leisure: Dead Sea
Dead Sea
FLOATING AROUND
The biggest attraction for most visitors to the Dead Sea is the unique experience of floating on water. The Dead Sea has an extremely high salt content which makes it impossible to sink in. Rather, bathers can comfortably lie back and read a newspaper, floating on the gentle waves.
It is this high saline level that gives the Dead Sea its name, because the salt content makes the waters devoid of any sea life.
The eastern Dead Sea shore boasts several hotel resorts and many are open to day visitors offering access to the hotel facilities, swimming pools and beaches.
All Dead Sea hotels offer extensive spa facilities, which take full advantage of the many healing properties that the Dead Sea has to offer. Many also sell spa amenities made from the mineral rich muds, making a perfect gift for home.
Ideal for: Half day trip out of Amman
Group size: 10 - 20 (check with hotel in advance)
Timings: All day
Top tip: The Dead Sea has some of the highest UV ray levels in the world, so ensure delegates use sunblock
MUJIB NATURE RESERVE
The area around the Dead Sea offers fascinating landscapes, including the mushroom-like hills in the southern area, sculpted by the erosion from wind and sand in the mountains of Judea. In the northern area, threatening rocky cliffs rise hundreds of metres, crisscrossed by small streams and waterfalls full of flora and fauna.
Near to the Dead Sea coast is the Mujib Nature Reserve, with borders extending from 400 metres below sea level to Kerak and Madaba Mountain, 900 metres above sea level.
For the more adventurous, Mujib provides trekking with a difference, as a guide will take you through the narrow, 50-metre high walls of the wadi (river valley) and on through a series of cascading waterfalls, each more challenging than the last.
The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) offers many different adventures in the Mujib and its most extensive trek is known as the ‘Lost Trail to the Dead Sea’, a full day expedition that descends from the rugged highlands above Mujib down to the Dead Sea.
Ideal for: Active team building events
Group size: 10 - 30
Timings: All day
Top tip: A lifejacket is provided but it is advisable to make sure all delegates on this trip can swim
THERMAL SPRINGS
It is not just the Dead Sea waters that have healing properties. Delegates may prefer to rest in the hot thermal springs at Hammamat Zarqa Main and Al-Himma and take time out to visit some of the historic architecture of the area.
Close by are two sites linked by tradition to Herod the Great. One is the palace at Makawer (Machaerus), where Salome traditionally danced, and where John the Baptist was beheaded. King Herod was said to have bathed in the medicinal waters of the springs. People have been coming here for thermal treatments or simply to enjoy a hot soak, since the days of the Roman Empire.
A number of hotels and restaurants are located in the area, should the group decide to stay on for lunch.
Ideal for: Alternative trip to Mujib trekking
Group size: 10 - 30
Timings: All day
Top tip: Make sure you have a local guide to point out areas of interest
RELIGIOUS SITES
For those who have an interest in archaeological and religious history, the Dead Sea region offers a rich and fascinating selection of sites that encompass much of our collective history. Tour operators can create an itinerary to take in the major places of interest.
On its western shores there is the mountain fortress of Masada, scene of the last holdout by the Jews against the marauding Romans; Qumran is where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found in ancient pottery jars; and Ein Gedi is where David found refuge from King Saul, and the first monasteries of the Christian monks were created in the Judean Desert.
The stories of Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad can be linked to numerous places all over Jordan, including the Dead Sea and all along the Jordan River. Jesus, his disciples, and mother Mary passed through the town and rested in a cave, which is now a modern shrine to Our Lady of the Mountain.
The cave was one of the five pilgrimage sites for the millennium year designated by the Catholic churches of the Middle East. The others were Mount Nebo, Machareus, Tell Mar Elias near Ajloun, and the Jordan River region at Bethany Beyond.
Ideal for: Combine with a trip to the Dead Sea for a full day out
Group size: 10 - 30
Timings: It is recommended to do the archaeological tour first, then lunch and a swim at the Dead Sea
Top tip: There are often check points on the road between Amman and the Dead Sea, so delegates are advised to carry ID
DEAD SEA MARATHON
The Dead Sea is also the site of a number of sporting events, most famously the Dead Sea Marathon, which takes place in April each year and raises money for the Society for Care of Neurological Patients.
Competitors from all over the world take part, running the 26 miles (42 kilometres) from the capital Amman down to the Dead Sea, which fortunately is all downhill.
Incentive groups may wish to organise their trip to Jordan around this event, in order to take part in the marathon and raise money for their own charities at home.
Ideal for: Active delegates looking to complete their first marathon
Group size: Not all delegates need to run, remember encouragement from the sidelines is just as important
Timings: Check with event organisers
Top tip: Organise well in advance, and co-ordinate a training schedule for your corporate running team
