Aqaba
Jordan’s one stretch of sea, where coral reefs run for twenty-five kilometres, a Mamluk fort guards the waterfront, and Eilat lies five kilometres across the bay.
- Arrival
- King Hussein International · AQJ
- To the town
- About 10 km to the Saraya hotels
- Private jets
- JPJets terminal at King Hussein (AQJ)
- Best time
- March to May · September to November
The city
The kingdom’s window on the Red Sea.
Aqaba is Jordan’s only coastal city and its only seaport, and central to the country’s exports. Its past is in layers along the shore: the walls and gates of Ayla, an early Islamic town; a church built between 293 and 303, thought to be the oldest built as one; and the fort raised by the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri in the early sixteenth century.
The marine reserve, protected since 1997, holds more than thirty dive sites, and new quarters such as Saraya, around a man-made lagoon, and Ayla have brought resort hotels to the town. Spring and autumn are best, with days between 22 and 34 °C; summer reaches 37 °C.
Arriving
A runway on the gulf.
King Hussein International lies on the northern edge of Aqaba, about ten kilometres from the Saraya hotels on the waterfront.
- Jeddah 1 h 35
- Riyadh 2 h 00
- Doha 2 h 35
- Vienna 3 h 40
- Palm Beach 14 h 05 long-range jet
When to go
March to May, and September to November.
March to May and September to November bring afternoons of 22 to 34 °C and almost no rain. Summer pushes past 35 °C; in winter the days fall to 17 °C while the sea stays above 20.
- 17° J 5 22°
- 19° F 8 21°
- 22° M 7 21°
- 28° A 5 21°
- 32° M 2 23°
- 35° J 0 25°
- 37° J 0 26°
- 36° A 0 27°
- 34° S 0 26°
- 29° O 5 25°
- 24° N 3 24°
- 19° D 7 23°
What to see and do
Days in and around Aqaba.
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Landmark
Aqaba Marine Reserve
Reefs stretching over twenty-five kilometres of coast, with more than thirty places to dive.
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Landmark
Aqaba Fort
Built for the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri in the early sixteenth century, perhaps on the site of a Crusader fort.
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Landmark
Ayla
The walls of an early Islamic town, with twenty-four towers and four gates, excavated by the University of Chicago from 1986.
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Desert
Wadi Rum Protected Area
Some 720 square kilometres of sandstone and red sand, listed by UNESCO in 2011, explored by jeep, on foot or by camel with Bedouin guides.
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Wildlife
Aqaba Bird Observatory
Run by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the reserve has recorded about 265 species on one of the great migration routes.
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Culture
Aqaba Archaeological Museum
Sharif Hussein bin Ali's house of 1917 shows finds from Ayla, Fatimid gold dinars and relics of the Arab Revolt.
Official site -
Culture
Aqaba Church
Roman coins date these walls to about 293 to 303, making the basilica, found by Thomas Parker in 1998, among the earliest built churches known.
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Golf
Ayla Golf Club
Greg Norman designed Jordan's first 18-hole championship course, par 72 over 7,152 yards, with a floodlit 9-hole academy course beside it.
Official site
Where to stay
On the waterfront and around the lagoons.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Kempinski Hotel Aqaba An infinity-edge pool over a private beach, and a spa on two floors looking across the Red Sea.
- Al Manara, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Saraya Aqaba Terraces above a private lagoon, villas with their own pools, and a private beach on the Red Sea.
- The Westin Saraya Aqaba Resort & Spa Two hundred and eighty-nine rooms, twenty-four of them suites, looking over the gulf and the Saraya lagoon.
- Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla Within Ayla, the waterfront quarter of lagoons and a marina.
- Bratus Hotel An independent hotel on Prince Hasan Street, and the only one in Aqaba with a MICHELIN Key.
Where to dine
Where to book in Aqaba.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Jordan. This hotel steakhouse holds a Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice award for 2026.
- Red Restaurant and Lounge Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice 2026 Steakhouse $$$$ Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla, Marina Village
Elsewhere in Jordan
More reasons to come.
Flying to Aqaba?
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.