If a lot of my posts lately seem like I’m traveling the world constantly, don’t be too fooled, because its not quite true, but I have been traveling a TON this year and I couldn’t be more stoked! Last June, I took my second trip to Israel

and of course we had to visit the Dead Sea! In this post, I’m going to share with you my tips for visiting the Dead Sea, as well as my thoughts on staying at a “Bedouin” camp, as well as visiting the ancient fortress of Masada! These things are all near the Dead Sea, so you could combine all these experiences into a two day period of your trip super easily!

Before we get into it, just have to give a shout out to the amazing Anna Davelman, who coordinated our entire trip for us. If you are looking for a tailor made experience in Israel, she is your girl! Contact her at annadavelman@gmail.com!

Visiting the Dead Sea

Ok, so here’s the thing: this was my second time visiting/floating in/getting muddy at the Dead Sea, but I’ve had two completely different experiences, so I thought I’d compare and contrast the two. When we visited the Dead Sea last year, we went to a beach area that was where a lot of the big resorts were. This beach feels and looks more like a beach…there’s sand here! The thing is, its not muddy. Before experiencing the Dead Sea for the first time, I just assumed you go there and pick the mud right up off the ground and smear it on yourself. When you go to the beach by the resorts, this is not the case. In order to do the mud thing, you have to purchase Dead Sea mud packets from the convenience stores nearby. When you go to this beach, the pro is definitely that it has sand and you could lay out on the ground if you so choose.

Now, let’s compare that to this latest trip to the Dead Sea. We wanted to do this a little bit more like the locals do, so our trip coordinator Anna took us to Kalia Beach, which is technically in the West Bank, so both Israelis and Palestinians can come here. This beach looks totally different to the first one we visited. Here, its super muddy everywhere and no sand in sight. Because it is so muddy, you basically do just pick the mud up off the sea floor to smear on your body. According to Anna, this is much preferable to those packets I mentioned earlier because the stuff you get off the ground is totally pure, which makes sense! We also loved Kalia Beach because there’s a great bar/cafe up from the beach where you can grab drinks and lunch. The only downside I can see to this beach is bc its so muddy and there’s no sand, things get messy easily and you can’t exactly have a suntanning sesh like you might have on a regular beach.

Regardless of where you choose to take a dip in the Dead Sea, there are some things you need to know. First of all, you need some kind of shoes you can get wet, be it water shoes or flip flops. You will encounter rocks on either beach, but at a place like Kalia where there is natural mud, it can get very slippery. You can pick up flip flops or water shoes pretty inexensively either at the gas stations on the way to the Dead Sea or at the shops near either beach you choose. Another thing to remember is to stay hydrated. The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water (which is why you can float!!) but it can also dehydrate you. Drink a lot of water and make sure you rinse your body off after taking a dip to keep yourself from losing too much moisture. Also, ladies, make sure to hold off from shaving 2 days before your visit….the salt in the water will make your skin sting…trust me, its not fun!

Make sure you get muddy!!! People pay a lot of money for Dead Sea products, and here you can get it for free, so take advantage of all the benefits of those vitamins and minerals!!!

Another advantage to visiting Kalia Beach is you get to check out Gallery -430, which is right nearby. This art project is the world’s lowest art gallery, because the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, and street artists from Israel and abroad have come here to create awesome murals on abandoned buildings that used to be a military camp. According to Itai Maor of PPL Studio explained it best when he said:

“The idea of ​​the project is to restore the old glory – paint the structure and bring something colorful to the area; all under the theme of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians living in Jericho, and of course, in order to raise awareness of the disappearance of the Dead Sea. We did not think there would be such a response from the artists, but it turns out that they were really happy to take part and only waited for the opportunity.”

Here you can see awesome murals from renowned street artists like Dede, and…my younger sister Christina Moore!!! She applied for this project and was accepted so she got to leave her little artistic stamp on this awesome project!

Before we move on from the Dead Sea, I have to mention the Ein Gedi Spa. Located up above the Dead Sea but with a stunning view, this place also is a hotel, so you could stay here if you chose! We visited their spa and took advantage of all their awesome amenities, including a natural mud area, an outdoor swimming pool, a Dead Sea pool, Turkish bath, as well as the option for massages and facial treatments.

Full Bedouin Experience: Staying at Kfar Hanokdim

Ok, so as soon as I learned that you could stay in a bedouin camp in the desert, I was set on doing it, nothing could deter me. After a little research, we found Kfar Hanokdim, which is located in Arad in the Negev desert in Israel. This is a large bedouin “experience”….I put that in quotations because real bedouins don’t actually live here, but the idea is for you to get a taste of that old school bedouin life. In case you’re unaware of who or what bedouins are, here’s a quick explanation. Bedouins are Arabs and desert nomads who hail from and continue to live primarily in the Arabian peninsula and the Middle East and North Africa. Back in the day, they lived only in tents, and even though today some still keep that lifestyle, some now choose to live in more permanent homes. Arab culture considers the Bedouin people to be “ideal” Arabs due to the purity of their society and lifestyle. Bedouins speak dialects of Arabic and are related ethnically to city Arabs. Their territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky sands of the Middle East. Most are Sunni Muslims; some are Shia Muslims.

With that foundation, Kfar Hanokdim is a large camp (it can accomodate over 2000 people a night!) where you can either stay in a tent or in a cabin. We got the cabin accomodations, and while the tents did sound fun, I don’t think I would’ve loved being exposed to the elements….ie, bugs. The cabins are also air conditioned and pretty comfy! Upon arrival to the camp, you are guided to the main tent where a bedouin man performs the traditional coffee ceremony and you get to sample some very STRONG bedouin coffee.

After the coffee ceremony is dinner, which was such a treat! They really feed you well here and the foot was pretty delicious. After dinner, we went on a guided walking tour in the desert to go scorpion hunting, and then finished the evening off with smores and wine by the campfire.

Kfar Hanokdim has tons of wildlife on their grounds, including tons of gorgeous peacocks and a LOT of camels. Of course, you can’t come to Israel and not go on a camel ride! Camels are such incredible creatures and we got the chance to learn about how they are specifically adapted to the harsh desert life. I’ll just say, if you’e never ridden a camel before, the process of them standing up and getting back down is a little scary, so just make sure you lean back and then lean forward as they stand up and you’ll be fine…however, my face in this pic tells all:

Masada: Ancient Fortress Above the Dead Sea

You definitely can’t visit the Dead Sea and not see Masada! To get to the top of Masada, you can either hike up or take the gondola. I recommend the gondola, unless you get an early morning start on the trail before the heat hits.

Masada is one of Israels most popular tourist attractions. It is also now an Israel national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here’s a bit of history: Herod the Great built two palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE.
After Herod’s death and the annexation of Judea, the Romans built a garrison at Masada. When the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans broke out in 66 A.D., a group of Jewish people known as the Sicarii, led by Menahem, took over the Masada complex. According to Josephus, the siege of Masada by Roman troops at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War ended in the mass suicide of 960 people, the Sicarii rebels and their families who were hiding there. The only survivors were 2 women and 5 children who lived to tell their stories…pretty crazy right?

That about does it for this installment of my trip to Israel! I also have a fun vlog with all these experiences if you want to check it out….please make sure you subscribe to my channel!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you check out my guides for Haifa and Eilat as well!

bedouin experience Israel dead sea israel Masada