Dead Sea One-Day Tour

Posted By : Catherine_P
We booked the „one day dead see tour“, however it was not a pleasant experience at all.

First of all, the driver did not show up at 7:30 am as we booked it. Instead, we had to call the tour operator and the driver showed up at 9 am.

It was not a ‚tour‘ as we imagined but rather just a very long drive. The driver did not talk to us at all!
At the dead sea he escorted us to the beach, even tough we asked him to wait with the other drivers upstairs. He watched us the whole time while we undressed till our bikinis and floated in the sea. It was really awkward and we felt watched and annoyed.

The promised bottle of water was not included either.

As said in the description, we thought we will pass by Wadi Mujib. Unfortunately, the driver drove by and we had to tell him to bring us there even though it was said to be included.

Overall, we did not spend the payed 10 hours but only 8.

For this experience we were not willing to spend more than 300€. We talked to our local friends and they said that this „tour“ was not worth more than 130€ for the both of us. It was nothing more than a taxi drive with nice food and access to the sea the guide was no guide at all.

Therefore, we demanded a refund of the remaining 180€. Luckily viator was really understanding and supported our demand.

In total, it's kinda nice to experience the floating in the dead sea but not at all for this price - even 130€ were probably too much for the day we had to spend.
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Posted On : 2020-02-26 11:57:24

Posted By : John_C
Unlike other trips booked through Viator we were disappointed with the overall experience this time. This, we think, was solely due to the local agent Viator booked with, Jordan Echo Tours.
First, the good points. We were collected right at the bottom of the cruise ship gangway so didn't have to find the transport as we had been led to believe. The driver was very professional at all times and took care of us very well all day long.
What wasn't so professional, however, was our guide who was barely able to speak English so therefore told us virtually nothing about what we driving past or what to do when we arrived. For what we paid we were expecting to be taken to a hotel with access to the Dead Sea but, unfortunately, we were taken to what appeared to be a public beach with access to the Dead Sea. We were pointed to the changing room and given a time to meet for lunch and left to fend for ourselves. The changing rooms were, to be generous, unhygienic, with no lockable lockers, no towels supplied, no seats and no chance of any of us using them. Amazingly lunch turned out to be delicious and reasonably well organised.

In conclusion, Yes, we swam/floated in the Dead Sea which was the object of the exercise and the transport for a very long round trip was fine but it should have been so much better for the price we paid. Not good value for money. Come on Viator you have a responsibility to ensure we get good value for money on trips that you sell direct to us to be fulfilled by your suppliers.
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Posted On : 2019-05-05 14:42:07

Posted By : Steve B
My wife and myself are currently holidaying in Aqaba and earlier today went on a Dead Sea One-Day Tour arranged - through viator - Jordan Echo Tours.

All started well with our driver Yasser picking us up on time (0730 hours) from our Hotel (Mövenpick Resort & Spa Tala Bay - Review to follow). We were quickly en route to the Dead Sea (270 kms North of Aqaba which - depending on traffic - takes some 3-4 hours) and - by the time we got to our first stop (Beir Matikour - nice place for a drink with good toilet facilities) it was clear that Yasser was not only a safe driver but full of interesting information. As such, we thoroughly enjoyed his company which - in turn - enhanced our day.

The outward journey to the Dead Sea passed without incident and we duly arrived at the Amman Beach Resort (see separate Review) to access the waterfront. The property itself wasn’t great (indeed the buffet lunch was the only saving grace) with many of the facilities being sub-standard. Indeed both the route down and the entry into Dead Sea were haphazard and rocky.

So much so that for any future visit to the Dead Sea we would - despite the additional cost - certainly opt to use the facilities of one of the many 4/5 Star Hotels which are now readily available. That said, this did not detract from the rest of our tour which - on the return journey to Aqaba - included brief stopovers at ‘Lot’s Wife Pillar of Salt’ & Beir Matikour - went equally well.

It was rounded off with Yasser giving us an interesting tour around Aqaba en route back to our Hotel. All in all, this was a most enjoyable experience and, as such, I should certainly have no problem in recommending Jordan Echo Tours and - for those patrons fortunate to have Yasser as their Driver/Guide, you won’t be disappointed!
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Posted On : 2019-03-11 14:26:27