The Dead Sea - Floating, Mud Baths, and Ultimate Relaxation

Sunday 23 Nov 2025 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Holiday Reviews

The final stop of our odyssey was The Dead Sea, a place I have always wanted to go since seeing it as a little girl on one of those BBC natural world programmes that I was allowed to stay up 30 minutes later and watch, because they were educational

My young brain was bewildered by how you could float on top of water with no aids or effort, and ever since then I have vowed that one day I would get to do this for myself. Climate change has seen the levels recede at an alarming rate and I feared that it would evaporate before I got chance to do this ‘bucket list’ dream; thankfully, I did get to do it… and I’m not ashamed to say that it reduced me to [very happy, thankful] tears. I don’t know, but I reckon this is the closest thing you can imagine to being weightless in space; normal sea-water is about 3% salinity: the waters of The Dead Sea are approximately 34%!! Mind. Blown.

It isn’t just the waters that are remarkable: the [black] Dead Sead Mud is also reputed to have skin-boosting properties and, at the edge of the waters, huge vats of mud are waiting for eager visitors to slather themselves with it and allow it to dry in the heat before rinsing off in the sea or under the make-shift showers.

Along the shores of The Dead Sea there are now 10 resorts; the Dead Sea Spa Hotel was the original one, and this was our choice of accommodation. Heart-breakingly, the path down to the water is punctuated by signs that mark the level of the vanishing sea; what was once lapping at the steps of the hotel is now a good 5–10-minute walk away. A grim reality check if ever there was one. The rooms of the hotel are a very generous size and equipped with USB sockets, in-built hair-dryer and toiletries, albeit generic ones (other than the small Dead Sea Mud soap-bar that was a ‘welcome gift’), which left me a bit underwhelmed if I’m being honest.

Of all our venues, the Dead Sea Spa Hotel had the most cosmopolitan range of dishes; there were Oriental and Italian choices, as well as local offerings. Fish was on the menu (the first time I’d seen this on our journey) and it was lovely and moist, with a delicate accompanying sauce. On the first night, the on-bone Chicken was woefully lacking and horribly dry - a shame, because its partnering rice was delicious. The second nights’ oriental offering was Beef-based which, whilst a bit fattier than I personally like, was huge improvement, and His Nibs quite liked it. Other than that, the food was excellent and more than plentiful. This was the only venue that offered fruit in small form to pair with natural yoghurt; the others had been large, segmented sorts, or whole fruits.

As a treat, we wandered down to the Vitalia Spa suite and booked ourselves in for the ‘Dead Sea Touch’: 2.5 hours of bliss that saw us scrubbed, mud-bathed, massaged and facially pampered. Our therapists were two lovely Thai ladies whose dainty stature belied their power – we were certainly thoroughly treated! Prices are on-par with what you would expect to pay in this country, though the packages worked out a lot cheaper.

Jordan, you have been a total joy to visit! Thank you for giving us such incredible sights, experiences and memories; we are utterly smitten with your country, your culture, and the people.