Aqaba - Sand, sun, and scuba

After crossing the border from Eilat, Israel into Jordan, we took a quick taxi into the heart of Aqaba.  Aqaba is a beautiful little city right on the Red Sea in the south of Jordan.  We booked a room in a lovely little budget hotel right on the sea, and crashed for an hour or so before it was time to scuba dive!  Mansour from Jordan Frogman swung by and picked us up, and we were off to his shop to try on scuba suits.  After going over the agenda and getting fitted, we headed to a private spot on the beach to dive.  Now, Cathy and I are not scuba divers, but this was an opportunity to dive with a master more or less holding your hand and walking you through what to do.

  Even if you know nothing, he will teach you everything you need to know - and all you really need to know is how to breathe underwater!

We got our gear on and walked out into the sea.  The water was a little chilly, but we threw our fins on, put our mouthpieces in, and went under.  Even this close to the shore, we were met with exotic fish and coral.  We were able to dive around 8 meters down and swam out a ways from the shore.  We encountered some small jellyfish that enjoyed stinging us - although it just felt like a little prick each time.  Mansour was our dive master and was able to get some nice shots of us looking like we knew what we were doing.  It was a great experience that I won't soon forget.

After we finished scuba diving and showering the salt water out of our hair, we headed back downtown and walked along the beach.

  We found a great restaurant and had a huge meal for around 3 American dollars.  It was a beautiful, clear day and everyone was out.  It was neat to "blend" in with the locals and just have a good time.  We grabbed a seat right on the beach and just watched people.  There were kids playing with a chair in the water, people walking and talking.  It was the perfect chance to relax after a long night and an exciting day.  After our relaxing hang out on the beach, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap...and ended up sleeping all night.

The next morning, we woke up and called a taxi to take us out to the Wadi Rum desert where we would be taking an offroad adventure!