The 9 Best Coworking Spaces in Dahab, Egypt (2023)
In order to make the most of your experience in Dahab and navigate the internet issues, it is important to know the best cowork spaces.
Working remote from Dahab can be, well… frustrating.
WIFI connections are so hit or miss, and you can’t always rely on your accommodation to get you through a workday.
Read on to discover the best places to work remote in Dahab, Egypt.
Coworking in Dahab, Egypt
Dahab WIFI
To be frank, the WIFI in Dahab is enough to make you pull our hair out. It can be very good, and then other times it is completely unusable. Out of all the places we have worked and traveled (nearly 20 countries at this point), Dahab takes the cake for having the worst internet.
When we first arrived in Dahab, our accommodation had dismal WIFI. Like to the point where we couldn’t even browse Instagram or send texts. We got very worried we might be doomed in Dahab. Our second accommodation however, had decently good internet and we were able to work from our Airbnb most of the time. Our third accommodation was hit or miss.
Read more about the best areas to live as a digital nomad in Dahab!
The WIFI in Dahab is very much dependent on location and can vary day-to-day. One day we might work at a café with super fast internet, and the next day their internet might not work at all.
Because of this phenomenon, we kept the coworking spots listed below in our usual rotation. If Mirage didn’t have WIFI that day, we would go to Bayside; if Bayside was being slow, we’d head to the German Bakery… you get the idea.
Another common issue with the WIFI is that most places in Dahab receive their WIFI signal via the telecom companies and pay for gigs of data. Sometimes the data runs out and the restaurant or Airbnb host must refill their data before it starts working again. This has been a struggle for us many times.
If I had the same highly-structured corporate job as when we started traveling, I don’t think I could have stayed here very long. If you are required to be in a lot of meetings, you’ll definitely need a portable MiFi device in case of random outages or slow speeds.
Egyptian Internet Restrictions
The Egyptian government has become increasingly authoritarian and censors and surveils the online space. According to Wikipedia, this has continually increased since the 2013 coup, “leading the NGO to downgrade Egypt’s Internet freedom from ‘partly free’ in 2011 to ‘not free’ in 2015, which it has retained in subsequent reports including the most recent in 2021″.
So what does this mean for coworking in Dahab?
- Access to certain sites may be restricted or flag your account. For example, accessing my MailChimp account while in Egypt restricted my account for “violating their terms of service”.
- Your VPN may not work. Regular VPNs can no longer get around the blocks imposed by the Egyptian government. Make sure your VPN has an option to connect to obfuscated servers, specialized VPN servers that hide the fact that you’re using a VPN. They allow users to connect to a VPN even in heavily restrictive environments, according to NordVPN.
- The Egyptian government monitors apps such as WhatsApp and Viber, and has disrupted or blocked access to communication apps in the past including Telegram, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Viber, Skype, and Facebook Messenger.
- Calls and texts over WIFI are sometimes restricted. If you want to call your grandma on her land line or receive two-factor authentication via text message, you’ll have to use data. Make sure to manually turn on WIFI-calling.
Best Places to Work as a Digital Nomad in Dahab, Egypt
Bayside Eatery
Bayside is one of my favorite places to work from in Dahab. First off, they have an amazing menu; everything we’ve eaten there has been delicious and the portions are pretty large. My favorite remains the Spinach and Mushroom Omelet, and Jack’s is the Madame Croque.
If you don’t want a full meal, they also have an extensive juice, coffee, and smoothie menu.
They have really fast, reliable internet (most of the time) and there are always several other laptop warriors posted up. Occasionally we’ve been working and all of a sudden the internet gets really slow, but I wouldn’t say this is a common occurrence.
Although Bayside is relatively small and only has a handful of tables inside, we’ve never had an issue finding a place to sit. There are also ample power outlets between the booths.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Really good food and drinks | Not very big |
| Indoor and outdoor seating | Food and drinks can get pricey |
| Nice, welcoming staff | Closes at 5pm |
| Lots of power outlets inside | |
| 17 Mbps |
Ralph’s German Bakery
The German Bakery in Lighthouse is another popular spot to cowork in Dahab. They usually have reliable internet, although they are still not immune to network-wide outages.
German Bakery is a very popular place not just to work, but to have breakfast and lunch. Often it will be completely full despite having tons of tables, both inside and outside.
They serve breakfast items, salads, coffee, and as the name suggests, pastries. Their food and drinks are on the pricier side of this list, but not by much.
They also have two additional locations in the north and south parts of Dahab. Although the Assala Square location (north) doesn’t have as reliable WIFI as the Lighthouse location, it is still a nice atmosphere to get work done and a convenient option if you live in the area.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Food, coffee, and pastries | Feels ‘corporate’ |
| Indoor and outdoor seating | Food and drinks can get pricey |
| Lots of tables | It can get very busy |
| 11 Mbps | |
| Multiple locations |
Mirage Restaurant
This beach-front restaurant may not look like one of the best coworking spaces in Dahab, but for whatever reason, Mirage is always full of laptops. Sometimes we can’t even find a place to sit.
