We loved Aqaba. Our first hotel was in the town, and the beach was full of Shebab, so I didn't feel comfortable swimming at all during the day. We went down to the beach that night for a little swim, hoping there would be less people. There weren't, but we went swimming anyway. So we took off our shoes (first mistake) and walked in. It wasn't the sandiest beach I have ever been to and walking on the rocks was not so fun. Finally we got to a point where we could lift our legs and float out farther. Just at that moment something stung Michael. His face said it all. He said he'd never felt a sting like that ever in his life. It was a quick swim. Turns out he got stung by a sea urchin. Thankfully it wasn't bad at all. We soaked his foot in hot water when got back to the hotel.
Me and my alien camel.
Some kid succored me into a camel ride in the middle of the city. I rode a camel!!
The next day we bought some snorkeling gear and changed hotels. We found one on the south beach away from the the locals and it had it's own private beach where we could snorkel.
The coral and the fish were beautiful! And you would not believe the amount of sea urchins we saw. It is a miracle that we didn't get stung every step we took into the ocean the night before.
We spent hours on end snorkeling. We found Nemo and his anemone, Dory, and a couple blowfish, along with hundreds of other kinds of fish. At one point we were swimming in a school of fish that had to be about 10,000 little fish! It was amazing.
Our hotel had a private beach, which was very nice, except for the old European lady who though private meant nude. At least Michael wasn't around. It was scarring.
I drug my beach chair into the water and found this little guy right by my feet.
The sunset over Israel. It was breathtaking.
Here's where we parked our yacht. No big deal.
Some snorkeling videos:
Why were you so worried about the first beach? Are the locals not ok with women in bathing suits?
ReplyDeleteWell, the culture is different. The men wont stop staring at you and i felt very uncomfortable. And I would have been the only one in a bathing suit on that beach. Most women wear what Michael and I like to call, "burk-ini's" (burka+bikini) they look more like a wet suit with a hood. I would have stood out to say the least.
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