Dead Sea
A lake ten times saltier than the ocean, lying more than four hundred metres below sea level, with black mud on the shore and the place of Christ’s baptism a few kilometres upstream.
- Arrival
- Queen Alia International · AMM
- To the shore
- About 60 km from central Amman
- Private jets
- FBO handling at AMM and Marka (ADJ)
- Best time
- November to April
The city
At the bottom of the Rift.
The water’s surface stood almost 440 metres below sea level in 2025. It is so heavy with chloride salts of magnesium, sodium and potassium that bathers float on it, and black mud lines the Jordanian shore. Madaba and Mount Nebo are only twenty minutes away by road from the resorts.
Come in winter: between November and April, afternoons stay near 21 to 30 °C, and the lake sees under ten millimetres of rain in any month. From June the heat reaches the high thirties and stays there until September.
- Al-Maghtas, the Baptism Site About nine kilometres north of the lake on the Jordan, listed by UNESCO.
- Wadi Mujib A reserve of waterfalls and hiking trails, which Visit Jordan calls the largest natural reserve in the Levant.
- Ma’in Hot Springs Springs at up to 63 °C, themselves 264 metres below sea level, eighteen kilometres from Sweimeh.
Arriving
Down from Amman.
Flights land at Queen Alia, south of Amman; the resorts lie on the eastern shore, roughly sixty kilometres from the centre of the capital. We arrange the car to the hotel door.
- Istanbul 1 h 55
- Riyadh 2 h 05
- Doha 2 h 35
- Paris 4 h 40
- São Paulo 14 h 05 long-range jet
When to go
November to April.
Visit Jordan calls it the lowest point on earth, and it is very dry: barely forty millimetres of rain in a year, nearly all of it in winter. That winter is mild, with afternoons above 20 °C, while July peaks around 40 °C.
- 21° J 8
- 22° F 9
- 25° M 8
- 30° A 4
- 34° M 0
- 38° J 0
- 40° J 0
- 39° A 0
- 37° S 0
- 32° O 1
- 27° N 4
- 22° D 8
Where to stay
Spa resorts on the eastern shore.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Where to dine
Where to book on the shore.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Jordan. These are the fine-dining rooms of two hotels on the shore, one of them among the best rated on Tripadvisor.
- The Grill Signature restaurant, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea Steakhouse Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea, Sweimeh
- Rehan Lebanese Cuisine Rated 4.8 on Tripadvisor Lebanese $$$$ Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea
Flying to Dead Sea?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.