Their WIFI is decent, about 7.5 mbps when it is working, and you can’t beat the views of the sea out their expansive glass windows. They offer coffee and juice as well as a full food menu, although their food is not my favorite and it’s kind of expensive.
They also have very slow service, which can be a plus in you’re working and casually ordering; a downside if you’re really hungry.
The tables are very large and you can really spread out and make yourself at home. They do play music, but if you need to take a call it doesn’t feel like you’re disturbing everyone else.
Tip: double check if the internet is working on your phone outside the restaurant before committing.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Serves food and drinks | Sometimes you cant get a seat |
| Amazing seaside view | Food is ok and expensive |
| 7.5 Mbps | Service is slow |
| Big, spacious tables |
Everyday Café
Everyday Café is in a great location and has lot’s of seating, both inside and outside. The outside seats overlooking the water are amazing on a beautiful sunny day, but I prefer the inside by the windows when it gets windy.
At Everyday Café you can order food, coffee, or amazing deserts like cheesecake and brownies.
There are actually several Everyday Cafes right next to each other along the main boardwalk, and they seem to all be relatively the same, so take your pick. There is also an Everyday Café location in Assala Square as well, but it is very small and not great for working.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Serves food and drinks | Food is ok |
| Amazing seaside view | |
| Lots of seating | |
| Open until 2am |
Shanti Café
Shanti Café is an amazing hidden gem nestled away in Assala and another of our favorite cowork spaces in Dahab. I always feel very productive and trendy when I’m working there.
Depending on where you are living, it may be hard to get to. But when we were living in Assala (north part of town), it was the perfect place to work and super close to our house.
Shanti offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as tons of coffee drinks and tea. I love their lemon ginger tea.
Their WIFI is pretty good for Dahab, about 10 Mbps. There aren’t a ton of tables, but I’ve never seen it at full capacity. And there are plenty of power outlets between all the tables.
If you need a break from work, Shanti also has a wide selection of board games to choose from.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good food and drinks | Not a lot of tables |
| Lots of power outlets | Weird bathroom |
| Cute vibes, plants, and cats | |
| 10 Mbps | |
| Board games |
Eel Garden
Eel Garden is one of my favorite places for breakfast and I was pleasantly surprised to see they had fast internet as well.
If you want a place to work and eat on a budget, breakfast at Eel Garden is the place to be. I always order the Egyptian Shakshuka, it’s so delicious and cheap (<$2), but they have a lot more to offer if you want to mix it up.
It is located along the beach so you can sit and work with amazing views of the Red Sea.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheap, delicious breakfast | Gets busy |
| Seaside views | |
| Lots of tables | |
| 15 Mbps | |
| Outdoor area |
Schoenemanns Café
If you’re looking for another coworking space in Dahab with a cheap breakfast deal, come to Schoenemanns. They have an egg special for only 50 EGP, although their other menu items cost significantly more.
It is connected to a hostel, so it can sometimes get busy, especially at breakfast time.
Although it’s not a very big space, they managed to fit quite a few tables in there.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheap breakfast | Glare |
| Trendy German vibes | Can get crowded |
| Many tables | |
Feel Garden
Feel Garden, not to be confused with the previously mentioned Eel Garden, is a very trendy place to cowork in Dahab. They have a really beautiful outdoor area with tables to work and eat, as well as lounge and sunbathe. On a nice, sunny day, you really can’t beat it. If it’s too chilly or too hot, the inside is still a lovely and peaceful place to work.
I walk by this place nearly every day even if I’m not working, and there’s always someone inside on their laptop.
Feel Garden seems to have WIFI outages more than most others on this list, but maybe I just had a string of bad luck. And if you run into this problem as well, Eel Garden is just next door.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Serves food and drinks | WIFI is hit or miss |
| Indoor and outdoor seating | Small portions |
| Trendy vibes | |
| Great seaside views | |
| Quiet |
Mojos Cowork Cafe
Mojos Cowork Café is the only place in Dahab offering a ‘true coworking space’ i.e. a work area you pay to use. There is a small café on the main level, and upstairs is a work area with tables and chairs which costs 200 EGP to use.
We honestly never come here though. Their internet doesn’t seem to be any better than elsewhere in town, and the cowork space is closer to a coffee shop vibe than an office. If I’m not getting an upgraded working experience, I’d rather just go somewhere for free.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Dedicated workspace | Costs $$ to work there |
| Café downstairs | Average WIFI |
| Central location |
