A Dead Sea? Does such a thing even exist? Is there a sea in which no life can exist? The answer: Yes, there is! A highlight of our Israel tour was definitely the trip to Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea. We kept hearing about it, saw cool videos online, and now we finally wanted to experience it for ourselves. What’s it like to float in the sea? What does the water taste like? Is the water thicker? Can you spin around in the water and read the newspaper? Questions upon questions that were swirling around in our heads.

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• What else you should know:
• Getting to the Dead Sea (En Bokek)
• The seaside resort of En Bokek
• Dead Sea – At the lowest point in the world
• Weightless in the Dead Sea
• Our tips for the Dead Sea
• Other beaches at the Dead Sea
• Activities at the Dead Sea

Getting to the Dead Sea (En Bokek)

It is only about 2 hours by car from Jerusalem and around 2.5 hours from Tel Aviv to Ein Bokek. Everything is well signposted, so you don’t even need a navigation system. The “Dead Sea” is already signposted on the streets of Jerusalem. From Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, take Highway 1 toward Mitzpe Yeriho and continue to Beit HaArava. There, Highway 1 ends and you turn right onto Highway 90.

Now you can sit back and enjoy the view. In front of you is the Dead Sea, beside you are the mountains on the Israeli side, and on the horizon is the mighty Jordanian mountain range. The road winds along the coast, going up and down. We stopped every now and then because we discovered some truly beautiful viewpoints. Of course, we had to take photos and fly our drone.

On the way to the seaside resort of En Bokek, you’ll pass En Gedi National Park, a small oasis in the middle of the stone desert. Before we jumped into the Dead Sea for a swim, we went for a hike there. More on that soon on our blog. You can’t get lost; just follow the road until you spot the small stone desert town of En Bokek on the horizon.

Every now and then, you might see a few young backpackers and hitchhikers on the side of the road. If you have room in your car, give someone a ride. If you’ve ever hitchhiked, you know how annoying it is when cars often just drive past, even though they’re headed in the same direction and have plenty of space.

You can also arrive by bus. Buses run along the western shore of the Dead Sea from Jerusalem, as well as from Arad, Be’er Sheva, Eilat, Ein Gedi, and Masada. However, you should check in advance when the buses depart. The best place to find out more is the Egged Busses website. You can find timetables and times there.

The Bathing Resort of En Bokek

After about 2 hours, you’ll reach En Bokek, one of the most popular and largest bathing resorts in all of Israel, especially on the Dead Sea. Of course, you can also stop along the way and jump into the Dead Sea somewhere. But you’ll find out in a moment why you should go to En Bokek instead. En Bokek is essentially a mix of huge hotel complexes, bathing establishments, and shops, all of which welcome the many tourists. Most, however, only come for a quick stopover and a swim. That’s what we did.

The good thing about the beach resort is that you can find showers and toilets on the beach. Of course, you won’t find these facilities if you’re out in the middle of nowhere near the Dead Sea. When we were in En Bokek, it wasn’t as crowded as we initially thought. We actually found it quite funny to watch the other visitors making their first attempts at the Dead Sea. We saw a man who spun around in the sea because he couldn’t cope.

Dead Sea – At the Lowest Point in the World

On the way to the Dead Sea, you repeatedly see signs on the side of the road telling you how far below sea level you are. It’s pretty crazy. At some point, we reached the point “-400 meters.” Just imagine – 400 meters below zero. Incredible! It’s one of the lowest freely accessible places in the world.

The Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea, but a terminal lake with no outlet. When the incoming water from the Jordan evaporates here, only the minerals remain. This is why the water here has an extremely high salt content. While the Mediterranean Sea has a salt content of 3.8%, the Dead Sea has more than 33%. Crazy, right? No fish or larger animals can survive here, and hence the lake’s name “Dead Sea.” Sounds logical, right?

And why do so many people vacation here? Quite simply: The Dead Sea has a positive effect on human skin and can help improve skin problems. Thus, Ein Bokek is something of a spa and bathing resort. And of course, you just want to float in the dense water and feel weightless.

Problem, however: For years, more water has been taken from the Jordan, so less water flows in. The water level here has been falling continuously for many years. There are plans to supply water from the Red Sea and possibly also from the Mediterranean via canals. Israel, Jordan, and Palestine have been considering this for many years, but whether it will ever be put into practice remains questionable. We hope so!

