• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Time Travel Turtle

A travel blog with stories beyond the brochure

  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT ME
  • BY COUNTRY
    • WEST EUROPE
      • Belgium
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Liechtenstein
      • Luxembourg
      • Netherlands
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Switzerland
      • Wales
    • NORTH EUROPE
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • Latvia
      • Lithuania
      • Norway
      • Sweden
    • SOUTH EUROPE
      • Cyprus
      • Gibraltar
      • Greece
      • Holy See
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Portugal
      • San Marino
      • Spain
    • EAST EUROPE
      • Austria
      • Belarus
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Hungary
      • Montenegro
      • Poland
      • Serbia
    • NORTH ASIA
      • China
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Mongolia
      • North Korea
      • Tajikistan
      • Uzbekistan
    • SOUTH ASIA
      • Cambodia
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Myanmar
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Sri Lanka
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • NORTH AMERICA
      • Antigua & Barbuda
      • Belize
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • USA
    • SOUTH AMERICA
      • Argentina
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Uruguay
    • AFRICA
      • Egypt
      • Morocco
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
    • OCEANIA
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • MIDDLE EAST
      • Jordan
      • Turkey
  • MOST POPULAR
    • The world’s oldest backpacker
    • Orangutans in Borneo
    • The need for speed
    • Trying to get out of the slum
    • The lake swamped with tourism
    • Journey into Dreamland
    • The village where life begins again
    • Is Cambodia safe for travellers?
    • Making the perfect gin and tonic
  • UNESCO

A new winter escape in the Middle East

August 27, 2019 | Michael Turtle | 3 Comments

ADVENTURE TRAVEL

Aqaba, Red Sea, Jordan

I’m on a motorboat out in the Red Sea when the captain turns down the engines so he can be heard and show us something interesting.

“Over there,” he says, pointing to the north, “that is Israel”.

“Over there is Egypt,” he says as he points to the west.

He moves his arm to the south as he says, “that is Saudi Arabia”.

And, as he gestures towards our nearby shore to the east, “of course, that is Jordan”.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

As someone who has not done much travel in the Middle East, it’s quite exciting to be able to see four countries at once… even if it is just their shorelines.

For all four of these countries, this part of the Red Sea is seen as a bit of a playground for tourists – and one with a lot more potential.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Particularly for the nations for which stability and security are factors that discourage foreigners from visiting (and let’s be realistic, that’s almost all of them), there’s a hope that the Red Sea could become appealing enough to warrant a holiday.

The Jordan Red Sea

I am spending the day out on the water with my G Adventures tour group on a boat that has left from the city of Aqaba in Jordan.

>> Read my review of the Jordan tour <<

Of the four countries that we can see, Jordan is certainly the safest and the most stable. While it’s famous for popular landmarks like Petra and Wadi Rum, the Jordan beaches are becoming more of an attraction.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Out on the boat, we are cruising down the coast to stop at a few spots that are good for diving and snorkelling in Jordan.

Snorkelling near Aqaba

There are natural reefs here and our first stop is at one of them. For someone like myself who prefers snorkelling to diving, this is a great place to be able to just jump in the water and swim around.

It’s much clearer than I expected and there’s a lot more going on underwater than I expected, as you can see from these photos:

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

We have lunch on the boat and then travel a little bit further down the coast, to an area that’s more popular with scuba divers.

While there are natural dive spots around here, there are also some man made ones. It’s an attempt by the local authorities to give divers a deeper variety of things to do, encouraging them to visit this part of the Red Sea.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Where we stop turns out to be very cool. Submerged in the water is an enormous plane – an old Royal Jordanian Air Force C-130.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

It was lowered into the water in November 2017 and has been placed at about 17 metres below the surface. If you’re a diver, you can go down and get much closer – even go inside and see the cargo hold.

For a snorkeller like me, it’s still quite spectacular. The plane is 30 metres long and the wingspan is 40 metre wide. It means you can never quite see the whole thing at once and parts of the plane seem to appear from the deep as you swim along it.

