The Dead Sea is unlike any other body of water in the world. With a salinity of 34%, it’s around 10 times more salty than the oceans. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish—thus the name “Dead”. The salinity makes the water so dense that you can easily float due to natural buoyancy. I couldn’t wait to experience the Dead Sea for myself.

My Dead Sea Experience

After visiting Masada, our tour guide drove us to En Gedi Spa by which we would visit the Dead Sea. Our guide said this was a better spot to visit from since some Dead Sea beaches are closed or not people-friendly. Note that this facility isn’t a really a spa at all, so you should only consider it as a point of entry to the Dead Sea.

En Gedi Spa

Here’s my quick review of the facility itself. On the positive side, the “spa” has several sulphur pools (real black mud available), a freshwater pool, massage treatments and a tractor to take you to the Dead Sea and back. On the negative side, it’s old and a little run down, there’s an entrance fee, the cafeteria is grubby and the employees were pretty rude.

After arriving at the “spa” and witnessing a small shouting match between the front desk employees and our guide, we paid our entrance fee and went to the locker rooms to change. The locker rooms are not luxury by any stretch, but they serve the basic purpose as a place to change and wash off.

Originally the spa was built beside the Dead Sea, but because it’s receding, they now take visitors down by tractor. After about a five minute ride, we were at the Dead Sea. Halfway through the ride, you can get out and apply mud, but due to time restrictions we skipped it. It looked like fun though!

Arriving at the Dead Sea

As we walked down to the shore, we noticed the salt encrusted, harsh terrain where the lake’s water once was.

Walking into the lake, the water temperature was surprisingly hot. The water also felt slightly slippery or oily, thanks to the high mineral content. With the water about waist high, it was time to lay back and float!

When you don’t have to work at all to float, you can just take in your surroundings. It was very peaceful to just look around at the blue sky and beautiful mountains surrounding the lake. It was an unforgettable experience!

After we were done floating around and taking pictures, we headed back to the spa on the tractor. Even after just a few minutes you can feel the salt residue on your skin as the water evaporated and dried. Back in the locker rooms, we rinsed off to get as much salt off our bodies and swimsuits as possible.

Here are a few tips to remember when visiting the Dead Sea:

1. Keep your face and hands dry in order to avoid burning your eyes
2. Don’t shave for a few days leading up to your visit; even open cuts or sores will burn
3. Wear water shoes because the sea bed is comprised of very sharp salt crystals.
4. Rinse off as soon as possible to avoid irritating your skin or ruining your swimsuit or other clothing that got wet.

6 Interesting Dead Sea Facts That May Surprise You

While still somewhat mysterious, we do know quite a bit about the Dead Sea, and some of what we know may surprise you.

1. The Dead Sea isn’t a Sea

The Dead Sea is actually a lake. One reason it’s known as a sea is that early scholars mistranslated the Hebrew word for lake as sea. In Hebrew, the word for sea is ‘yam’, compared to the word for lake, which is ‘yamah’. This translation mistake has stuck with us in English and other languages right up to the present day.

It also may have been mistaken for a sea due to its unique features. It’s salty and since most lakes are freshwater, a large salty body of water could appear to be part of an ocean. Another reason why it appears to be a sea is that there are no outflows. The Jordan River flows into it, but similar to a sea, no water flows out.

2. The Dead Sea’s Shore is the Lowest Elevation on Land

The shores of the Dead Sea sit about 1,400 feet below sea level, making it Earth’s lowest elevation on land. The lake itself drops another 1,000 feet beneath the water’s surface, making it the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.

The world’s lowest road, Israel’s Highway 90, runs along the shores of the Dead Sea.

3. It Spans Two Countries

The Dead Sea is bordered by both Israel and Jordan. The official border between the two countries directly bisects the middle of the lake. We floated on the Israeli side, but the lake is small enough that we could see the Jordanian mountains on the other side. It’s kind of wild to think you could float your way from Israel to Jordan.

4. The Dead Sea has Healing Properties

The Dead Sea area has become a haven for health research and potential treatments for several reasons. The water has very high mineral content, containing elements like magnesium, bromide and sodium, which are all great for the skin. The area also has higher atmospheric pressure, low levels of pollen and other allergens, and slightly higher oxygen content which can benefit people with respiratory conditions.

Finally even though its sunny year-round, many people believe the low elevation reduces the ultraviolet component of solar radiation, meaning it takes longer for the skin to burn here.

5. The Dead Sea is Receding

The Dead Sea is receding at a swift rate, with water levels dropping by three feet per year. For thousands of years, the lake has been losing its water content, with minerals becoming more and more concentrated. But in recent decades, the Dead Sea has been rapidly shrinking because of a diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River to the north. As the water level decreases, the characteristics of the lake and surrounding region may substantially change.

One affect this has had is the recent appearance of large sinkholes along the western shore—incoming freshwater dissolves the salt layers, rapidly creating subsurface cavities that subsequently collapse to form these sinkholes.

Israel and Jordan are currently working on a project to stabilize the falling levels of the Dead Sea by laying a water pipeline connecting it to the Red Sea.

6. The Area Around the Dead Sea Was Home to Ancient Religious Documents

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, hundreds of religious documents dated between 150 B.C. and 70 A.D. were found in caves near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. They became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

They include manuscripts or fragments of almost every book in the Hebrew Bible, all of them created nearly one thousand years earlier than any previously known biblical manuscripts.

Thanks to these remarkable finds, knowledge of Jewish society in Israel during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, has been greatly enriched.

Bottom Line

The Dead Sea is such a unique and interesting place. I’m so glad I was able to experience this mysterious natural wonder.

Trip Report Index

1. Introduction and Planning
2. The 7 Must Do Activities in Israel
3. Dan Panorama Tel Aviv
4. Dan Panorama Haifa
5. Eight Lesser Known Activities Worth Doing in Israel
6. Dan Panorama Jerusalem
7. Masada
8. My Dead Sea Experience and 6 Interesting Facts That May Surprise You
9. Dan Panorama Eilat
10. What and Where to Eat in Israel