Dipping Into The Dead Sea

The country of Jordan is packed full of exciting experiences, but the place that I was the most excited to visit was the Dead Sea. Years before, I had seen a picture of a woman floating on the Dead Sea while reading a magazine. From then on, I wanted to go to Jordan, float on the water, and see if it really was as effortless and relaxing as it looked.

It was. It took no effort at all to float on the water. In fact, any time you wanted to sit up to swim around, it was quite difficult to do so. I consider myself to be a relatively fit, but my abs hurt after about 30 minutes of trying to swim around. I had a good laugh any time a fellow swimmer tried to float on their stomach, as it is really hard to keep ones head above water when doing do. The beach lining the Dead Sea is covered in crystallized salt, so be sure to bring sandals, as it is quite painful to step on.

The actually act of floating in the Dead Sea was exactly as I imagined, however, the Dead Sea itself was very different! The entire area around the Dead Sea is privatized, so the only way to get to the water is through resort property. These resorts vary in price, from local to 5 star. No matter which level of service you choose to go with, you have to pay to get into a resort to reach the Dead Sea. I went to a mid range end resort, which had two fresh waster swimming pools in addition to the salt water sea. These pools are provided to relax in after going into the dead sea. Although going in the salt water is a blast, your skin starts to get itchy after a short amount of time, so the fresh water pools provide a welcome break.

Now for some details about the actual Dead Sea! The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. Some areas of the shore are as low as 1400 meters below sea level. The Dead Sea is a very famous landmark, but if things stay the same as they currently are, the Dead Sea is going to disappear! Why? Well, the Dead Sea is shrinking. Year after year the average water level is decreasing. This is primarily due to the surrounding countries taking water out of the Dead Dead for their own uses. Some scientists predict that the Dead Sea will be empty by 2050. Although there are projects under way to try and prevent this from happening, for now, the evidence is visible. Layers of salt line the rocks, showing where the waterline once was.

Another check off my bucket list!