 

This is an old Royal Jordanian Air Force C-130 that’s been put on the floor of the Red Sea as a diving site. As part of my @gadventures tour in Jordan 🇯🇴, we did a snorkelling trip from Aqaba to find this – and some beautiful coral reefs. If you’re interested in doing it yourself, details are in my bio. #GWanderers

A post shared by Time Travel Turtle (@michaelturtle) on May 16, 2018 at 1:49pm PDT

Nearby is another cool spot for both diving and snorkelling near Aqaba. It’s called ‘The Tank’ and has been around for quite a while. This American M42 Duster tank was placed on the sea floor here in 1999.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

It’s only about six metres deep so it’s easy enough to dive down to. After so long underwater, it has attracted a lot of sea life that have made it their new home.

>> More info about a G Adventures Jordan tour <<

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Visiting Aqaba in Jordan

These new diving attractions, coupled with the natural ones that are already here, and the variety of beaches near Aqaba, could indeed be enough to grow the tourism industry here.

In Aqaba itself, there are a lot of hotels and restaurants, cafes and bars. It is not too crowded but it certainly is busy enough to have a pleasant holiday feel, with a nice mix of local and foreign tourists.

What’s likely to change things quite dramatically, though, is the recent announcement of new low-cost flights from Europe to Aqaba.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Towards the end of 2018, Ryanair will launch new winter services that will bring tourists directly to Aqaba from Sofia, Athens, Cologne and Rome. The idea is that these will be tourists looking to escape the cold weather at home who are looking for a safe Middle Eastern country to enjoy the sun and the sand.

It’s also worth noting that Ryanair clearly sees Jordan as a huge opportunity, and it will also be connecting Amman all year to European cities like Bucharest, Warsaw, Brussels and Prague.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

As I’ve mentioned, I have been seeing Jordan as part of a G Adventures Highlights of Jordan tour and I think it’s a fantastic way to see all the main sights in the country in an efficient and affordable way.

But maybe it won’t be too long until Jordan goes the way of a country like Egypt, which I can see just across the water. It may be a destination where some people come because they want to explore the history and culture of the country on tours – while others will come just to relax at a resort on the coast.

Red Sea snorkelling near Aqaba, Jordan

Either way, as long as an increase in tourism is done sustainably and it benefits local communities, I think it could be just the thing to help a wonderful country like Jordan boost its economy while sharing its treasures with the rest of the world.

Jordan Travel Guide

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT JORDAN?

See my Jordan Travel Guide

To help you plan your trip to Jordan:

  • Read about the tour I used to discover Jordan
  • Why visiting Petra doesn’t disappoint
  • The greatest Roman city outside of Italy
  • The ultimate desert experience in Jordan
  • Could this be a new tourist hotspot?
  • The amazing desert castles you don’t normally hear about
  • This World Heritage Site in Jordan will blow your mind
  • Stand in the spot where Jesus where baptised

Let someone else do the work for you:

I would recommend taking a tour of Jordan, rather than organising everything on your own. It’s also a nice way to have company if you are travelling solo.

I am a ‘Wanderer’ with G Adventures and they have great tours of Jordan.

You could consider:

  • Highlights of Jordan (8 days)
  • Explore Jordan – National Geographic Journey (8 days)
  • Jordan and Israel Adventure (15 days)

When I travel internationally, I always get insurance. It’s not worth the risk, in case there’s a medical emergency or another serious incident. I recommend you should use World Nomads for your trip.

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. Ryan Biddulph |

    June 15, 2018 at 1:22 am

    Reply

    Way cool underwater snaps Michael! Not in a million years would I think of Jordan and diving. No way. Amazing how we miss these links by painting nations with a broad brush. Good to see Jordan is safe, stable and so darn inviting. Rocking post 🙂

  2. sunrise taj mahal tour from delhi |

    June 15, 2018 at 6:13 am

    Reply

    Verry Interesting! I’m always learning something new when I read your posts. Such an amazing pictures you captured. Literally your post looks awesome. Thank you so much for sharing a experiences and information about that place.

  3. Serena Joy |

    October 24, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Reply

    this definitely makes me want to explore more of the Red Sea! I recently went to Hurghada (Egypt) for a diving trip and I absolutely loved the house reef in front of the iDive centre in Hurghada, so many corals and colourful fish! it was the best experience of my life, and it convinced me that the Red Sea has so much to offer!

Primary Sidebar

This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.

Want Occasional Updates?

Sign up to be the first to hear the latest about the adventures of Time Travel Turtle. You'll also get access to special offers and exclusive news.
Thank you! You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter.

Search

  • PRIVACY POLICY