---
title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Aqaba, Jordan | Wimup"
description: "Aqaba is Jordan's 27 km of Red Sea: reef and wreck diving, a Mamluk fort, the ruins of Ayla and Wadi Rum an hour north. The ten things worth your time."
url: https://wimup.com/city/aqaba
type: City guide
updated: 2026-10-17
publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com)
---

# Top 10 Things To Do in Aqaba

Aqaba, Jordan · Asia · By Wimup Editorial, 14 min read

Jordan's only coastline is 27 km of the Gulf of Aqaba, and almost all of it is reef. The city behind it is a working port with a Mamluk fort at its centre, a souk two streets inland and Wadi Rum an hour north. Divers come for the wrecks. Everyone else comes for winter sun on an Arabian sea.

## Quick answer

Get in the water first. The Aqaba Marine Reserve protects the reef along South Beach, and the wrecks (the Cedar Pride freighter, a Lockheed TriStar, an underwater museum of 19 military vehicles) are shore entries or short boat rides. Then give a morning to the Mamluk fort, the Ayla ruins and the museum downtown, and a full day to Wadi Rum, 60 km north.

## Quick facts

- **Best months:** Mar · Apr · Oct
- **Ideal length:** 3–4 days
- **Budget per day:** $80–150
- **Language:** Arabic, with English across tourism
- **Getting around:** Taxis & walking
- **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://international.visitjordan.com/wheretogo/aqaba/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## The 10 best things to do in Aqaba

### 1. Snorkel the Japanese Garden reef

Reef · South Beach, Aqaba Marine Reserve

The reference shore reef, and you reach it by walking in. Hard and soft coral runs from a metre or two of water down to a wall, so snorkellers and divers read the same site at different depths. Go before ten, while the surface is still glassy and the day boats are somewhere else.

- **Time:** 2 hrs
- **Cost:** Varies by beach
- **Best at:** Early morning
- **Tip:** Walk in from shore

### 2. Dive the Cedar Pride

Wreck dive · Off South Beach, Aqaba Marine Reserve

A 74 m freighter scuttled in 1985 on the orders of the then Crown Prince, now King Abdullah II, and laid deliberately across two reefs. She rests on her port side: the shallow rail is within an open-water diver's limits, the hull below is not. Aqaba's signature dive, and the one every centre runs.

- **Time:** Half day
- **Cost:** Guided dive
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** Advanced for the hull

### 3. Give a full day to Wadi Rum

Day trip · Wadi Rum Protected Area, 60 km north of Aqaba

An hour north, 721 sq km of sandstone towers and red sand, on the UNESCO list since 2011. A half-day 4x4 circuit covers the canyons, the inscriptions and the rock bridges. Stay a night in a Bedouin camp if you can: the sky is the half of Rum a day trip never sees.

- **Time:** Full day
- **Cost:** 5 JD entry
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** Free with Jordan Pass

Links: [UNESCO listing](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1377/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 4. Walk the Mamluk fort

Landmark · Al-Hussein bin Ali Street, downtown Aqaba

Completed in 1517 under the Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri, then a caravanserai on the pilgrim road to Mecca, then damaged in the fighting of the 1917 Arab Revolt. It is a 45-minute fort rather than an afternoon, and the light on the sandstone is best an hour before sunset.

- **Time:** 45 min
- **Cost:** 3 JD
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** Jordan Pass covers it

Links: [Jordan Pass](https://www.jordanpass.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 5. Dive the Underwater Military Museum

Wreck dive · Off Al-Ghandour Beach, south of Aqaba

Nineteen decommissioned vehicles sunk in 2019 in battle formation on a sand bottom: tanks, a troop carrier, an ambulance, a combat helicopter. The shallowest machines are snorkelling depth. The 54 m Lockheed TriStar went down the same year and sits between 15 and 28 m, doors removed for swim-throughs.

- **Time:** Half day
- **Cost:** Guided dive
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** TriStar needs a guide

### 6. Read the ruins of Ayla

Ruins · The corniche, downtown Aqaba

Founded around 650 AD under the caliph Uthman, the first Islamic city built outside the Arabian Peninsula. What survives is a walled rectangle of gates, foundations and a street grid, sitting between two beach hotels. Twenty minutes on site, and the museum up the road is what makes it legible.

- **Time:** 20 min
- **Cost:** Open site
- **Best at:** Golden hour
- **Tip:** Do the museum first

### 7. Take the Desert Highway to Petra

Day trip · Wadi Musa, about 130 km north of Aqaba

Two hours each way. A day gets you the Siq, the Treasury and the Street of Facades; the Monastery wants an overnight in Wadi Musa. Leave Aqaba by six and you are through the Siq before the coaches from Amman arrive, which is the whole argument for basing yourself down here.

