Snorkeling in Aqaba?

[PanamaMike]

I'm going to be in Israel on business in late Oct. and plan to cross
into Jordan to spend a few days in Aqaba because I'm thinking it might
be more interesting than Eilat and also so I can take a day trip to Petra.
I expect the boat diving to be good, but what about snorkeling from the
beaches available in town. How is that? Which part of town should
I stay in? Also, how rough is the boat ride to the dive sites
along the boarder to Saudi Arabia? My wife gets sea sick and I don't
know if it's going to be reasonable to expect her to be able to SCUBA
dive with me. BTW, flying from Tel Aviv to Aqaba International looks
impractical. Should a take a bus from Tel Aviv to Aqaba?
Thanks much for any advise.

--Mike

 

[Vassilis Vlachopoulos]

I have done some good diving in Aqaba with www.diveaqaba.com. Their boat suits both divers and snorkellers and the ride to the dive sites is not rough. However, since most dives take place relatively close to the shore, you can opt to stay in one of the hotels outside Aqaba (10 - 15 km), right on the beach, and enjoy the house reef just a swim away.
Flights to Aqaba usually come via Amman, the capital. Getting there by bus is not recommended. Since you are likely to be in Tel Aviv, it makes more sense to fly to Eilat and cross the border to Aqaba (only 5 km away).

 

[Jai Bar]

The sea in the gulf of Aqaba/Eilat has pool conditions most of the year, so you can expect easy boat rides. However, most of the divesites (except the power station) are easily accessed from shore. Therefore, a boat is sort of personal preference and it is actually not a must- I think there is only one dive club operating a boat (diveaqaba).

You'll be able to dive the same sites from shore, the club arranging transportation. Then, you can also snorkel between dives on the shore...

Getting to Aqaba by flight from Tel Aviv is not practical. You can either fly or bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat, then cross the border. You can try to arrange with the hotel and/or dive club in Aqaba for tansportation from the border (it's out of both towns by a few km), or fetch a taxi. I don't know if there's a direct bus from Tel Aviv to Aqaba- never tried that.

If you consider visiting Petra AFTER you've been diving for a few days, consider the road altitude (don't remember the exact altitude it climbs, but it's quite high), and wait a few hours just to make sure. There have been several reported cases of decompression when 'driving after diving" (yeah, sounds weird they usually teach the problem is only flying after diving... ) from Aqaba to Amman... You can try digging in this board- I've posted a link to the reported case studies a couple of years ago.

One last thing, I don't know how many days you'll be diving in Aqaba, but usually the dive clubs tell that they need to get a special permit to dive the Saudi border (not sure if it is true or they just want to see if they have enough divers booked)- so better let them know in advance that you'd like to dive there. Same for night dives..

And one more last thing- in what aspects do you consider Aqaba more interesting than Eilat? Underwater or topside? Like everything in life, each has advantages and disadvantages. In Eilat the dives sites are not as beautiful compared to Aqaba, but you can just rent gear and get in the water- nobody will tell you it's mandatory guided dives (unless you opt to).

 

[PanamaMike]

Thanks immensely for the replies so far. Both of you.

> You can either fly or bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat,
> then cross the border.

Yes, looks like one can fly for less than $100 USD. The
bus takes about three times as long if I figure in the
airport time, so I might do the bus instead to get a view
of the country side and not have to deal with airports.

> but usually the dive clubs tell that they need to get
> a special permit to dive the Saudi border (not sure if
> it is true or they just want to see if they have enough
> divers booked)

Good to know. Once I decide where I'll stay and pick a
dive operation, I'll e-mail them asking about that.

> And one more last thing- in what aspects do you consider
> Aqaba more interesting than Eilat? Underwater or topside?
> Like everything in life, each has advantages and
> disadvantages. In Eilat the dives sites are not as beautiful
> compared to Aqaba, but you can just rent gear and get in
> the water- nobody will tell you it's mandatory guided
> dives (unless you opt to).

I've never been to either. I just heard that, topside, Eilat
is like a bad version of Waikiki, Hawaii; and that sounded
believable. I've never been to an Arabic country at all, so
Aqaba would be interesting from that point of view. For all
I know, as a US citizen, for the way the Arab world is going,
this might my last opportunity to visit such a country for a
while. Yes, I'm sure that I'm being very naive, but after
all, I've never been to an Arabic country before.

Before I posted, my idea was to stay in town in Aqaba for
about four days: diving one day, snorkeling from shore most
days, Petra one day, and of course doing nothing for one day.
Petra was attractive over Eilat because I can stay in a five
star hotel there which I normally wouldn't afford to do.

The idea of doing SCUBA only as a guided dive isn't a concern
for me on this trip. While I normally dive in Monterey Bay,
California without a guide, I don't mind paying something and
staying within the local laws while in Jordan. I'm just trying
to get an idea if (i) I can snorkel without a guide there and
(ii) whether there is any worthwhile snorkeling from downtown
Aqaba.

Thanks again for your help,

--Mike