Weightless in the Dead Sea

But now let’s get to the real highlight. After flying the drone just outside of Ein Bokek, we parked the car in the parking lot in front of the beach. You pay around 5 shekels per hour, if we remember correctly. Be sure to get a parking ticket from the machine; we saw a few “police officers” diligently handing out parking tickets.

The beach is reddish-yellow—like soft desert sand. We threw our towels on the ground, put on our swimwear, and carefully walked into the water along the shore. Fortunately, it was relatively easy to enter the water at our swimming spot. In some places it’s quite rocky because the bottom is full of salt crystals. So you should be careful and enter the water carefully. Marco went first, while I filmed him.

You feel like a buoy that just can’t sink!

The water felt completely normal, but tasted incredibly disgusting. So remember: The Dead Sea tastes awful! It’s best not to try it, because you really aren’t missing out. But back to swimming. Marco carefully lay down in the water and just a few moments later he was floating. We had to laugh the whole time because it was somehow so unreal. You feel like a buoy that simply can’t sink.

We quickly noticed that a kind of “oily film” was forming on our skin, probably due to the large amount of salt. Our whole bodies were super greasy, and that’s exactly why we should jump straight into the shower afterward. But before we did that, we enjoyed some time in the water.

The thermometer read 26 degrees Celsius, and the sun was slowly setting behind the mountains. We lay on our backs, on our stomachs, on our sides, and of course, took THE tourist photo of all. To do this, simply take a newspaper and lie on your back in the water. You pretend to be relaxing and reading your newspaper while floating in the water. Definitely give it a try – it’s awesome!

Many visitors rub themselves with the salt mud after bathing. It’s part of the experience. You can buy it in the shop for around €4. You rub the brown mush all over your body, let it work for a while, and then shower off. Since it was getting dark and we were cold, we skipped this part of the “treatment.” Instead, we changed into fresh clothes, ate a little something, and relaxed on the way back to Eilat.

Our tips for the Dead Sea

• Take two towels with you (one for drying off after swimming and one for showering)
• If it’s very rocky: leave flip-flops or sandals on in the water
• Don’t forget sunscreen, it’s often very hot at the Dead Sea
• Don’t forget shower gel, your skin will feel very oily after swimming!
• Salt burns your skin! Open wounds could be painful.
• Don’t stay in the water for too long, no more than 10-15 minutes!
• Salt dries you out – including you! Drink enough water!
• Don’t let water get into your eyes or mouth; diving isn’t beneficial either!

Other Beaches on the Dead Sea

Here on the Dead Sea, there’s not only the bathing resort of En Bokek, but also a few other beaches. These are spread from north to south. As mentioned before, you can generally jump into the water almost anywhere. However, you should definitely shower after swimming, which isn’t possible in some cases.

There’s Kalia Beach, which is located in the northern part near Kalya. Here you can find umbrellas and loungers on the beach, use the showers and changing rooms, and grab a bite to eat at the snack bar. There’s also a camping area and a lifeguard. The “lowest bar in the world” is also located there.

Kalia Beach is a great option if you don’t want to drive all the way down to Ein Bokek. Entrance fee: €14 for adults. Just a few minutes from Kalia Beach, you’ll find Biankini Beach and Neve Midbar Beach. Here, you can also camp, eat, swim, and chill. Entrance fee is around €15 per adult.

On the way to Ein Gedi, you’ll pass the beautiful Mineral Beach. Here, too, you’ll find the full range of amenities, including showers, changing rooms, lifeguards, lounge chairs, umbrellas, and dining options. Unfortunately, there has been extensive construction work there for a long time, which is still not finished. Entrance fee is around €15 per adult.

If you don’t feel like paying for beaches, head to En Gedi Beach. It’s free and accessible from Jerusalem with Egged buses no. 444, 486, and 487. A little further on, you’ll find En Bokek Beach, described above, which is also free to use. Zohar Hot Springs Beach is located about 8 km south of En Bokek. It’s open daily between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In addition to showers, lifeguards, sun loungers, restrooms, and changing rooms, you’ll also find a snack bar here.

Activities at the Dead Sea

Besides the bathing resorts, there’s much more to discover and experience here. You can hike through the beautiful En Gedi National Park or Wadi En Bokek. Many combine their trip to the Dead Sea with a visit to Masada. This is an ancient fortress located high on a mountain plateau. You can easily reach it by cable car or on foot (about an hour). Most visitors come for sunrise! You can book tours that connect Masada, En Gedi, and En Bokek.