- **Time:** Full day
- **Cost:** 50 JD entry
- **Best at:** First light
- **Tip:** Jordan Pass covers it

Links: [Official tickets](https://petrapass.pdtra.gov.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 8. See what came out of Ayla at the museum

Museum · Sharif Hussein bin Ali's house, beside the fort

The house Sharif Hussein bin Ali lived in, now holding what the excavations turned up: Fatimid gold coins, Islamic ceramics, Bronze Age pieces and a Quranic inscription lifted from the city gate. One ticket usually covers the fort next door. Go here before you walk the ruins on the corniche.

- **Time:** 40 min
- **Cost:** With the fort
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** Combined ticket

### 9. Spend a day at a Red Sea beach club

Beach · Tala Bay, 15 km south of Aqaba

The town beaches are free, busy and modest-dress; the good sand and the reef are both south. Berenice runs about 13 JD for a lounger, a pool and a snorkelling shelf, Tala Bay about 20. Come on a weekday: Friday and Saturday are the Jordanian weekend and the clubs fill by ten.

- **Time:** Full day
- **Cost:** 13–20 JD
- **Best at:** Weekday
- **Tip:** Bring your own mask

### 10. Watch the migration at the Bird Observatory

Nature · North of Aqaba, off the Wadi Araba road

Treated wastewater turned into wetland on what the RSCN calls the world's second most important migration route, with 271 species logged. Spring and autumn passage is the reason to come. The hides look over open water, so the light goes hard by nine and the birds go quiet with it.

- **Time:** 2 hrs
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Spring passage
- **Tip:** Check RSCN hours

Links: [RSCN](https://www.rscn.org.jo/page/Aqaba%20Bird%20Observatory?lang=en&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best dive sites in Aqaba

Twenty-odd named sites on 27 km of coast, most of them a shore entry or a ten-minute boat ride.

1. **Cedar Pride** (Wreck · South Beach): A 74 m freighter on her port side across two reefs since 1985.
2. **Underwater Military Museum** (Wreck · Al-Ghandour): Nineteen vehicles sunk in battle formation in 2019, the first of them shallow.
3. **Lockheed TriStar** (Wreck · 15–28 m · South Beach): A 54 m airliner between 15 and 28 m, opened up for swim-throughs.
4. **Japanese Garden** (Reef · Marine Reserve): The reference reef: coral from snorkel depth down to a wall.
5. **Seven Sisters** (Reef · 8–9 m · South Beach): Seven coral pinnacles in 8 to 9 m, 20 m off the beach.
6. **The Tank** (Wreck · ~5 m · South Beach): An anti-aircraft vehicle in about 5 m, reachable with a snorkel.
7. **C-130 Hercules** (Wreck · ~16 m · South Beach): A 30 m transport plane sunk in 2017, upright and level on sand.
8. **Power Station** (Wall · Marine Reserve): A wall for advanced certification, and where the bigger fish pass.

## Best beaches in Aqaba

The free town sand, the reef corridor to the south, and the clubs that sell you a lounger.

1. **South Beach** (Public · Marine Reserve): Twelve kilometres of shallow bays fronting the reef.
2. **Berenice Beach Club** (Day pass · ~13 JD · Tala Bay): Pool, loungers and a snorkelling shelf for around 13 JD.
3. **Tala Bay Beach Club** (Day pass · ~20 JD · Tala Bay): Resort sand 15 km south, around 20 JD a head.
4. **Al-Ghandour Beach** (Public · free · Downtown): The free town beach. Busy on Fridays, and modest dress.
5. **Royal Diving Club beach** (Day pass · ~25 JD · South Beach): The southernmost reef access, around 25 JD.

## Best restaurants in Aqaba

Grilled Red Sea catch, sayadieh, and the mezze that arrives before either of them.

1. **Ali Baba** (Seafood · $$ · Downtown): A downtown institution with a terrace, fish off the day's landings.
2. **Romero** (Italian · $$$ · Marina): Italian inside the Royal Yacht Club, with the marina in front of it.
3. **Mirwas** (Seafood · $$ · Marina): Also at the yacht club. The fish soup is what to order.
4. **Captain's Restaurant** (Seafood · $$ · Downtown): Grill house attached to one of Aqaba's few boutique hotels.
5. **Syrian Palace** (Levantine · $$ · Downtown): Levantine cooking, laid-back, and full of Jordanians at lunch.
6. **Formosa** (Chinese · $$ · Downtown): Chinese, owner-run, and the reliable break from grilled fish.
7. **Red Sea Grill** (Seafood · $$ · Corniche): Straightforward charcoal catch, eaten looking at the water.

