Things to do in Aqaba
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Aqaba
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Coolest months and coldest sea, pleasant walking and wetsuit diving, with cold desert nights in Rum and Petra.
Peak season and arguably the best all-round window, with warm days, migration at the Bird Observatory and ideal desert conditions.
Hot by month's end, diving excellent, midday town sightseeing fades and shoulder prices apply.
Full summer. Sea lovely, land hostile at midday. Dive early, siesta and live at night.
Worst months for land and warmest sea of the year. A bargain only for heat-proof divers, with jellyfish possible in late summer.
Heat breaks slowly late in the month and autumn migration begins. Late September is shoulder gold.
Peak season returns with the best balance of warm sea and walkable air. Golf, Rum and Petra are all ideal and booked accordingly.
Winter-sun season with mild days, cold desert nights and festive resort pricing. The sea in a wetsuit stays workable.
What's on
- Red Sea Half Marathon February in many years
A long-running Aqaba road race drawing regional runners, typically in the cooler months.
Best things to do in Aqaba
Japanese Garden
Aqaba's best first snorkel, with dense coral, turtles and anthias starting almost at the shoreline.
Cedar Pride Wreck
A scuttled freighter encrusted with soft corals and glassfish, and Aqaba's defining wreck dive for certified divers.
Underwater Military Museum
A deliberately sunk collection of military hardware off South Beach, unlike anything else in the northern Red Sea.
The Tank at Seven Sisters
A shallow sunken anti-aircraft tank that newer divers and strong snorkellers above it can reach and photograph.
C-130 Hercules Aircraft Wreck
A Hercules aircraft sunk in 2017 as a certified-diver dive, surreal and highly photogenic underwater.
Berenice Beach Club
The clean sandy-entry beach club with loungers, pool, showers and snorkel boats that locals and repeat visitors name first.
B12 Beach Club
A design-led Ayla beach club for a DJ and cocktails afternoon rather than a pure swim and snorkel base.
Aqaba Fort
A small Mamluk and Ottoman fort tied to the 1917 Battle of Aqaba, atmospheric and photogenic at golden hour.
Where to stay in Aqaba
Downtown Corniche
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the best cheap and mid-range restaurants, the souk, the fort and the evening Corniche, with cheap taxis to diving.
Saraya Aqaba
lagoon luxury with a short taxi to town
A polished lagoon resort bubble by the waterpark, five minutes from town rather than twenty from Tala Bay.
Ayla Oasis
golf, marina dining and beach clubs
Excellent for golf and a curated beach club, weaker for authentic town Aqaba and cheap food, with taxis both ways.
South Beach
divers, snorkellers and quiet mornings
You stay here for the water and the reef entries, and taxi into town for dinner variety.
Tala Bay
resort-first holidays and families
Superb for calm water and no decisions, poor for food explorers, 15 to 20 minutes and a taxi fare from downtown.
Think twice about
- Port and industrial strip and highway motels south of Tala Bay
Container yards, truck traffic and border infrastructure, far from any swimmable beach, restaurant or town life.
- Far inland residential Aqaba, Al Karama and beyond
Not dangerous but inconvenient, with no beach or visitor restaurants and a taxi negotiation for everything.
- Directly on Al Ghandour public beach
Crowded, with litter and water quality complaints and the staring problem in reviews. Stay a few streets back downtown.
- Listings using Ayla, Saraya or Tala Bay names outside the developments
Short lets borrow these names without the gates or beach and pool access the name implies. Verify the building in writing.
Best restaurants in Aqaba
Khubza & Seneya
The consensus first sit-down Jordanian meal in Aqaba, with tray-baked seneyeh dishes in a cosy decorated room.
Al Shami Restaurant
The local institution near the mosque for mezze, grills and lemon-mint juice at local prices, full of Jordanians.
Captain's Restaurant
Aqaba's best-known seafood address since 1982, best for grilled whole fish and the catch that came in today.
Ali Baba Restaurant
The other downtown seafood veteran, good for a mixed table of fresh grilled fish, grills and mezze.
Mirwas Restaurant & Cafe
A sea-facing Italian and seafood hybrid that works as a long lunch, a sunset stop and a family dinner.
Kubba Levantin
Refined Levantine dining by Al Manara, where Saraya guests who care about food eat without leaving the development.
Segreta by the Beach
The Kempinski's Italian by the beach and the current consensus pick for a celebration dinner in Aqaba.
Red Sea Grill
The Kempinski's grilled seafood restaurant with a sea view, at international resort pricing.
