Dead Sea, Jordan: −430 m, One Hour From Amman

Amman sits at roughly 800 m; the Dead Sea shore at −430 m. The road drops the whole 1,200 m in about an hour, past the Baptism Site turning. A taxi is the practical way down. There is no scheduled bus that is useful to a visitor.

Beaches are resort beaches with a day fee, or the public beach at Amman Beach; both charge a day fee at the gate. Showers matter — the water is 34 % salt and you want it off your skin within the hour.

The loops on this site run Amman → Petra → Wadi Rum → Dead Sea → Amman, so the Dead Sea is the last afternoon, when your legs have done Petra and a desert night. That is the right order: floating is what tired legs want, and the Dead Sea is an hour from your Amman hotel for the drive home.

If you are staying at a Dead Sea resort before Petra, the honest move is the one in the box above: a night there is a night in Jordan, so the Petra ticket is 50 JOD, and a private driver from the resort is the same 3–3.5 hours as from Amman, at a rate the resort quotes.