Dead Sea Hotels and Resorts in Jordan: Where to Stay

What the Dead Sea experience is like

You are more likely to float than swim. The water is salty enough to make you extremely buoyant, which also means you should avoid splashing or getting it in your eyes.

Short sessions are enough. Rinse off with fresh water afterwards.

Water shoes are useful because sections of the shoreline can be rocky, salty or uneven.

One night or two?

One night can comfortably include an afternoon float, pool time, dinner, breakfast and another short visit to the water the next morning.

Consider two nights if you want spa treatments, a full day by the pool and a much slower pace.

Resort day pass

A day pass is particularly useful if you are staying in Amman. It can include beach access, pools, showers, loungers and sometimes lunch, without another hotel change.

Which resorts sell a day pass

You can usually buy one at reception on the day, but call ahead at weekends (Friday and Saturday in Jordan) and in holiday periods, when resorts that fill up stop selling them.

• Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea. The Day Escape runs daily from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and covers the pools, the private beach, the Zara Spa and a dining credit you can use in most of the resort’s restaurants (not The Beach Lounge or The Splash). Children aged 6 and over can come; the spa is adults-only. The resort does not publish the price online, so call +962 798 200 130. Visitors reported 45 JOD on weekdays and 55 JOD at weekends in 2025, about $63 to $78.
• Dead Sea Marriott Resort & Spa. Reported to sell passes from Sunday to Wednesday only, and only when the hotel is not full. In 2025 that was about 50 JOD for the pools, beach and a towel, or 75 JOD with a 25 JOD food and drink voucher.
• Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea. The cheapest of the four, at about 40 JOD for adults and 20 JOD for children aged 5 to 12 in 2025, with a buffet lunch, the beach, the pool and mud included.
• Kempinski Hotel Ishtar. Reports conflict: some visitors say its beach and pools are for staying guests only, others list a non-guest spa package. Ask the hotel before you drive down.

Resort prices change with the season and how full the hotel is, so treat these figures as a guide and confirm the price and what it includes when you call. They are walk-in prices. If you add the resort stop to a private day trip, the operators book it for you and usually quote about $40 per person for the beach and lunch, paid in cash to the driver.

From Amman, the private Dead Sea and Baptism Site tour (from $75, rated 4.9/5 from more than 75 reviews) pairs the UNESCO-listed Baptism Site with a float, and a resort swim with lunch is an add-on, about $40 in cash to the driver. Our breakdown of that tour explains the options, and the Dead Sea tours from Amman page compares the half-day and full-day trips.

Amman Beach: the public beach

The public beach that many maps still call Amman Beach, or Amman Tourist Beach, reopened in May 2026 as the Dead Sea Tourist Beach after more than six years closed. The Jordan Free and Development Zones Group runs it. It covers about 24 hectares of shore near the resort hotels, with a sandy beach, four swimming pools, restaurants, shops and parking for more than 650 cars.

When it reopened, the operator set tickets at 10 JOD (about $14) for foreign visitors, 7 JOD for visitors from Arab countries and 3 JOD for Jordanians, with children and visitors over 65 free. Opening hours and what the ticket covers (towels, lockers, loungers, mud) are not published officially, so check both at the gate.

Amman Beach or a resort day pass?

Choose the public beach if you want a cheap float with pools to rinse off in and you do not mind a crowd. More than 4,000 people visited over one weekend in May 2026, so go on a weekday if you can. Pay for a resort day pass instead if you want loungers, a quieter beach and lunch in the price; at 40 to 75 JOD it costs four to seven times as much.

No public bus runs to the beach. Come by taxi, private driver or rental car, and agree the ride back before your driver leaves.

After Petra and Wadi Rum

The Dead Sea works especially well at the end of a route such as:

Petra → Wadi Rum → Dead Sea

Petra is active sightseeing, Wadi Rum is desert adventure, and the Dead Sea becomes the place to recover. Our guides to where to stay in Petra and the best Wadi Rum camps cover the first two nights of that route.

If you would rather not drive it yourself, the Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead Sea 2-day tour runs the same order out of Amman, with the Dead Sea stop on the way home.

Common mistakes

Avoid booking a property without confirming its current water access, paying for a large resort when you will arrive after dark, assuming every hotel has a private beach, or spending too long in the water itself.

Frequently asked questions

Is one night at the Dead Sea enough?

Yes, for most sightseeing-focused itineraries. One night covers an afternoon float, the pool, dinner and a short swim the next morning.

Is a Dead Sea day pass enough?

Yes, if you mainly want to float and use the pool, and you already have accommodation in Amman or elsewhere.

Can you buy a Dead Sea day pass?

Yes. The Mövenpick, the Marriott and the Holiday Inn all sell one to non-guests, at roughly 40 to 75 JOD (about $56 to $106) in 2025 reports, often with lunch or a food credit. Call ahead, because resorts stop selling passes when they are full. See which resorts sell a day pass.

Is Amman Beach worth visiting?

Yes, for a cheap float. The public beach reopened in May 2026 as the Dead Sea Tourist Beach, with four pools and a 10 JOD ticket for foreign visitors. It gets busy at weekends; a resort day pass costs more but is quieter and usually includes lunch. More in the Amman Beach section.

Are two nights at the Dead Sea worth it?

Yes, if you want a genuine resort break with spa time and a full pool day, rather than more sightseeing.

Do I need water shoes at the Dead Sea?

They are useful where the shore is rocky, salty or uneven.

Should the Dead Sea come before or after Petra?

Either works, but it is particularly good after Petra and Wadi Rum, when you want a slower day.

The bottom line

For most travellers, choose direct water access, a good pool, freshwater showers and strong recent reviews. One night is usually enough. Book two if a slow day by the pool appeals to you more than another day of sightseeing.