As I made my way between towering sandstone walls that blocked out almost all light, I had to pinch myself that there was no one else around. Arada Canyon is one of the most beautiful slot canyons I’ve been to, not to mention one of the most fun, with several slides that definitely put me out my comfort zone. I feel like anywhere but Egypt, it would be a star attraction. Yet here we were, just us and our fab guide Joe, getting to experience this magnificent canyon alone.
If you love a good adventure, then you have to put Arada Canyon on your list when visiting the Red Sea. You do need a guide, but no public tours are run here, so though we normally love to do everything independently, it didn’t feel like we were on a tour. Added to that, I actually couldn’t have done this trip without our guide as the bigger slide would have been too challenging, so it worked out perfectly.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Arada Canyon, starting with the experience in the canyon, and finishing with logistics.
Visiting Arada Canyon
The stats
Distance: 1.5km circuit
Elevation gain: 70m
Difficulty: Moderate, with one bit I would consider hard
Starting the trail
After a short jaunt through the desert in a 4WD, you’ll begin the trail heading into the canyon. It’s just 450m between where you park and where you enter the slot canyon. It’s along a well defined, easy track between huge sandstone mountains.
You’ll pass a couple of homath bushes, where you can stop and try the leaves, which tasted exactly like wasabi to me!
After 450m you’ll reach a large rock pile which you need to climb over, and this is where the canyon begins.
The first part of the canyon is all uphill and it’s actually known as Double Canyon (Arada is the second canyon and is all downhill).
Climbing up through Double Canyon
Double Canyon is just 150m long, but it does have a few fun climbs. Parts are a narrow slot canyon and parts are more open. It’s very pretty, but it’s nothing on what’s to come in Arada Canyon.
The climbs are not difficult as such, but do involve finding footholds and a bit of a stretch at points.
Your guide (which I assume will be Joe as we don’t know of anyone else offering trips to this canyon) will always give you a helping hand if needed.
There were never any climbs where there was any exposure, and all but the first one felt straightforward. The first one felt a bit more of a stretch for me, but it may also be I was lacking confidence at the beginning.
Once you’ve climbed the 150m (and it’s not all straight up, there are flatter bits too) you’ll arrive at an open rocky plateau area.
It’s flat at first and then there is a bit of easy downhill walking to reach the sandy bottom. Once you’re in the sandy wash it’s a further 150m of flat easy walking along the sand to the entrance of Arada Canyon.
Adventuring through Arada Canyon
The main slot at Arada Canyon is just 150m long, but it feels much longer because it really packs in a lot of adventure! It begins with a narrow slide.
You sort have to slide sideways slightly as it is pretty tight, but there’s no exposure and it’s relatively grippy at this point.
We’ve done a lot of slot canyons in various countries, but none have actually involved sliding, so this was a new one for me! It was easier than I was expecting and a lot of fun.
We usually do canyons which feel more like hikes, whereas Arada felt like we were doing a bit of proper canyoning! If you’re into canyoning, it will probably feel easy, but to novices like us it was something different and definitely felt like an adventure!
You then have a small amount of walking through the narrow canyon before reaching a little climb down.
From here you hit the real wow factor views. Staring up at the swirling canyon walls I was really reminded of America’s Antelope Canyon and I can give it no higher praise than that.
I absolutely love the feeling of being dwarfed by nature and you definitely get those feelings in Arada Canyon.
It’s much shorter than Antelope Canyon, but you won’t have to share it with anyone else, which counts for a lot in our book! When you stopped moving, the silence was absolute and we couldn’t believe we had this beautiful canyon to ourselves, it was such a special experience.
The next section of canyon is all an easy walk through and the most visually stunning in my book, so take it slowly.
Our guide (I keep saying our guide because he was also called Joe, so it gets confusing!) was very chilled and we took ages taking photos and videos and felt totally relaxed about doing so.
The hardest section - the steep drop
Once you’ve passed through this easy narrow section, you’ll reach the hardest part of the canyon. For me this bit was actually a bit scary - but I am not the best at these things.
However I wanted to challenge myself and gain a bit of confidence, so I can start trying harder canyons, and this was the perfect environment for that.
As there was no one else around I didn’t have to worry about holding anyone up, or embarrassing myself.
Basically the next slide is a few metres long (we couldn’t measure accurately, but it’s the longest of the canyon by far).
It’s narrow, but there’s a section that is not so narrow that you can place your feet on one side and your bum on the other and come down that way.
The chute you have to slide down
You sort of have to step into the gap and trust it will hold you. The issue for me is I felt like I could fall forwards, which was why I found it a bit scary.
In the end Joe (the guide) put his hands out for me to walk into over the harder bit which made it much easier to get down.
It was really only a few steps before there were some handholds - prior to that it’s too smooth for handholds and the canyon walls have a fine layer of sand, which made them less grippy.
I do think having a rope here would have made all the difference to me, so ask your guide to bring rope. Personally I know from other canyons if I have rope I have so much more confidence and I reckon I could have done it without help with rope.
