Coloured Canyon has the wow factor. Of the five canyons we visited in Egypt, Coloured Canyon is the most incredible. In parts it reminded us of America’s Antelope Canyon but without the crowds. We were the only people (along with our guides) in the entire canyon, and the silence was absolute. A truly magical experience, and a highlight of our month in Egypt.
However, there’s a big scam regarding Coloured Canyon that you need to be aware of - not least that the majority of posters you’ll see advertising the canyon are actually pictures of Antelope Canyon in Arizona... sigh. But that’s not the worst of it.
If you meet one of the more unscrupulous tour operators, they will try and sell you a trip to the much smaller and less impressive Salama Canyon passing it off as Coloured Canyon. Some will even tell you that Salama is much better. Most will tell you Coloured Canyon is closed, which is not true, but the regular route in is.
In this guide we’re sharing our experience inside one of the most spectacular slot canyons we’ve ever been to and how to organise your own trip to the real Coloured Canyon.
Coloured Canyon vs Little Coloured Canyon (aka Salama Canyon)
As soon as we worked out the scam, we knew we would write this guide, so we wanted to visit both canyons to give you an honest review.
Due to the fact that the easiest access route to the real Coloured Canyon is closed, you have to take a much longer and more expensive route, added to this there are no group tours, only private (and these are not advertised).
The posters for a tour to Coloured Canyon - the photo is of Antelope Canyon in Arizona
Visiting Salama Canyon is cheaper and easier. I really enjoyed Salama Canyon, but the majority of it is an open wadi walk, not an enclosed slot canyon. The narrow section is very short, as is the walk in general at just 800m.
Salama Canyon
It’s very pretty, but there is no comparison between Little Coloured Canyon and Coloured Canyon. Not in scale, not in beauty and not in adventurousness.
I would look at it as a picturesque walk, not as a slot canyon experience. Coloured Canyon on the other hand is world class. I am not sure how many canyons we’ve visited now, but it’s more than 20 and Coloured Canyon is one of our favourites.
The slots are long, the walls high and the colours stunning. If you want to visit a proper slot canyon near Sharm El Sheikh or Dahab, then you have to pay the extra and go for Coloured Canyon, it was truly worth every penny.
The walk through Coloured Canyon
The stats
Distance: 2.8km circuit
Elevation gain: 120m
Difficulty: Moderate
The walk through Coloured Canyon is mainly easy, but there is a bit of a climb to get out of the canyon at the end. As well as that, there are a few down climbs which are not exactly tricky, but required a bit more thought - and for me a helping hand at a couple of points!
Overall it’s definitely not hard, but there are one or two points where in the more popular canyons in places like America and Israel, there would be little ladders or footholds to make it more straightforward.
Starting the trail: the descent
From the moment you pull up at the parking area the view is impressive. It only gets better when you start to descend into that view.
At first you’re walking into a huge open canyon, the narrow slots come later. The descent is 350m long and on a well formed track, which was either steps or switchbacks and wasn’t slippery.
You’re then down on the canyon floor and walking along a wide sandy wash between the mountain walls. The sand is compact, so the walking is easy.
After 200m the canyon walls begin to narrow, and narrow even more so 150m later.
The first slot
The first slot is great, although it’s nothing on what’s to come!
The yellow sandstone walls get taller as you pass through and it’s a flat easy path between them.
The very narrow section only lasts for 50m, but it’s a gorgeous 50m, with tall swirly patterned walls.
There are places you can climb up for a view from above if you want, but it looked a bit tricky, so we stuck to lower ground!
You’ll then emerge into an open section of canyon again. This lasts for around 250m before you reach the creme de la creme of the Coloured Canyon.
The second slot
Roughly 1km into the walk you reach the most incredible part of the whole canyon, a slot that goes on for over 400m.
The walls are a deep red and you’ll start to see more patterns in the rock, which is what gave the canyon its name.
Parts are really stripy, particularly at the beginning and end of the slot. Unless you have a zoom lens it’s hard to photograph the best patterns at the end, but there is plenty of colour lower down throughout the canyon.
At first the walls are high, but the path is not that narrow, however as you round the first corner it’s slot canyon heaven.
