Our Spa Day at the Dead Sea

I don’t consider myself too much of a health spa enthusiast, I can count on one hand the times I’ve visited a relaxing health spa so I don’t really know too much about these type of places. I personally like to relax with a strenuous hike or long mountain bike ride. Lucky for me I’m married to an expert in relaxation to help guide me through our spa day, also known as the Queen of Steam, Connoisseur of  Calm, Senora Sauna and the Sultana of Soak.

While staying at the Mövenpick Dead Sea Resort we decided to visit their onsite spa called Zara. We paid our 20 Jordanian Dinar ($29 USD) entrance fee per person and went in, I a little on the fence about the whole thing.  Our first stop was a fancy changing room where we each dawned some fancy bathrobes and slippers, Pamela’s robe was way too big so we swapped and got down to the business of relaxation.

Pamela enjoying getting sprayed

We grabbed a couple of loungers and made our way to the Hydro Pool. Now the Hydro Pool is a large heated therapeutic pool consisting of different jetted or pressure features to help you relax. I’m sure each of the features have proper names but since I don’t know them I’m going to refer to them with names I chose. First we hit the Ball Breaker, or rather a group of underwater seats with jets built into the bottom. You’d sit there and the jets would send water at a high speed at your bottom and anything else in that region, hence the name. After careful maneuvering I found a comfortable spot and we lounged.

Next to the seats I called the "Ball Breaker"

The next stop in the Hydro Pool was the Tumbler, a semi-circular standing area where very strong jets shot up and basically tumbled you around if you let them. Once we figured out to float on the surface and keep our heads-up we were okay. After the Tumbler shut off, they’re all on a timed cycle we made our way over to the Lay-Z-Boy. Now this pool feature has you sit at a reclining angle while gets shoot at you from the back and side, I thought this feature was the most relaxing of the Hydro Pool. Last but not least we moved over to the Elephant Pee feature. Now this was basically two high pressure out of the water nozzles that shot water at you for a massage. One was a direct shot, the male elephant, and the other was a more circular shot, the female elephant. Anyone who’s been around elephants will understand the particular name of this feature. That covers all the different features of the Hydro Pool, all of which we tried many-many times during our spa day.

Enjoying the "Tumbler" in the Hydro Pool

Getting sprayed by what I dubbed "Elephant Piss"

Venturing inside the spa we found several more unique pools we could explore. The Dead Sea Pool 1 is a mineral rich really warm pool for soaking. You can’t float in the pool but it’s the warmest pool in the place and a good place to go when you’re cold. The Dead Sea Pool 2 is about the same salt and mineral content as the Dead Sea just several degrees warmer. You can float your time away in this warm mineral rich pool. After a good soak my skin felt a bit slimy but a freshwater shower cured all that.  Also in the same chamber lies the Kneipp (Foot Massage) Pool. This pool is a colder pool that I guess you’re supposed to sit with your feet in while minerals soak through your feet. I tried it for about 5 seconds and had enough. The water was a bit too cold and I wasn’t a fan of the jets on my feet. If it were up to me I’d call this the pointless pool.

Floating and showing off in the Dead Sea Pool

Upstairs from each changing rooms are the sauna and steam room facilities. These are the only things that are male/female separate so I had to go it alone, without my spa chaperone. The Calderium, aka steamroom, is what I deemed the hottest, steamiest place on planet Earth. I couldn’t last but two minutes in the place and that was with a towel over my head so I could breathe and see. To cool off I’d jump in the 45 degree Laconium for a quick sauna.

Having a little photo fun during sunset

The end of the day had us watching the sunset from what the spa calls Jordan’s best pool, an infinity pool overlooking the Dead Sea.  It was a great end to a great day. Although the health spa isn’t something I’d like to do all the time, I definitely enjoyed our day together with the best part watching the silly grin on Pamela’s face.

Cheers for Now –

Pamela and Dave