Dead Sea

The salt lake on Jordan’s western border, about an hour by road from Amman and described on site as the lowest place on earth. Harry and Mac come for one night.

It is a domestic holiday destination, not a foreign-tourist one — Harry notes how many Jordanian families are there, and how different that makes it from the capital.

Getting there and getting around

This is the practical thing the page exists for. The shore is remote, and Harry says plainly that they made a mistake:

• There is essentially no public transport.
• They arrived by taxi and then had to book a second taxi for two hours at 30 JOD (from video – unverified) simply to reach the other end of the lake.
• His recommendation is to rent a car, which he says is far better value and lets you go wherever you want — and which he acts on two days later. See rent a car instead of taxis.

The water

• You float without trying. Harry’s reaction is that he hadn’t expected it to be as good as it is.
• The mud is the other half of it — thick and squishy going on, and it stings and burns once it starts drying. Skin afterwards is extremely soft; he compares the feeling on his face to wearing a wetsuit.
• Keep it out of your eyes. He gets salt in one and says how unpleasant it is. Posted rules also say not to swallow the water and to ask a lifeguard for help if you do.
• The water is cool rather than warm, and salt crystals are visible floating in it.
• Getting the mud off is harder than putting it on.
• The air is noticeably clean, which is one of the things visitors are told about the place.

The salt flats

At the southern end, reached on the two-hour taxi. Harry rates the trip worth making: more beautiful than the resort shore, with water he keeps calling unbelievably clear and calm, and salt formed into beads along the edge.

Staying there

• About 70 JOD for the night for two people — he puts it at roughly £40–50 each (from video – unverified) — which he calls a good deal.
• Pools with waterslides, and a shuttle from the hotel down to the beach.
• A restaurant meal for two came to about 20 JOD, roughly £20–25 (from video – unverified): pizza, sandwiches, salads, chicken breast with fries, desserts. He is told the white sauce is traditional Jordanian and is offered the Lebanese comparison in the same breath.
• Flies are a genuine nuisance at the outdoor tables — the one complaint he makes about the place.

Obs: the hotel is not named here. Staff upgraded Harry and Mac to a premium room on arrival, which puts it under the bundle’s rule about stays where something arrived beyond what was paid for. The price, the facilities and the shuttle are recorded.

One more thing

• The border is visible across the water, with border patrol on it. Harry is warned to be careful where he flies his drone.
• A drinks seller tried to charge 10 JOD for two Cokes — about $7 each. They questioned it, and the price came down to the real one (from video – unverified).

Harry’s tips

• Rent a car. The single clearest recommendation on the page, made after paying for two taxis.
• Go to the salt flats, not just the hotel beach.
• Don’t get it in your eyes, and expect the mud to sting.
• Query a price that sounds wrong. Two cokes at seven dollars each corrected itself the moment they asked.
• Mind the drone near the border.

Source videos

• $100 LUXURY Dead Sea Hotel🇯🇴 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKUDAYXlw-o
• Secret tour guide in JERASH, JORDAN🇯🇴 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzfrPancvA — leaving for Jerash, about an hour and a half away