Ras Sidr flood update.

                               Public Beach #2 at Ras Sidr right of the Petrol Company. (This should be a sandy beach )                                       

                                                               Public beach #2 at Ras Sidr to the left of petrol company.


The Sinai flood which claimed 2 lives in the village of Abu Suweir last month has left many areas still devastated.

                                                                              Public Beach #2 should be sand.


The families which were moved into tents by the Army when their homes were destroyed have now this week been moved back to their newly built homes built by the Army, but much land on the coastal strip of Abu Suweir is still waterlogged.

Many pools of water which have not drained away can still be seen one month after the flood on either side of the Main Road through the Ras Sidr district, where seeds lain dormant for many years have suddenly sprouted, making the onlooker wonder what the desert would look like if Sinai or any desert for that matter sustained a prolonged period of rainfall.

                                                              Road linking Ras Sidr to the resorts to the South flooded.

The Ramada/Sinai Stars Resort.

                                                                 The jetty prior to the flood.

                                                       Both diving jetty's have now been washed away in the flood.

                   If you compare both photos above the sea level has risen approx 2 metre

The Jetty at the resort has been partially destroyed by the flood. In what looks more like the aftermath of a Tsunami rather than water rolling off the Gebel Sinai, portions of the jetty deck have been swept into the sea. The force of the flood must have been incredible. The entire end section is now gone where the fishermen used to fish from.

                                                                                          Collapsed jetty sundeck.

The sandy beach has lost at least 20 feet of it's frontage, where the sand has been washed into the sea. Just beyond the sandy beach is a large lagoon area (photo above ) now of fresh water which has rolled off the Gebel Sinai down onto the resort.

The 'Mistral Kite Surfers' Hut is now almost at the waters edge and empty of Kite surfing equipment.

Hammam Pharoun.

The road leading to Hammam Pharoun from the Main Road to the Pharoah's cave has seen much destruction although it is still possible to get to the Hammam.

Portions of the Tarmac road have collapsed and are not navigable by car or coach. The Army has built a a small detour road, but it does not, as it used to, go straight down to the cave now.

Cars and Coaches now have to park just prior to it, and visitors now have to walk about 30yds or so to the cave.

The obvious sweeping rainfall coming directly off the Gebal Hammam Pharoun has swept the main strip of sandy beach which used to have the spring water running through it away. There is however still a thin strip of beach where the springs emerge and small bubbling geysers can be seen in the sandy pools. In actual fact it looks better than before, and still has large visible deposits of Sulphur all along the sand at the emerging springs.

The after affects of the flood do not seem to have affected the number of visitors to the Hammam. When we were there, there were still plenty of Egyptian families coating themselves in the hot mineral sands, along with a few groups of both boy and girl Egyptian scouts, a few coaches of Europeans, and a few coaches of Malaysian and Indonesian tourists.

Oyun Musa Springs.

The Desert off the Main Road at Oyun Musa in portions is still flooded. It now just looks like there are more hot springs and they do not affect driving or navigating through Oyun Musa. The Bedouin Village of Oyun Musa is an Oasis on a high elevation and was not affected by the flood.

Ras Sidr Town.

Ras Sidr Town has not been affected due to it's elevation, although the coastal area, and low lying areas are still waterlogged . Both public beaches are unaffected as flood waters have now receeded.

Ramada/Sinai Stars Resort Ras Sidr

Location: The Ramada Ras Sudr resort, with its spacious grounds, is situated about 10 km south of the small town of Ras Sudr and about 80 km south of the Suez Canal.

Amenities and facilities: The bungalow-style resort has 160 units and villas. A large fresh-water pool with separate children's pools, wide terrace and snackbar provides an inviting setting for relaxation. The restaurant is in the main building itself, also the lounge bar and a minimarket. In the summer months, the terrace of the main building is used to expand the seating space of the restaurant. From here, you can enjoy the superb view over the entire resort down to the beach. There is a large beach with a snack bar. There is another beachbar next to Club Mistral wich is very popular for our guests.

Rooms: There are two types of room, depending on one's needs. Single rooms, double rooms with twin beds or king-size bed or suites. Most of the double rooms also have a connecting door to the next room for family use. The standard room is one room without terrace. The very spacious suite has a separate bedroom with kingsize bed and a living room with sofa, table and chairs beside this all suites have a huge terrace. In the suite can added extra beds for two more people or children. All rooms have private bath/WC air conditioning, phone, satellite TV and a minibar.

Number of rooms: 160

Room categories: double rooms, single rooms, suites

Children: Twp playgrounds- one on the beach and one near the pool area.

Sport: There is a fitniss club near the reception.

Extra: The hotel is located quite isolated with not a lot around. You can reach the village Ras Sudr in about 15 minutes by bus where you find some restaurants, bars and shops.

Our Opinion: This is something for ambitious wind and kitesurfers who do not need much more except a perfect spot! We would not recommend this place to people who are looking for more luxury and more activities beside watersport.

The Spot

Location:
Ras Sudr is in the western part of the Sinai Peninsula, just under 80km south of the Suez Canal tunnel. The Ramada Resort and Club Mistral center are about 15 km south of Ras Sudr (also spelt Ras Sedr).

Getting There:
You can travel to Ras Sudr via Cairo or Sharm el Sheik. Via Cairo is the shortest way, and you can also take advantage of the opportunity to visit the sights on the way there or back. If you wish to do so, it would be best to include at least one night's stay in Cairo in your travel schedule.

Getting There via Cairo:
If you have booked directly with Club Mistral, our agent, Midland Travel, will be responsible for your transfer. If you have made your own travel arrangements, we recommend taking a taxi or, alternatively, a rental car, although you will actually have very little need for a rental car once you are there and this would also be the more expensive alternative. The taxi driver should be familiar with your destination. If you opt for a rental car, leave Cairo International Airport and travel south in the direction of the Suez tunnel. There is a roundabout after the tunnel, where you should take the first exit, in the direction of Ras Sudr, El Tur and Sharm el Sheik. About a 1 hour drive from the tunnel, after the town of Ras Sudr, you will see a large sign for the Ramada Hotel. Turn right here into the hotel driveway.

Getting There via Sharm el Sheikh:
The only advantage of flying to Sharm el Sheik lies in the large number of charter carriers that fly to this destination, the best-known on the Sinai. Transfer time from the airport to Ras Sudr with our agent, Midland Travel, is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. By taxi, it will take approximately the same length of time. There are several car rental centres in Sharm el Sheikh. To get to Ras Sudr, you should take the southern route along the harbour of Sharm el Sheik in the direction of El Tur. Continue along the road, which follows the seashore almost the whole time, until you see the large sign for the Ramada Hotel, about 15 km before Ras Sudr. Turn left here into the hotel driveway.

Charter Carriers and Scheduled Flights:
The major airline companies offer scheduled flights to Cairo International Airport daily from almost every European country. This means that your stay in Ras Sudr is not subject to the normal weekly schedule and you can come any day and stay for any number of days. However, charter companies, too, like Hapag-Lloyd, Air Berlin or Aero Flight, are again offering extremely attractively priced flights to Cairo.

Sharm el Sheik Airport is used almost entirely by charter companies of the major tour operators. Flights are extremely frequent and, to some extent, also very reasonable.