Sharm El Sheikh: ATV Quad Bike & Camel Ride Echo Mountain

4.87

(223 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“If you shout here, the mountain shouts back twice as loud,” our guide Mahmoud grinned, his scarf flapping in the wind. I didn’t really believe him until he clapped his hands and the sound bounced around us like a game. The air out at Echo Mountain is dry but cool, even with the sun coming up — we picked the sunrise slot because honestly, I thought it’d be less sweaty (it was). The quad bikes rumbled under us, kicking up little clouds of sand that got everywhere — I’m still finding it in my shoes.

The drive from Sharm El Sheikh was quiet, except for a few sleepy jokes from our driver. When we arrived, Mahmoud handed out helmets and gave this quick safety talk that felt more like chatting with a cousin than a lecture. Riding across the Sinai sands was wild — sometimes smooth, sometimes bumpy enough to make me laugh out loud. At one point I lost sight of everyone for a second behind a dune and had this weird moment of silence where all you could hear was wind and my own breathing.

Stopping at the Bedouin village, we were welcomed with this herbal tea that smelled like sage and smoke. There’s something about sitting on those woven mats after bouncing around on an ATV that just makes you want to stay put for a while. The camel ride was slower than I expected (my camel was called Lulu), but seeing the desert from up there felt different — quieter somehow. Mahmoud tried to teach me how to say thank you in Arabic; I probably butchered it but he just laughed.