Around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea: Places to Explore

Ein Bokek

The sudden and startling sight, in this bare landscape, of gleaming, ultramodern hotels surrounded by waving palm trees signals your arrival at the spa-resort area of Ein Bokek, near the southern tip of the Dead Sea. According to the Bible, it was along these shores that the Lord rained fire and brimstone on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24) and turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt (Genesis 26). Here, at the lowest point on Earth, the hot, sulfur-pungent air hangs heavy, and a haze often shimmers over the water. You can float, but you cannot sink, in the warm, salty water.

Once upon a time, Ein Bokek comprised a handful of hotels, each with a small "spa," with a pebbly beach out front. Today, it's a collection of large and luxurious hotels with curvy pools and landscaped outdoor areas; each has a rooftop solarium and a state-of-the-art spa equipped to provide beauty and health treatments, and some have private beaches. Each hotel has a decent restaurant. There are no full-service restaurants outside the hotels, although a few casual eating places are set along the beach and in the two tiny shopping centers. The central cluster of hotels is linked by a promenade to two hotels at the very southern end of the area.

Ein Bokek at a Glance

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