With Viking River Cruises they offer pre and post excursions. For this trip, Jordan was offered as a 4 night excursion that took you to the top destinations in Jordan. The first stop had us at the Dead Sea! A place that seemed at some points too far to get to, too dangerous from a naive mind, but all so exotic at the same time.

Arriving in Jordan

You arrive in Amman, Jordon at the Queen Alia International Airport. While it is a decent sized airport, it was oddly quiet, very clean and organized. Your first challenge is going through customs! Rewinding a bit. When we were on our river cruise they asked us three questions. 1. Do we have health insurance? 2. Do you have your visa? 3. Do we have binoculars? Now the first two seem pretty normal but the third was a bit odd. We didn’t think anything of it until we arrived at customs and Kevin and another passenger’s bags were pulled from the checked luggage. We got a bit nervous when it didn’t show up on the carousel, but finally found a nondescript window to ask for help. They screen every piece of checked luggage.

For Kevin, they wanted to check his camera lens. For our friend it was because they found a flashlight which led to them finding a $1 laser pointer. They fully searched each of their bags, asking about every liquid and every hard sided object. We were happy to have our Viking agent, who helped explain everything to the customs agent. Eventually Kevin was given his bag, but our friend had the laser confiscated and he had to sign a paper saying he relinquished it.

There are absolutely no flashlights, binoculars, monoculars or drones allowed into Jordan. Camera lens above 200mm were not allowed as well. They may need to add those items to the list of items they ask on the river cruise. I am not sure how serious they are at border stops that you drive through.

Introduction to the Dead Sea

A few quick facts about the Dead Sea. It is actually not a sea at all, but a lake with 30% salt. This also answers how it got its name. Because of the high salinity, there is no aquatic life nor plant life. Only few bacterias and fungi can survive. Nothing can survive for too long.

The Dead Sea is 31 miles long, 9.3 miles wide and the deepest point is 2,388′ deep. Bordered by Jordan to the east and Palestine’s Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel to the west. The main water source is the Jordan River.

Know Before You Go and Fun Facts About the Dead Sea

We had recently been to Death Valley National Park, which is home to the lowest point in the United States at -282′. We were now able to experience the lowest place in the world! At -430.5 meters, which is around 1,400′, below sea level, this is the lowest you can go on land!

If you decide to get it they recommend you don’t stay in longer than 15 minutes due to the salt. Your skin can become irritated and after 15 minutes it can start to sting your body. At over 10 times the amount of salt than an ocean, make sure to not get it into your eyes or an open sore and women who are at their time of the month are not suggested to go in past your knees.

Because of the high levels of salt and density you can’t really swim because you are so buoyant. You literally float without having to wade or move any extremity. It was crazy. The Dead Sea is rocky and because some of the salt content is the floor of the Dead Sea, make sure to wear durable sandals and sandals that you don’t mind throwing away potentially. If you are in for the allotted time or even under, it can be caked with salt and it can be hard to get off. It is also quite rocky.

If you have some time before your stay along the Dead Sea, check out the Dead Sea Museum and Octagon Hotel. You can get a panoramic view of the Dead Sea, see Bethlehem and Jerusalem in Israel and stay in a private pyramid hotel room. They also have hookahs to enjoy outside with the views.

How to Explore the Dead Sea

There is a strip of hotels along the Dead Sea to choose from. We ended up staying at the Dead Sea Marriott Resort & Spa. This hotel had their own private little beach area with a few lawn chairs and an attendant to hand you water shoes and a towel.

Your first steps will have you getting used to the chilly water and then the odd feeling of the water. As I mentioned before if you get in and want to try floating you can without doing anything! There were a few people that had never been able to float before on their own in normal conditions, so this was a real treat for them.

Cleopatra used to come here to relax in the waters and enjoy what we would consider a modern day spa day! Kevin tried out the mud but didn’t feel too different afterwards! Make sure to shower when you are done to get off the salt. Most private beaches have an outdoor shower.

As always, remember to practice leave no trace at the private and public beaches. It was amazing to see how clean the area is, so do your part.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, this area was amazing to see and experience the Dead Sea. We would suggest two nights and one full day to get the experience. Step into the Dead Sea to say you did it, get a spa treatment and then relax at the hotel pool with a drink. Then head to your next destination rejuvenated and ready to explore.

Make sure to subscribe to get notified of our next post. We will be exploring Petra and Jerash!

Love to pin, use this one!