Taba

Taba is part of the Sinai coastal zone where most visitors don't need a visa for trips up to 15 days. This zone extends from Taba through Taba Heights, Nuweiba and Dahab to Sharm-el-Sheikh.

If you're staying longer, or travelling further eg to Cairo, you need a visa. It's best to arrange this online, at least seven days in advance: see Egypt#Get_in. There are no visa facilities at Taba so if you enter without a visa and your plans change, you'll probably have to go to Sharm-el-Sheikh airport to be issued one. Taking a side-trip to Israel or Jordan of course would terminate a single-entry visa so you may need multiple entry. There are several checkpoints so if you try to travel further into Egypt without a visa, you'll soon be evicted from the bus.

Quite separately from the visa, you'll be charged LE400 (as of March 2020) as "Sinai tax" or similar, probably collected at the checkpoint 1 km from the border. (That's on top of the tax to exit Israel.) If it's collected elsewhere (eg at the bus station when buying tickets), make sure to get a receipt proving you've already paid. Beware of tricksters who might claim there's some extra tax you need to pay.

🌍 Taba International Airport as of March 2020 has very few international flights and no Egyptian domestic flights. There's no public transport to the airport, take a taxi.

The nearest airport is Ramon ETM ^IATA, 20 km north of Eilat in Israel, with an expanding range of international flights. Ovda and Eilat city airports have both closed.

Sharm el-Sheikh SSH ^IATA also has an expanding range of flights, but onward transport to Taba is poor.

🌍 Taba bus station is prominent on the left hand side of the main road about 1 km from the border, but still within the "border zone." There are a few cafes and kiosks here, but will there be buses? The bus schedule is an Arabian mystery perhaps known to the Sphinx, but not necessarily to East Delta the operator. At busy times of year there may be several buses per day, and at quiet times one or none, and they may not know if one is running until shortly before departure.

For Cairo the likeliest bus to depart is at 2:30PM, taking eight hours. It cuts across Sinai to the Suez tunnel and doesn't serve the coast further south.

For Nuweiba, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh the likeliest departure is at 3PM, with the northbound bus leaving Sharm at 8:30AM (and not passing close to the airport). Those towns' bus stations are all more-or-less inconvenient for accommodation there.

From Eilat Ramon Airport, Bus 30 runs via downtown to the border, while Bus 15 / 16 also shuttles between downtown and border, so the service is every 15 min. Rav-Kav travel cards are valid and give the best fares. A taxi might be 40 shekels. The border is 5 km from town so on a cool day you can walk it, but it's a ratty street especially around the harbour.

At the border, it's 150 m between the Egyptian and Israeli side. See "visas" above for entry into Egypt - you might not need one, but if you do, get it online at least seven days in advance. There's an Israeli exit tax of 102 shekels, but you don't need to pay this if you're staying within the border zone - have your reservation to hand as proof. You still need to queue with those who are paying to get a receipt confirming you're exempt.

Reckon an hour to cross, it depends if there's a tour party ahead of you. Once through the gate, you're within Egypt but still within the duty-free "border zone". Ignore all the taxi drivers and walk on the sidewalk on the left side of the road. After 100 m, long-distance taxis await at the traffic circle. These aren't "shared taxis" in the Levant sense, and they have the reputation of ripping off tourists, but club up yourself with fellow travellers to share a cab. Keep walking firmly towards the bus station: their price will drop faster if they believe there's a bus today.

See Nuweiba and Taba Heights for ferries to Aqaba in Jordan, bypassing Israel.