$180 Boat Scam in AQABA, JORDAN 🇯🇴

A day on the water at Aqaba — a glass-bottomed boat out into the Red Sea, snorkelling over coral, and sea urchins thick enough that putting a foot down is a real risk.

The title’s incident is smaller and more interesting than the title suggests. At the end of the trip an extra 20 dinars is asked for on top of the agreed price. They refuse on the spot, because the price had been settled by phone, and the original stands. Harry’s diagnosis is the part worth keeping: it happened because they hadn’t paid upfront — see agree the price before it starts. He then spends two full minutes making sure nobody blames the captain, who he says did nothing wrong and was struggling with English, and says he doubts a visitor would normally meet this at all.

The second useful thing is a procedure. On a local beach, where all three of them are being stared at and Sofia has covered up, Harry finds that a handful of Arabic words flips it every time — see learn the local language.

It ends with the trip’s verdict, and it is unequivocal: Jordan is one of the best countries he has ever been to, if not the best.

Key moments

• [00:08] Moving hotel, then out to the marina for a boat.
• [00:39] A glass-bottomed boat into the Red Sea; about 25°C with a breeze.
• [00:39] The area is known for snorkelling and scuba diving.
• [01:41] The water is fairly cold — he says being English helps.
• [02:14] A decent amount of marine life; good for where you are rather than world-class.
• [02:14] Sea urchins everywhere. Mac nearly stands on one and is warned by a passing swimmer; they discuss whether it would have meant hospital.
• [02:45] The value verdict, from all three: expensive, better available elsewhere, and still close to a must-do here.
• [03:16] Mac’s version — a lot of money for about three hours, and they saw what there was to see.
• [03:47] The extra 20 dinars asked for as they leave, and refused immediately because they knew what had been agreed.
• [03:47] His conclusion: this happened because they hadn’t paid upfront. Pay in advance, or pin down the terms.
• [04:51] Working through it with the captain, in patchy English.
• [05:22] Harry, off camera to himself: far too stressful.
• [05:55] He clears the captain completely — a good man, nothing to do with it, one other person trying it on — and says a visitor wouldn’t normally meet this.
• [06:26] Back at the marina: tea with lemon, za’atar with oil, an iced coffee.
• [07:29] Mint tea, which he rates well above English tea.
• [07:59] About 18 dinars for a large snack and drinks with a view.
• [08:29] The local beach — a lot of locals, a lot of looking, and Sofia covers up having been warned to.
• [09:00] The Arabic words, thrown out one after another, including one he cheerfully admits he can’t translate.
• [09:31] The sequence stated: they stare until you look, you speak Arabic, and then they are friendly.
• [09:31] A poorer district at the end of the beach, and a very large flag — compared to Amman’s, which he has been told is among the biggest in the world.
• [10:32] The sun goes down at four or five, so daylight has to be used.
• [11:02] The verdict on Jordan: one of the best countries he has been to, if not the best — because of the people, who gave him free food, tea and gifts expecting nothing, while not having much themselves, and because of the landscapes. Aqaba his least favourite city; Amman an amazing one.

Extracted pages

• Jordan
• Aqaba
• Amman
• Mac
• Agree the price before it starts
• Learn the local language