Floating in the Dead Sea – Ein Bokek, Israel

There are a lot of trips from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi and the mountain Masada. Most of them are daytrips and if you don’t have much time to spend is a good thing to do. You can’t miss these places when visiting Israel. I wouldn’t want to do the hikes in Ein Gedi and up Masada in one day. Also because I like to spend my time as I want to… If I like a place I want to stay a bit longer… So a trip that combines these three things in one day isn’t good for me.

I found this great hostel at the foot of the Masada. The hostel name is HI Masada and offers breakfast and dinner as a buffet. There is hardly any other option in the surrounding for food so it’s great. During the day you can buy a lunch and coffee at the visitor’s Centre of Masada.

HI Masada has some great terraces on all sides of the hostel where you can enjoy the Masada or the desert. And to top that…they’ve got a swimmingpool!! When I was there they were just filling it up with water so I couldn’t enjoy yet. If you are here in summer, when it is hot…it is a great way to spend you evening!!

When I got there on my first day from Jerusalem I immediatly went on to the place Ein Bokek. It’s 15 minutes down the Dead Sea. It is a touristic place and most of the time I really don’t like that.. but because of that there were a lot of facilities for the swimmers. They are still building hotels and maybe some day the beach is closed but for now it was easily accessible from the streets by walking in between the hotels. I also saw two days later a path from the main road, a big parkinglot, to the beaches. It is a asphalt path and goes along the side of the Dead Sea and in front of those hotels.

A Unique Experience: Floating in the Dead Sea

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There are showers, waterfountains and dressing booths. Everwywhere are loungechairs and normal chairs, I really thought it was great! My second visit, on Shabbat, there was 1 hotel that said I couldn’t use their chairs, they were meant for their guests. On the other parts I saw all kinds of people coming in from all parts of the beach and just enoying the chairs, the sun, the great beach and the Dead Sea.

 

A big pro here is that the beach feels good on your feet too, you can easily walk into the salt water with bearfeet. I heard of Mike, an American I walked the Masada and Ein Gedi hike with, that the parts where are no hotels is hard to enter the Dead Sea becuase of the hardened salt on the side. To go into the water it was tough on the feet.. A pair of flipflops is recommended!!

My first day floating in the Dead Sea I was with Yamuna. She came on the same bus and we had a great time floating in the Dead Sea together. We had a great conversation and another benefit of this meeting was that we took some nice pictures of eachother while floating in the Dead Sea 🙂

I wanted to show that you could easily float on your side…. 😉

I didn’t got my balance…. but once in balance it is easily done!!

Floating in the Dead Sea

Totally AMAZING!!

The moment you walk into the sea you’ll feel that the water is different. It feels kind of greasy. Your skin will get a bit slippery and you feel like you salve your skin with the salt water. I also wetted my face, my hair got wet and after a half an hour of floating we got out.

Drying in the sun is also different. I didn’t got dry…my skin still felt greasy after a half an hour in the sun and at some point you’ll see the salt on your skin. It is so strange!! I have never seen and felt something like this!!

We enjoyed the water again for a while and after I used the provided showers and I lay down to enjoy this great springweather!! Yamuna went back with the bus, she had to go all the way back to Jerusalem. I loved spending time on the beach, seeing all kinds of people enjoying the Dead Sea, the sun and the beach! The mountains of Jordan in the background and the desert of Israel behind the turquois blue water of the Dead Sea!

• I paid 13.50 NIS (New Israeli Shekel) for my busride from mountain Masada. Also for the way back ofcourse, so it was 27 Shekel…and that is 7 euro.

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