The easy path twists and turns between the spectacular walls for 250m before you reach the first down climb.
Most people will find it easy, but it always takes me a little while to work out the best footing as it’s pretty narrow. The guides are always there to help if needed though.
The next 150m of twists and turns are very narrow and absolutely beautiful.
It feels other worldly and the couple of little down climbs all add to the fun. The final bit that I found a little challenging was coming down from a big boulder into the next section of canyon.
I swear on camera it looks really small and easy, but from above it seems like the jump down was much higher!
You’re almost at the end of the slot at this point and you’ll soon see the highly patterned section of rock at the very top of the walls.
After that the canyon widens again, but it’s still stunning. It’s a 700m flat easy stroll through the canyon before you begin the climb out.
The climb out
The first bit is up a rudimentary, but still easy enough staircase, there’s one narrow section but again it’s not slippery at all.
The views looking back down into the canyon are phenomenal and get better and better the higher you climb. After 200m the path flattens for 300m to give you a break before the final climb begins.
After the flat section you have the steepest part of the climb out, but it’s all on well formed stairs. It lasts for 200m and then you’ll be back at the parking area having experienced one of Egypt’s most spectacular canyons.
If you are keen for another adventure in the area, the only other canyon that could compete with Coloured Canyon was Arada Canyon, which is another trip we couldn’t recommend more highly.
A note on the access road
Unless the old road opens again, which was paved until 25 minutes before the canyon, you need to access Coloured Canyon via a 1 hour and 15 minute drive (each way) through the desert. There are no roads, just tracks and it’s bumpy for much of the way.
The scenery is utterly beautiful, but if you suffer from motion sickness you want to be in the front of the car. I didn’t feel sick at all in the front, but both Joe and our guide in the back were a bit queasy. It’s worth having some motion sickness pills with you.
Making Coloured Canyon into a full day trip
Given that you can only book a private trip to Coloured Canyon you will want to combine it with some other activities to make the most of your money (you pay the same for the vehicle and guides no matter how many spots you see). We chose to visit Salama Canyon and White Canyon. If you do the same, you’ll pass Mushroom Rock, which is a quick photo stop and you’ll have lunch in the desert oasis beside White Canyon.
Our trip ran from 8am to about 6.30pm. It was a long and tiring day, but it was absolutely brilliant. It’s easily one of my favourite days of our month long trip in Egypt and something I’ll always remember. The beauty of all the spots we visited, but especially Coloured Canyon, was just incredible.
If you like the idea of the trip, but think it sounds a bit exhausting (it was a lot of walking!) and you want to miss one thing from the itinerary I would miss Salama Canyon.
However, as you’ll be organising a private tour you might want different stops altogether, which I’m sure if they’re in a similar area wouldn’t be a problem.
Organising your Coloured Canyon trip
Our trip departed from Dahab. If you’re staying elsewhere in the Red Sea you probably can’t pack in as much as we did, but I am sure it would still be possible to visit Coloured Canyon.
If you want to organise your trip with the same guide as us then you can contact him via Whatsapp, his name is Tarek: +20 127 301 2274 and he’s based in Dahab.
He organised the permits required to visit and got it all done for us ready to leave the following day. The driver was extremely skilled, but fast - if you don’t like fast desert driving you might want to mention that ahead of time - it was fast because we were fitting in so many stops!
For the private trip including guides, 4WD and food (but we brought our own water) cost USD $150 for both of us. This is by no means a cheap trip, but it’s private and action packed. Honestly I was reluctant to pay this amount as it seemed really expensive, but I can honestly say it was worth it. Normally we are all about doing things ourselves and not taking tours, but that’s impossible when it comes to Coloured Canyon.
In case you’re wondering we paid full price for the trip so you don’t need to worry about bias in our review! We had a fab time with Tarek and the trip went seamlessly. He also never tried to tell us that Salama Canyon was Coloured Canyon as others had done.
If you have any other questions about the trip, leave a comment or drop us a DM on Instagram.
Update for 2024: we’ve recently spoken to Tarek who has informed us that due to rising costs the trip is now USD $180 for two people.
Where to stay
Le Meridien, Dahab
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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