Taba High Lights

Taba
The small town of Taba lies near the Israeli border, bounds the Egyptian coasts of the Red Sea to the north. In ancient times caravans following the Aqaba track stopped there owing to the presence of a freshwater well.

With it's five star hotels, Taba is a meeting of borders. It overlooks Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Major plans are currently taking place to promote this area as a tourism center. It has good restaurants and beach cafes.

The town used to be characterized by the structures of the Hotel Hilton Taba, which was built by the Israelis and subsequently sold to Egypt. In recent times Taba has become a significant tourist resort, owing to both the nearby International Airport of Nakab and the building of new hotels.

One of Taba's main attractions, Pharaoh's Island, is simply breathtaking. The island, surrounded by outstanding blue and turquoise water was once a Phoenician port. Later occupied by Crusaders and then taken under control by Sultan Salah El Din. The island and the castle remain intact. The reef around the island is popular with snorkels and divers alike.

Pharaoh's Island, sometimes called Coral Island, or Geziret Faraum, was originally built by Baldwin I, the King of Jerusalem. From the top of the fortress, one can see four countries, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Work apparently began on the fortress around 1116 AD.

The toponym “Taba” appeared for the first time only at the beginning of the twentieth century, and precisely in 1906, when the English marked out the eastern border between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire according to a line starting from Rafah, on the Mediterranean coast, and arriving at Taba, on the Red Sea. In more recent times, after Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982, Israel continued exercising control over Taba until 1989, when the border took on its present position.

Since1998, Taba and its surrounding region have been included in the protected areas of the Sinai Peninsula in order to preserve their naturalistic beauties. Among them is the Color Valley, rich in multicolored sandstone and now crossed by a large asphalt scenic road going towards El-Arish, a seaside resort of the Mediterranean Sea.