Ein Bokek

Why Ein Bokek works

At 430 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea's shore is the lowest point of dry land on the planet, and its water — roughly nine and a half times saltier than the open ocean — makes swimming impossible in the conventional sense: bathers bob on the surface without effort, a sensation odd enough that most visitors photograph themselves reading a newspaper afloat. The high mineral concentration, rich in magnesium, potassium and bromide, has drawn health tourism since antiquity, and the black mineral mud dredged from the seabed is sold worldwide in cosmetics but is best experienced fresh, slathered on and left to dry in the sun before rinsing off in the sea. Ein Gedi, a freshwater oasis and nature reserve a short drive north, offers waterfalls and ibex sightings in stark contrast to the saline shore, while Masada — Herod's clifftop fortress where Jewish rebels made their last stand against Rome in 73 CE — rises dramatically from the desert nearby, reachable by cable car or a pre-dawn hike for sunrise. The sea's surface has been dropping roughly a metre a year for decades due to upstream water diversion, leaving newly exposed shoreline and occasional sinkholes, so resort access points shift periodically — most visitors base themselves at Ein Bokek's cluster of spa hotels on the southern basin for the most reliable shoreline access.

Trip Snapshot

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