I was there in 2001, and yes it is souless and built up but no different from other typical beachside resorts. If I remember correctly though the one annoying thing was that if you are not staying at one of the hotels on the beachfront you cant access the beach as they all own the access outside their property. Literally the hotels back right onto the beach....
The diving is fantastic and make sure you dive the Thistlegorm - it is without doubt the most amazing dive I have ever done. Its a WWII cargo ship that was sunk in the Gulf of Aquaba (i think) and it had its full cargo intact, you see all the uniforms, guns, carraiges of trains, tanks, cannon etc... amazing. The other place I dived from sharm was Ros Mohommad national park which was full of baracuda, tortoises, angel fish and all the usuaul trpoical fish you see, apparently you can see hammerheads if you are lucky but we didnt.
You'll have a fab time...enjoy!