Dead Sea
The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea drops roughly 1.2 meters per year. The surface sits around 440 meters below sea level, the lowest point on earth’s land surface, and that number keeps falling. The shoreline you see in photographs from the 1980s no longer exists; the water has retreated hundreds of meters in places, leaving behind white salt flats, abandoned infrastructure, and over 7,000 sinkholes along the Israeli western shore. None of this should stop you from visiting, but it should inform how you visit, and it makes the experience more interesting than a simple float in mineral-rich water.
Why It Is Shrinking
Israel’s National Water Carrier, completed in 1964, diverted the Jordan River’s main source, the Sea of Galilee, for agricultural irrigation and drinking water. Jordan and Syria did the same on the Yarmouk and other tributaries. Today the Jordan River delivers roughly 100 million cubic meters of water annually to the Dead Sea, down from a historical flow of 1.2 to 1.3 billion cubic meters. The potash mining operations that extract minerals from the southern basin accelerate evaporation further. The result is a lake losing more water than it receives by a wide margin, and there is no realistic near-term solution. Israel has floated plans for a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal, but regional politics and engineering disagreements have blocked it for decades.
The shrinkage is most visibly dramatic on the Israeli side. On the Jordanian eastern shore, the resort strip between the Kempinski and the Holiday Inn has managed the problem better through careful beach maintenance, though the retreating shoreline is visible there too if you look past the hotel grounds.
Choosing a Side: Israel or Jordan
Most visitors approach the Dead Sea from either Tel Aviv or Amman, both roughly an hour’s drive away. The choice between the two countries affects the experience significantly.
The Israeli side concentrates tourist facilities around Ein Bokek, a strip of resort hotels with a well-maintained public beach. The public beach at Ein Bokek is free to access and has showers, changing rooms, and lifeguards. Kalia Beach, in the northern basin near the West Bank, charges an entry fee of around 50 NIS (roughly $13 to $14 at 2026 exchange rates) and has a more developed beach area. The Ein Gedi Spa, once one of the most popular access points, was evacuated in March 2020 due to sinkhole activity and remains closed.
The Jordanian side operates primarily through resort day passes. In 2026, day-use prices range from around 10 JOD at the Ramada Resort (basic pool and beach access) to 45 JOD at the Movenpick (eight pools, a food credit, spa access). The Dead Sea Spa Hotel and Holiday Inn Dead Sea offer solid middle-ground options at 20 to 25 JOD per person. A JETT bus from Amman’s south bus station costs around 12 JOD return and connects to the resort strip, making the Jordanian side accessible without a car if you are basing yourself in Amman.
Safety and the Sinkhole Question
The sinkholes on the western shore are a genuine hazard, but they are concentrated in specific areas that are clearly fenced or marked. No tourists have been killed by sinkholes at official beach facilities. Incidents have occurred involving people who entered closed or abandoned areas. The former Mineral Beach resort is closed due to sinkhole damage. Avoid any fenced or unmarked stretches of shore and stay within designated areas; the risk at operating resort and public beaches is low. The Jordanian side has fewer sinkholes, partly because the hotel strip there is more actively managed.
Masada National Park
Masada sits on a mesa overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea, about 20 kilometers south of Ein Bokek. Herod the Great built a palace complex here in the first century BCE, and the site is most famous for the 73 CE siege in which, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, around 960 Jewish rebels chose mass suicide over surrender to Roman forces. Whether that account is historically accurate has been debated by archaeologists, but the physical remains of the siege ramp the Romans constructed, still visible on the western face of the mesa, are indisputably real.
The cable car runs during park hours and costs approximately 80 NIS return. Alternatively, the Snake Path ascent from the eastern face takes about 45 minutes on foot. Start early in summer; the heat on the mesa above the Dead Sea is intense, and the park’s official guidance recommends completing the ascent before 9 a.m. in July and August. Tickets should be booked in advance during high season.
Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi is a nature reserve several kilometers north of Ein Bokek, built around two streams that cut through the desert and support a remarkable oasis of vegetation. The David Stream and Arugot Stream canyons both offer hiking trails to waterfalls and natural pools. The reserve is open daily; entry costs around 30 NIS per person. Come early: the lower pools near the David Waterfall get crowded by late morning. The Ein Gedi kibbutz at the reserve entrance has a botanical garden that is understated but worth an hour.
Where to Stay
On the Israeli side, the hotel strip at Ein Bokek runs from mid-range properties to the Isrotel Dead Sea, a large resort with direct beach access. Room rates in summer peak at 800 to 1,500 NIS per night at full-service properties; shoulder season (November to March, excluding Jewish holidays) brings prices down considerably.
On the Jordanian side, options include:
- Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea: The most acclaimed property on the Jordanian shore, with large pools that compensate for the retreating beach; rates from around 200 USD per night and up
- Movenpick Resort and Spa Dead Sea: A reliable alternative with strong spa facilities; day pass available for visitors not staying overnight
- Dead Sea Spa Hotel: A more affordable option that nonetheless provides full beach and pool access; popular with Jordanian families at weekends
Practical Notes
Do not shave within 24 hours of floating in the Dead Sea; the salt content, around ten times that of normal seawater, makes any open cut painful immediately. Do not submerge your head and keep water away from your eyes. After floating, rinse off thoroughly in the showers provided at beach facilities before applying anything to your skin; the mineral residue dries rapidly and leaves a white film. Most visitors find 20 to 30 minutes of floating sufficient.
Summer temperatures at the Dead Sea regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius. The winter months from November to March are far more comfortable for outdoor activity and for visiting Masada on foot. The lowest point on earth is also a high UV environment; sunscreen is not optional here.
The regional political situation affects border crossing logistics. Check the current status of the Jordan River/Sheikh Hussein crossing and the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge crossing before planning any itinerary that moves between the Israeli and Jordanian sides of the Dead Sea in the same trip.