton. Riviera Sharm, Sunshine and El Salam — complexes on El Salam Road added from sales practice — are also filed under Naama; their details in the directory are being confirmed.

Montazah: homes by a private beach

Montazah is the slope above Naama, and its compounds share one thing: a private beach within walking distance. Sunny Beach by Sunny Group is a residential resort on a site of about 40,000 sq m roughly 400 metres from the beach, with its own beach, pools, a shop, a restaurant, a gym, a spa and a medical point; handed over at the end of 2022 according to two agencies. Sharm Hills is a residential resort by Montazah beach with a private beach, a pool, a shop, restaurants and a spa; phase one delivered in 2018 and phase two in 2020.

The Royal Residence series are small gated buildings by a private beach: Royal Residence 2 (completed 2019, two minutes' walk to the beach), Royal Residence 4 (16 flats with views of the sea and Tiran Island, handed over in 2023 according to an agency), Royal Residence 5 (26 flats, three minutes to the beach; delivery was stated for the end of 2024 and needs confirming). Orchid El Montazah is a small project two minutes from a private beach, delivered in 2021 according to a single source. This is Montazah's signature format: few flats, a beach of their own, quiet, views of the bay.

Nabq: space, new complexes and a car

Nabq is the newest and roomiest part of town, north of the airport, and home to Sharm's largest projects. Porto Sharm by Amer Group — according to the developer, 5,000 units on 800,000 sq m; pools, a gym, restaurants, a dive centre. The View Resort by Kafafy Group is a gated resort of about 51,000 sq m next to a public beach; sources differ on the number of flats (490 or 600), so we give no figure. Oasis Villas by the same developer is a villa complex of about 64,000 sq m on the third line from the beach.

Sea Beach Aqua Park has 288 residential units on the grounds of a beach hotel complex with an aqua park; the beach is the hotel's. Laguna Vista Residence has about 300 flats, townhouses and villas with access to a hotel beach; its data come from a single source. Viva Reef is a complex of flats established in 2006 and still being built out. Sunny Village by Sunny Group is a completed residential resort on a site of about 70,000 sq m with pools and an aqua park. Moona Sharm Resort is a small gated complex of four-storey blocks, handed over at the end of 2022 according to a single source. Golf Heights is a project by an 18-hole golf course; its current status is not confirmed in open sources and must be checked on the spot.

What Nabq's compounds share: large grounds, pools, new services — and dependence on a car. Naama and Hadaba are a drive away, and part of the area is still under construction, so a building site next door is checked complex by complex.

Sharks Bay: the reef and the first line

Sharks Bay is a narrow strip by the water with the reef; little housing, and it holds its price. Shark's Bay Oasis is a low-rise residential resort a few steps from the shore with a pool, a restaurant and beach access. Sharm Bay is a project under construction by Talaat Moustafa Group, one of Egypt's largest listed developers, next to the Four Seasons hotel, with its own marina and beach club. It is one of the few large Sharm projects by a developer of national scale, and anyone looking at the first line should follow its progress.

How to choose a compound: the order of work

1. Decide what you need from the sea: to step into the water from the grounds, to take a transfer, or just to see it. That halves the list at once.
2. Check the developer: other projects in town, whether they were delivered, how they are kept. How to do it is in a separate article.
3. Ask the service charge and what it covers; find out whether the complex has arrears and who manages it.
4. Look at occupancy: an empty complex is kept worse than a lived-in one, even when new.
5. Read the rules: nightly letting, pets, guest access, parking.
6. Come twice — by day and in the evening; judge the road noise and how security works.
7. Check what the seller says against the complex's page in the directory: it states where every fact comes from.