Sign in with Facebook
Aqaba South Beach, Aqaba, 77110, Jordan
of people enjoy staying here
5 Opinions
Aqaba from the gulf
views across to Eilat,Israel & Aqaba,Jordan
Camels in the Desert
M. A. Qatawneh
Hi, can anyone help.. I am ariving in Aqaba (for the first time) at the end of October, travelling with a friend and two children; 1. has anyone any suggestions about a hotel in Aqaba, estimated prices etc?? 2. How long does it take to get to Petra and realistically what is the best method and what are the costs, when one only has a day to see Petra? 3. the same question for Wadi Rum,(I have read about the necessary guides in Jordan Jubilee!)
Any other suggestions/information, much appreciated.
Thanks
Jenny
We stayed in Aqaba but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the hotel! I will have a look in my papers and see what I can come up with, as it was very central and clean and so on. However, there is also a Golden Tulip Hotel and the Petra Hotel. It takes about three hours to reach Petra and you must leave very early in the morning as you need a minimum of a full day for the basic site. If you want to go further away from the main centre of the site, then you will need much longer. How old are the children? The best way once you arrive at the Petra site is to walk in and walk out but it is about 2 km. However, the walking in and walking out through the suq is part of the Petra experience. You can hire a carriage or do it on horseback/camelback and you will be let off at the Treasury. If you decide to do it that way, then book for a return trip and the conveyance will be waiting for you at the Treasury. If you don't book, then if you want to take a method other than your feet back to the entrance, you will then pay a premium. Don't buy a guidebook before you go in, as the ones on sale within the site are cheaper. Don't know about the gents' but visit the ladies' where the first cafe is - the rock colouration is quite superb!!
P.S. Just found my Jordan papers - we stayed at the Golden Tulip!
Dear Jenny,
I leave in Jordan, & i work in a travel agency. Note that in Aqaba are 3*Aquamarina 2 Hotel, 4* Golden Tulip Hotel, 5* Movenpick & the best Intercontinental.From Aqaba to Petra 2 hours by car.For more information & assistance contact me at this adress: liliana@discovery1.com, so i can provide you with all needen information in details & rates.
Regards
Many thanks for your help, so I need to allow between 2-3 hours by car to get to Petra. My children are certainly not small - 15 and 12 respectively, and I am sure the ladies will be visited (thanks Hawkeshead), we will look out for the rock formations! And I will contact you Lilliana..
It seems that everything needs to be early in Jordan!! perhaps we should go to Petra the night before and stay there...
Jenny
If you can, then I would go to Petra the night before and then you can go to the site for opening time. Make sure you have a hotel near the entrance - Petra town is on an extremely steep hill (and some of the hotels are a long way from the entrance to the site) and once you have walked in, done the site, and walked out, really the last straw will be to have to trek up to the top of the hill!!
Three of my fav internet cafes are: Gateway downstairs (next to the Royal Yacht Club entrance) - look for the MacDonald's sign; Shokini Building, (across from Haya Hospital); and one next to the Golden Tulip - sit upstairs where the windows open to the street.
Price: 0.75JD/hour.
See Aqaba's website for a map.
Next to the Marine Reserve and also the location of Club Murjan, the Alcazar's beach club. Enter at south side of gully edging down to 18m, lots of Cornet fish and Fusiliers, a cabbage coral marks the corner of the reef. Swim northwards over some large black corals to a pinnacle at 17m covered in soft coral. Lots of Lunar Tail Grouper and nice Table Coral and cleaning stations. Head up to 10/12m and move southwards, often Barracuda are seen in the shallower water, plus Grey Morays and Lion Fish and cleaner Wrasse Stations. On sandy areas Moses Sole, Dragonets and Flounders. Turn left into the gully for safety stop at 5m where you will often see Puffer Fish and Whitebait.
A little more care is needed on entry as the terrain is rather rugged between the corals. Swimming through the fringing reef Surgeon Fish are seen here, to a small pinnacle and then continue down a gully with corals rising steeply on either side. Black coral and wire coral sprouts from the canyon sides. A max. depth on this dive is 30m, turn and follow the reef back up to the top at 12m with 2 pinnacles and a variety of Grouper and Angel fish. Closer look often reveals Frog fish, Crocodile fish and giant Scorpion fish. The reef starts at 12m and drops to 30m plus. Large squid are founding feeding in shoals around the shallow corals and octopus abound on the fringing reef. Young turtles are often seen finding their ground around the reef. Swimming up to 6m we will find The Tank, for an excellent long safety stop.
I visited the beach resort of Aqaba in February 2005 as part of a trip to Israel and Jordan. The main reason for doing so was to take in some winter sunshine and maybe spend a bit of time relaxing on a palm fringed beach!
The weather was excellent. My friend and I started our trip in Amman which, at that time of year, was cold and wet. We then progressed southwards to Petra which, due to being at high altitude, was close to freezing (and there was actually snow falling on the roads as we left!). With Aqaba being just a couple of hours' drive south of Petra I didn't hold out much hope for hot weather. However, we arrived in Aqaba on a warm and sunny afternoon, plenty warm enough for shorts and t-shirts!
With the weather being favourable, I was looking forward to hitting the beach....but it was a huge disappointment. The town beach was dirty and litter strewn in many places - not at all what I expected from a reasonably popular diving resort. The sea was fairly clean, but there was nowhere on the beach that looked appealing for a sunbathe.
The beach is backed by a host of shaded cafes, frequented almost exclusively by local men smoking either cigarettes or shisha pipes.
Later in the week, we took a trip to a beach club operated by the hotel that we were staying in. This was located several miles along the coast from Aqaba - a 15-20 minute bus or taxi ride away. The beach here was far cleaner than Aqaba town beach, and was very remote, with no facilities other than the hotel's beachside bar and swimming pool.
If you are considering visiting Aqaba for a winter beach holiday - think twice!! The beaches across the Israeli border at Eilat (just a few miles away) are far cleaner and more suitable for sunbathing and swimming.
The Aquarium, officially known as the Marine Science Station, is a little way out of town along the coast to the south.
There's a video explaining the different kinds of fish, with a great collection of parrotfish, lionfish and a lot more.
There's also a display of stonefish which are poisonous, so you get an idea of just how hard it is to tell them from the stones!
Posted by Lulu
Similar to Barracuda Hotel
Near Barracuda Hotel
Cheapest in Aqaba
Great Hotels for Less
Q: Public beach and hotels "I am considering booking a Thomas Cook trip to Aquba jan 7th. The main purpose of the trip is sunbathing and swimming. If we stay..."
A: "I can't say I was particularly struck by any of the beaches at Aqaba but then that was not the purpose of our trip. The Marriott in the centre of Aqaba has a beach which..."
Latest Aqaba hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
