At 431 m below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth. A slither of receding water between Jordan and Israel, the Dead Sea is actually a large lake, part of the Jordan Rift Valley, and it’s where I spent a late afternoon relaxing during my week-long sojourn in Jordan.
As we approached the Dead Sea, the super-salty body of water looked enchanting as it glistened in the late-afternoon sunshine.
With a salinity level of 33.7 per cent, the Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth and is almost 10 times saltier than the water you find in most seas.
It’s this high salt concentration that gives the lake its name, as it’s so salty no living creatures can survive in it.
We planned to stop at a resort on the shores of the lake, which was surrounded by derelict wasteland and home to a small private beach and a couple of swimming pools.
As soon as we arrived, we made our way down to the beach, eager to try our hand at floating in the famous body of water.
The water was clear, and in the shallow waters by the shoreline, I could clearly see the white salt crystals glinting on the floor of the lake (below). The salt crystals can be really sharp, so you need to wear shoes when you enter the water.
As I waded into the water and sat down, I immediately began to float, and found myself lying on my back with my feet in the air.
The sea was still and there weren’t many people around, so it was very peaceful, quietly bobbing on the surface of the water. The high mineral content of the water made it feel quite oily and it felt quite unusual against my skin.
We stayed there, floating in the sea, for some 20 minutes, before getting out. And almost as soon as we were back on dry land and began drying off, I could see a fine layer of white salt crystals forming on my body.
I washed the salt water off, then made my way back to the shore, where I found a spot of mud, hidden at the bottom of the lake near the water’s edge.
I plastered my skin with the mud and let it dry off in the sun, and as it did so, I could see my skin begin to crease and tighten.
Once it was completely dry, I waded back into the water to wash it off and was immediately left with baby soft skin.
I had another quick dip in the sea and by the time I’d washed off the water and dressed, it was almost 7pm and starting to get dark.
So we decided to stay and watch the sun set over the Dead Sea – and Israel in the far distance.
We were pretty much the only people left in the resort by this time and it was such a quiet and peaceful moment, looking out over the beautiful giant body of water as the sun slowly disappeared from view.
Tips
- Whatever you do, don’t get any salt water in your eyes or in any sensitive parts of your body – it will sting like hell
- Do slather yourself in the sea’s mineral-rich mud, which you can find in small pockets along the shorefront, leave it to dry, then wash it off for super-soft skin
- Because of the water’s high salt content, don’t stay in the sea for longer than 20 minutes at a time – and make sure you rinse all the salinated water off you as soon as you get out
- Don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after getting out of the sea before touching your camera or phone, otherwise you risk them becoming encrusted with salt