Even so, when I reached the bottom I definitely felt a sense of achievement.
Finshing the canyon
Once you’re over this bit, the rest will feel easy. There is a little down climb and then another much smaller slide. This next slide feels so much shorter and grippier. There is a little hole at the bottom, but you can use the canyon walls to put you feet over the hole and hop on to the next bit of canyon.
After that you leave the narrow slot behind and I honestly wished it could have gone on so much longer. It was spectacular, fun and a little challenging, which pretty much makes it the perfect canyon for me.
It had me dreaming of returning to Utah and improving my canyoning skills to tackle some of the less well known slots! Having said that the Sinai has plenty more canyons and we also loved the nearby Coloured Canyon and White Canyon. One day we hope we’ll be back for some more offbeat options with Joe too.
Visiting Arada Canyon: the logistics
How to get there
At time of writing Arada Canyon must be visited with a guide (as with most places in the Red Sea you need permits etc) and no group tour options are available. It’s just north of the St Katherine - Nuweiba highway and roughly an hour’s drive from Dahab.
The tour we took
Given you need a 4WD to access the canyon and they are rented by the day, it makes sense to visit the canyon along with several other activities in the area.
You can tailor these activities to your specific interests. We visited several wonderful Nabatean rock art sites (over 2000 years old), along with ZigZag Canyon and the rock cave at Makhroum. However, as it’s a private tour you could opt for other places. If you haven’t done White Canyon already then we’d recommend this one above ZigZag.
Zig Zag Canyon
ZigZag Canyon is very pretty and a super easy 600m (each way) walk though canyon. There’s a couple of short rocky patches to climb, but for the most part it’s a straightforward walk. It has some narrow sections, but also several hundred metres of open canyon.
Once you’ve done Arada it can’t really compare. Although White Canyon is mainly open too, it’s got some beautiful slot sections and a fun climb out at the end. It’s also more beautiful in our opinion.
However, that’s not to knock ZigZag, which is still a beautiful canyon.
Ancient Nabatean Rock Art
The rock art sites were fantastic, but you can visit one directly on route to Arada, so unless you’re an enthusiast you don’t need to add on the extra spots. However, if you are into ancient rock art sites like we are, then I doubt anyone knows them like Joe. He is really passionate and will take you to the best sites in the area.
Makhroum Cave
Makhroum Cave was a fun stop. We loved it because it offered a fantastic view of the desert framed by the cave opening. It was also a great photography spot. The cave itself only takes a couple of minutes to walk up to, but we spent quite a while just sitting there and taking in the views and the silence.
It’s next to the best rock art site we visited too, with a unique picture of an ibex feeding her baby. They are wonderfully well preserved and a real joy to view.
However, before putting your trip together have a peek through our Dahab guide and then see which spots you like the look of most and see how they can be put together to form your ideal day.
The costs of a private tour
When it comes to putting a trip together wait time doesn’t add on cost. The cost comes from the Landcruiser rental and how far apart your sites are, so if you’re willing to start early and finish late, you can really pack in the stops. We started at 7.30am and got back around 6pm.
The trip included a stop for Bedouin tea, and lunch, which consisted of bread cooked by the local Bedouins and various fillings (cheese, tuna, salad, tahini) as well as crisps and bananas. The feta cheese salad dip thing was delish!
When it comes to cost, it’s hard for us to say what a trip would be as they are tailor made and vary depending on where you want to go (think somewhere between 3500-5000 EGP ($140 - $200 USD) for the whole group, with the 5,000 EGP option being to destinations that are far apart).
They are not cheap, but you are getting a private tour with a Landcruiser, plus food and a guide that is fluent in English. We didn’t meet many people in Egypt who were fluent in English and it was a pleasure to have some deep conversations and also ask all the questions about Egypt we could think of and normally weren’t able to ask.
We paid full price for our trip and don’t receive commission by recommending Joe, we simply had a great trip and would love to adventure with him again if we’re lucky enough to get back to Dahab one day.
Send us a DM on Instagram or comment below if you want to know more details on our trip.
To organise your own trip, contact Joe (he also has a Youtube channel, Dahab Live where you can see a video of Arada Canyon) on Whatsapp; +20 106 020 0950.
Where to stay in Dahab
Le Meridien
Le Meridien is an oasis of tranquility in Dahab, it was perfectly quiet - which is incredibly rare in Egypt. As it’s set a little way out of town, it means you’re away from the hustle and bustle, but the drive in only takes 10 minutes and costs about 50 EGP ($2 USD) one way - do not use the hotel’s taxi service though which is very over priced. You’ll want to grab the number of a driver from town and then call or Whatsapp them for lifts.
The deluxe rooms are comfy, quiet, spacious and some come with an outdoor shower, which was my absolute favourite way to end the day. The resort also has 3 pools (2 saltwater, 1 fresh), its own beach and pretty grounds. It’s one of the best hotels we stayed in in Egypt and if you visit out of peak season, you can snag a great deal.
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