Sharks Bay: the area guide for a buyer

Sharks Bay is the stretch of coast between the town and the airport where the shore breaks into small bays and rocky headlands and the reef comes right up to the water. It is a district for divers and for people who want to live above the sea rather than beside it: the land steps down to the water, and much of what is built looks over the bay. There is no long sandy beach as in Naama Bay and none of Nabq's open space — and that, not a list of drawbacks, is its character. This article is about how Sharks Bay is laid out, what is built and being built here, who it suits and what to check at a viewing.

Where it is and how it is laid out

The area lies north of Naama Bay on the road to the airport — about 15 minutes away, according to our directory. South of it are Montazah and Ras Nasrani; north of it, Nabq. The shore is rock and coral, not sand: swimming is over the reef, and snorkelling starts at the jetty rather than half an hour out by boat. So the honest question about any building in Sharks Bay is not 'how many metres to the sea' but 'how do you get into it': by steps, by a jetty, by a lift, through a hotel beach under an agreement. The answers differ enormously between neighbours.

Hotels and residential compounds stand side by side. The evening centre of the area is Soho Square with its restaurants, cafes and ice rink — close enough to be the night out without a trip to Naama. Peace Road runs higher up the slope, and the blocks nearest it hear the traffic — worth checking at a viewing.

What is built and being built

The Dommare directory has two cards in Sharks Bay today, and they show the two poles of the area well. Shark's Bay Oasis is a low-rise residential resort a few steps above the shore: a pool, a playground, a restaurant, access to the sea, security. Its card is honestly empty where the sources are silent or disagree: two agencies describe the beach differently — 'beachfront, a few steps down' against 'free beach access' — so we record no beach relationship; there is no unit count, no developer and no year, only a due date of 1 September 2013 from one source.

The other pole is Sharm Bay by the Talaat Moustafa Group, a large building site next to the Four Seasons with a marina of its own. It is not a finished compound: buying here means buying off-plan, with everything that follows from that. The facilities announced are beach access, a spa, a sauna, a restaurant, a cafe, gardens, a playground, parking and security. The unit figure is given as 'approximately 3,000' — an approximation we do not record; nobody states a delivery year. Next to it the same group is developing the Four Seasons Private Residences.

Facts about the compounds come from the Dommare directory cards, with their sources named. The Sharm Bay developer's site did not respond during our research and one source URL led to an unrelated section — so our confidence in that card is lower than usual, and we say so.

Between these poles are hotel-adjacent apartments and ordinary residential compounds of various years that the directory does not yet hold: the area is less researched than Hadaba or Nabq, and cards will be added as they are verified. The general rule for Sharks Bay: quality depends heavily on the year of construction, and sea views are common and command a premium — the premium is real and must be checked against what the view actually is from that floor, in that direction.

The sea: reef instead of beach

This is the main thing to understand about the area before any viewing. People do not walk into the water over sand with a towel here — they go down to the jetty and swim over coral. For divers and snorkellers it is the best Sharm's coast can offer: the reef by the house, not an hour away. For a family with small children, or for anyone who wants to lie by the water, it is a drawback: the sandy beaches belong to the hotels, and access to them is a matter of the compound's agreement with the hotel, which should be read rather than heard.

Diving holds demand all year — in winter as much as in summer. So the rental seasons in Sharks Bay are less sharply defined than in the pure beach districts: guests come for more than the sun.

Who Sharks Bay suits

• Divers and snorkellers: the reef by the house, dive centres in the hotels nearby, and guests of the same kind if you let.
• People who want to live above the sea with a view: the terrain gives a view more often than flat Nabq does.
• Frequent flyers: the airport is closer than from Hadaba or Montazah.
• People who want an evening out without Naama's promenade noise: Soho Square is near, but it is quiet behind the compound wall.
• Not for: families with toddlers who come for the beach, or anyone who dislikes stairs — descents to the water and changes of level are everywhere.

What to check at a viewing in Sharks Bay

1. How you get into the sea: steps, jetty, lift, hotel beach — and whose right that is, under what agreement, for how long.
2. The view: from the main rooms, not the terrace; what stands lower down the slope and what may appear there.
3. The slope: cracks in retaining walls, the state of the stairs, drainage after the rare but heavy rains.
4. Road noise for blocks near Peace Road and Soho Square noise for blocks beside it.
5. Salt and rust: buildings right above the water age faster — railings, outdoor air-conditioning units, windows.
6. Year of construction and the state of the services: the area is of mixed age, and the price per square metre in two neighbouring buildings can differ for that reason alone.
7. For the Sharm Bay site: the contract, the payment schedule, what happens on delay — all of it to a lawyer before any deposit.
8. The management company: who maintains the descent to the sea and the jetty — that costs more than a lawn.

What is for sale and how to read the prices

The stock is apartments and studios in compounds of various years, hotel-adjacent apartments and units in the Sharm Bay site. We quote no area prices in this article: they move, and in the catalogue every figure carries its source and date, whereas here they would be stale within a month. The rule for reading prices in Sharks Bay: compare building with building, not area with area, because the year of construction, the view and the way down to the water differ more between two neighbouring compounds than between areas.