"Aqaba, Jordan" a Aqaba Travel Page by SWFC_Fan

The seaside resort of Aqaba lies on Jordan's Red Sea coast. Thanks to its location, it experiences year round sunshine and particularly hot summers.

We arrived in Aqaba following a day in rain-soaked Amman and two days in the sub-zero temperatures of Petra - so we really appreciated the warm February sunshine! I'm led to believe that a not insignificant number of Amman's residents head south to sunny Aqaba for weekends during the winter months. It is after all only a 4 hour or so journey from Amman to Aqaba.

Standing on the beach at Aqaba, you can see 3 other countries. To the west, the Israeli resort of Eilat is only a few kilometers away and only a little beyond lies the Egyptian resort of Taba. To the east, Saudi Arabia is visible on the horizon.

We stayed at the Alcazar Hotel - a nice hotel with clean, spacious rooms, an onsite restaurant and pub and a diving school. Most of the hotel's guests were in Aqaba to go diving in the Red Sea.

In common with much of Jordan in February, tourists were few and far between - but Aqaba posesses more than adequate facilities to cater for travellers. There are plenty of high quality restaurants, selling good value-for-money seafood, as well as small local restaurants, pizzerias, cafes and internationally famous fast food joints.

The town beach in Aqaba is not particularly appealing, but guests at the Alcazar can catch the free shuttle to their beach club a few dozen kilometers along the coast where there is a much better beach, as well as a swimming pool, sun loungers and a bar. Non-guests can catch the shuttle too, but must pay (a very small entrance fee) to enter the beach club.

There are boat trips (including glass-bottomed boats) available from near Aqaba town beach.

There are plenty of souvenir shops as well as a few modern shopping malls.

Neighbouring Eilat makes for a good daytrip. The beaches are much better there and there is a much more prosperous feel to the resort, with lavish hotels and glass fronted shopping malls. The contrast with the more laid-back, less developed Aqaba is quite amazing given the small distance between the two resorts.

All in all, Aqaba is a great place for some relaxing sunshine in the winter months. The four days that we spent there was sufficient and combined with the other places we visited in Jordan (Amman and Petra), it made for a very enjoyable, varied holiday!