Best coffee in Aqaba
Zain Restaurant & Cafe
A late, social cafe on Al Saadah open to 1am, typifying the cafe evenings where Aqaba actually happens.
Outdoor things to do in Aqaba
Wadi Rum Protected Area
A vast valley of red sand and sandstone best done as a Bedouin jeep tour, and better still with a camp night.
Petra Archaeological Park
The Siq, Treasury and Royal Tombs two hours from Aqaba, doable as a day trip but better with a Wadi Musa overnight.
Ayla Golf Club
Jordan's only championship course, a Greg Norman desert design with mountains behind and rarely crowded fairways.
Discover Scuba Diving in the Aqaba Marine Reserve
Warm, calm and current-light shore entries make Aqaba one of the easiest Red Sea places to try or learn diving.
South Beach Watersports
Reliable afternoon thermal wind for kitesurf, windsurf, SUP and kayak hire as a second sport alongside morning diving.
Wadi Rum Camel and Horse Treks
A slower Bedouin-guided horse or camel trek between Rum sites, a different way to feel the desert than a jeep.
Aqaba Bird Observatory
A rare wetland pocket on a great migration flyway, at its best in spring and autumn for birders already in Aqaba.
Burdah Rock Bridge
A guided scramble to one of Rum's great rock bridges, the serious hiking excursion from Aqaba rather than in it.
Best hotels in Aqaba
Al Manara, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Saraya Aqaba
The Saraya luxury benchmark with palace styling, private beach and pools, a short taxi from town.
Kempinski Hotel Aqaba Red Sea
The design-led downtown resort with an infinity pool over its private beach and a strong spa.
InterContinental Aqaba
The reliable grande dame on the downtown beach row, with a big lagoon pool, private beach and extensive spa.
Mövenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba
The downtown resort families have used for decades, best booked as bed and breakfast with dinner in town.
Lacosta Hotel
The mid-range downtown pick that punches up, walkable to the souk and the best cheap restaurants.
Aqaba Gulf Hotel
A King Hussein Street 4-star in Aqaba's value sweet spot for travellers spending on diving over rooms.
Captain's Hotel
A family-run nautical hotel attached to Captain's Restaurant, characterful and central since 1982.
Pizza Street Hostel
A budget hostel in the cluster behind the Corniche, winning on location in the middle of cheap food.
Is Aqaba expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | JOD 49 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | JOD 112 a person |
| Splurge | JOD 207 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Japanese Garden: a few days ahead
- Glass-Bottom Boat Trip: a few days ahead
- Saraya Aqaba Waterpark: a few days ahead
- Wadi Rum Protected Area: weeks ahead
- Petra Archaeological Park: weeks ahead
- Ayla Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Discover Scuba Diving in the Aqaba Marine Reserve: weeks ahead
- Burdah Rock Bridge: weeks ahead
- Rum camp nights and Petra logistics first in March to May and October to November, when good camps and drivers go first.
- Dive centre slots and courses in high season, and golf tee times at Ayla.
- Resort hotels for Jordanian public holidays, Eid periods and Amman weekender peaks, when prices jump.
- Friday dinners at Khubza & Seneya and Captain's, and sunset boat charters. Screenshot waterpark online tickets.
Is Aqaba safe?
- Dress modestly in town with shoulders and knees covered. Swimwear belongs at the beach or pool only.
- Staring at free public beaches is the documented friction for solo women. Paid clubs and weekday mornings reduce it sharply.
- Be discreet with alcohol outside licensed venues and do not wander or photograph near port, military or border installations.
- Petty scams over taxi fares and gear rental outnumber serious incidents. Jordanian tourist police are present and used.
Aqaba travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Doing Petra and Wadi Rum in one day from Aqaba, a long rushed day with about three hours in Petra.
- Paying boat prices to dive shore sites that South Beach shore entry reaches for a taxi fare.
- Resort half-board when Aqaba's best food is cheap and downtown.
- Duty-free bargains without a comparison price, and glass-bottom boats in choppy afternoon wind.
Getting around Aqaba: public transport and more
- Downtown is walkable and everything else is a taxi. Agree the fare before you get in or use Careem to fix the price.
- There is no useful public transport along South Beach. Budget for taxis to South Beach and Tala Bay.
- Rent a car for a Rum and Petra loop and South Beach hopping. JETT buses run Amman to Aqaba in about four hours.
- King Hussein International Airport is about 10 km north of downtown. Border taxi tariffs are per car, not per person.
Who Aqaba suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Aqaba your trip
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