Top Things to do in Dead Sea with Kids

These were our top things to do in Dead Sea with kids. Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth and it doesn’t end there.
Dead Sea is a salt water lake in the Middle East, located between Israel and Jordan. Known as dead sea as it is 10 times more saline (salinity of over 30%) vs any other sea (with salinity of 3.5%), due to which no marine life exists in the dead sea.
Another interesting geographical feature of the Dead Sea is that it is at the lowest sea level of any body of water on earth and surrounded by mountains. This makes the surrounding silt and mud rich with a unique combination of minerals like magnesium, sodium, and potassium.

For other interesting and fun places in Middle East, check out my post on 10 awesome things to do in Dubai.

Top Things to do in Dead Sea with kids:
Floating in Dead Sea
This one is a must for a perfect dead sea family holiday
Just like any other water body, the normal buoyancy will play a role and let you float, however that’s pretty much what is possible to do in Dead Sea. Due to the extreme salinity, swimming is practically not an option. To avoid any irritation in eyes, floating on your back is recommended.
This is the first one on Top things to do in Dead Sea with kids and without.

Spa with the mineral enriched black mud
Self spa procedure: first wet yourself in the Dead Sea water. Apply the black mud (which is rich in a variety of minerals) and leave it for 10mins. Once it’s dried up, wash it off in the Dead Sea. Make sure you don’t put your face in the water else you will have high irritation in the eyes. For the face, you can wash it off in the showers.
A perfect dead sea family holiday won’t be complete without the whole spa ritual.

Kids can also apply the same procedure and it will not itch for them unless they have sensitive skin. Do note, its worth checking in case they have rashes etc by getting inside the water. Our kids thoroughly enjoyed.

Visiting the Lowest Point on Earth museum
To ensure a perfect dead sea family holiday, do consider visiting the lowest point on earth museum too.

What to not do in Dead Sea:
No Splashing: If the saline water enters your eyes, you could get terribly itchy and have issues.
For the same reason, Don’t put your face inside the water
It might be advisable for kids to not stay in the water for too long, as it may itch or rash.

Best time to go inside the water
I recommend early morning – around 8am or so. Although the water may be cold, since sun will be strong it reduces the chances of rashes or irritation Anyways once you brave going inside the water you won’t feel cold As the sun goes high, it will be more difficult to stay in sun with such a saline water on your skin.

How much time to spend
The whole process will take just about 30mins. But with kids I recommend budget for about an hour to 1.5hrs. You would want to put them in the water and then get them dry and yourself go in the water. Also in case they want to try the black mud spa it will take some time too.

Where to stay?
I highly recommend holiday inn resort Dead Sea for all the reasons below:
You can reach the dead sea within 2 mins.
Spacious and nice rooms with a balcony although we didn’t really use it except for drying our swimming clothes.
Private Dead Sea beach with the black mud so you don’t have to go anywhere else was the best thing.
A heated pool very close to the beach so in case kids don’t fancy going to the beach you can try the pool.
In terms of food, there are some good all day dining with some basic vegetarian options like cold mezze, pizza, pasta, salads, foul Madame etc.

Weather in Dead Sea region
Even in December it was between 15 to 20 degrees which is quite pleasant. You’ll need to carry light fleece jackets or sweatshirts for yourself and the kids just for very early morning and the nights. During the day time its quite pleasant and you may not need any layering of clothes.

How many days are enough?
This is quite personal although for us 1 full day and 1 night was quite sufficient as we did not fancy doing the black mud spa regime or the Dead Sea floating multiple times. Some people come here just for this and hence your reasons of visiting will determine how many days are enough.