Our Dead Sea Experience: Floating, Mud & Tequila Shots!

Weird.

That’s the best way to describe what it’s like to go floating in the Dead Sea. Shae and I got to experience it recently while visiting Jordan as part of Shae’s 40th birthday extravaganza, but that’s not all. We also got to have a mud bath experience and used the Dead Sea for the salt when doing tequila shots!

Here’s more about all the fun we had at the Dead Sea.

Floating In The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea – it’s a salt lake. It’s the lowest place on earth as its surface is 1,412 feet below sea level; it’s therefore strange to float in a “sea” which is so far below sea level.

The Dead Sea’s salinity is 34.2% which means that just over a third of it consists of salt. For comparison, the average salinity of the ocean is 3.5%, so the Dead Sea is close to 10 times as salty as the ocean. It’s that high level of salinity that enables you to float without making any effort.

Floating in the Dead Sea is the weirdest sensation! When laying on your back it’s not so much a case of floating in the Dead Sea so much as it is floating on the Dead Sea. Here’s a video of us experiencing it for the first time:

It’s an even weirder sensation when turning over on to your front to swim. Your butt and feet float above the water, so you can’t really kick with your feet. You therefore move solely using your arms, but because you’re floating on top of the water it feels like you’re gliding along as there’s far less resistance. Here’s a video of me swimming in the Dead Sea – be sure to watch to the end so you can see Shae’s expression when licking the Dead Sea!

You don’t just have to float on your back or front though – you can stand up in the water and not sink. You can’t sink even if you try – you can put your feet together and lift your hands above your head and still just float there.

Whatever you do though, don’t get salt in your eye as it stiiiiiiings. Even if you’re careful, you can end up with it in your eye. My forehead was sweaty due to how hot it was, so I wiped my forehead. My hand had been in the water, so that left salt on my forehead which dripped down into my eye. Rubbing my eye just made it even worse!

Dead Sea Mud Bath

One of the quintessential things to do when visiting the Dead Sea is to have a mud bath. We stayed at the Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa in Jordan (here’s my review) and they offered complimentary mud baths.

As you can see on the instructions above, the first step was to float in the Dead Sea for ten minutes, so we did that. We then went up on to the beach to get covered in mud. At the resort there was the option to smother the mud on yourself if you wanted.

However, why do that when you can have someone else do it for you who also gives you a massage at the same time?!

Shae went first, then I got the same treatment which was very relaxing.

After waiting 15-20 minutes, we made our way back down to the Dead Sea to rinse off. Pro tip: don’t rinse your face in the water there as you’ll get it in your eyes and mouth. Instead, take advantage of the showers to finish off that last part of your body.

That wasn’t even the end of our experience. After we’d rinsed off we were covered with a scrub and rinsed off again. Afterwards we had the most ridiculously soft and smooth skin we’ve ever experienced.

When doing this at the Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa you also get a certificate confirming that you’ve had the mud experience at the lowest point on earth.

A glob of mud was placed on our thumbs so that we could make a mud stamp on our certificates.

Dead Sea Tequila Shots

Neither Shae nor I could resist dipping our tongues in the Dead Sea to see how salty it was. Needless to say, with 34.2% salinity it was incredibly salty and not particularly pleasant.

After doing that, we had an idea. When doing tequila shots you take a lick of salt, a shot of tequila and then a bite of lime. What would happen if we used the Dead Sea to provide the salt?

The resort came in handy for testing this out. There’s a beach bar, so after having our mud bath we went and got a couple of tequila shots.

We then headed back down into the water to do the shots.

Wondering how it went using the Dead Sea’s salt for tequila shots? Check out this video we took of the experience:

If you ever get a chance to float in the Dead Sea – do it! It’s a lot of fun and a unique experience; just be sure to keep your eyes out of the water 😉

Check Out All The Posts From Our Dubai/Egypt/Jordan Trip

• It’s Time For Shae’s Secret Birthday Extravaganza!
• Flight Review: Emirates First Class – Chicago (ORD) To Dubai (DXB)
• Hotel Review: Grand Hyatt Dubai (1 Bedroom Grand Suite)
• Awesome Dubai Desert Safari For Shae’s 40th Birthday
• 1 Week In Dubai: Here’s What We Did
• Hotel Review: Ramses Hilton In Cairo, Egypt
• Exploring Babylon Fortress In Old Cairo, Egypt
• Visiting The Pyramids Of Giza In Cairo, Egypt
• Hotel Review: Marriott Mena House In Cairo, Egypt
• 6 Days In Cairo, Egypt – Here’s What We Did
• Our Dead Sea Experience: Floating, Mud & Tequila Shots!
• Hotel Review: Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Jordan
• 10 Tips For Driving In Jordan
• Visiting Petra In Jordan – One Of The New 7 Wonders Of The World
• Hotel Review: Petra Marriott, Jordan
• 1 Week In Jordan – Here’s What We Did
• Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class – Istanbul (IST) To Chicago (ORD)
• Hotel Review: Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, IL
• Spending Breakdown: 3 Weeks In Dubai, Egypt & Jordan – Here’s What It Cost