Aqaba Travel Guide

Red Sea Resort with Excellent SCUBA Diving and Snorkelling

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As with many towns and villages in this part of the world Aqaba can trace its history back to biblical times, though little remains of this period today. The town now provides Jordan’s only link to the sea and an opportunity for travellers to rest and relax whilst exploring some of the wonderful coral gardens of the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba also provides the start point for journeys to Egypt and a ferry service links it with Nuweiba on Egypt’s Sinai coast.

Attractions in Aqaba

There is little to see in the town itself except the fort and museum but nonetheless it provides a good base from which to visit both Wadi Rum and Petra. Its main attraction lies beneath the waves - the short stretch of coast and the reefs offshore provide for some excellent diving and snorkelling. There are about 30 dive and snorkelling sites with both wrecks and excellent coral gardens to enjoy. Aqaba has a public beach but women may feel uncomfortable; a better idea may be to use the facilities at one of the larger hotels.

Activities in Aqaba

Aqaba has a full compliment of water-related activities on offer, from glass-bottomed boat trips to jet-skis, water-skiing, but it’s diving that the town is most famous for. Those who would like to try diving can do so on a ‘Discover-SCUBA’ course; kids are also well catered for. Following that there are a wide range of qualification courses for those that want to become open-water divers and for those already qualified a wide range of dive sites to choose from. As with most specialist activities it’s wise to book courses and dive trips before you go rather than relying on finding someone on the ground locally – not all operations are safe and reliable.

 

Wind and kite surfing is available on the south beach – and Aqaba is the perfect location for both with its steady warm winds.

Those with time could expand their stay in the region with a visit to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, accessible from Aqaba by ferry or overland through Israel.

Relaxing

All the larger hotels have pools and there are some good restaurants in town. Seafood is, as you would expect, good, with the local dish, sayadieh, (fish on a bed of rice spiced with tomato, onion, pine nuts spices and pepper) a speciality.

Getting Around

Aqaba is a 4 hour drive south of Amman and there are regular bus connections between the two cities. The town is small enough to get around on foot, except perhaps at the hottest times of the year when taxis could be used in preference to walking. The airport is some 15 minutes drive north of town and links the resort by air with Amman.

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