## Best history & museums in Aqaba

A Mamluk fort, the first Islamic city built outside Arabia, and the house Sharif Hussein bin Ali lived in.

1. **Aqaba Castle** (3 JD · Jordan Pass · Downtown): The fort of 1517, later a caravanserai on the road to Mecca. [Jordan Pass](https://www.jordanpass.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Aqaba Archaeological Museum** (With the fort · Downtown): Fatimid gold and Ayla's ceramics, in Sharif Hussein bin Ali's house.
3. **Ayla** (Ruins · open site · Corniche): The first Islamic city outside Arabia, founded around 650 AD.
4. **Sharif Hussein bin Ali Mosque** (Mosque · Downtown): Built in 1975, enlarged in 2011, and carrying Jordan's largest dome.
5. **The Aqaba Flagpole** (Landmark · Corniche): A 130 m mast flying the flag of the 1916 Arab Revolt.

## Best on the water in Aqaba

What the Red Sea gives you without a tank on your back.

1. **Neptune submarine** (Dry dive · Tala Bay): A glassed hull that drops below the surface for 90 minutes.
2. **Ayla Marina boat trips** (Half day · Ayla): Half-day charters leave around nine and anchor over the reefs. [Website](https://www.ayla.com.jo/things-to-do-in-aqaba-jordan/marina-and-yacht-services/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Royal Yacht Club** (Marina · Downtown): The town marina, and the terrace two of the best kitchens sit on. [Website](https://www.rj.com/en/explore-jordan/sun-sand-and-sea/aqaba/royal-yacht-club?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **South reef snorkelling trips** (Half day · South Beach): Boats run the reserve and stop where shore access is hardest.

## Best neighborhoods in Aqaba

Four areas, and the choice comes down to how far you want to be from the reef.

1. **Downtown** (Old city · Central): The fort, the museum, the souk and the cheapest beds, all walkable.
2. **Ayla Oasis** (Resort · North): Man-made lagoons north of town, with the golf course and the marina.
3. **South Beach** (Dive base · South): Twelve kilometres of reef corridor: dive centres, chalets, no nightlife.
4. **Tala Bay** (Resort · South): A gated resort strip 15 km south with the calmest sand in Aqaba.

## Best day trips in Aqaba

Aqaba is the southern base for Jordan's two biggest sites, and for two much quieter ones.

1. **Wadi Rum** (60 km · 1 hr · North): Sixty kilometres north, an hour by road, UNESCO-listed since 2011. [UNESCO listing](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1377/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Petra** (130 km · 2 hrs · North): Two hours up the Desert Highway, and worth an overnight if you have it. [Official tickets](https://petrapass.pdtra.gov.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Little Petra (Siq al-Barid)** (~140 km · Beidha): A Nabataean suburb 6 km from Petra, with rare surviving wall paintings.
4. **Humayma** (80 km · Hisma): Nabataean to Abbasid ruins on the Hisma plain, off the Desert Highway.

## Festivals & annual events in Aqaba (2026)

- **Amwaj Al Aqaba Festival** (Late January): Music, poetry and folk performance staged along the corniche.
- **Aqaba Traditional Arts Festival** (February): Bedouin and Red Sea craft: weaving, pottery, embroidery, silverwork.
- **Ramadan** (Moveable): Daytime kitchens close and the corniche only wakes after sunset.
- **Eid al-Fitr** (Moveable): Jordan's domestic holiday. Beaches and beach clubs fill for a week.
- **Spring bird passage** (Mar–Apr): Peak migration over the Bird Observatory, and the year's best hides.
- **Independence Day** (25 May): National holiday, with the Arab Revolt flag flown down the corniche.
- **Eid al-Adha** (Moveable): The bigger of the two Eids. Book beds and dives well ahead.
- **Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon** (Early December): A half, a 10 km and relays run around the Ayla lagoons.

## Must-try dishes in Aqaba, Jordan

- **Sayadieh**: Red Sea fish over rice browned with caramelised onion and nuts.
- **Grilled catch of the day**: Whatever the port landed, split, salted and put on charcoal.
- **Mansaf**: Jordan's national dish: lamb in jameed yoghurt over rice and shrak.
- **Zarb**: Bedouin pit roast, lamb and vegetables cooked under sand and embers.
- **Maqluba**: Rice, chicken and fried aubergine in one pot, then turned upside down.
- **Mutabbal**: Smoked aubergine whipped with tahini. Order it before anything else.
- **Shawarma**: Shaved lamb or chicken in bread, the downtown late-night default.
- **Knafeh**: Shredded pastry over hot cheese, drowned in syrup, eaten standing.

## Aqaba transport & airports

- **King Hussein International** (AQJ): Jordan's second airport, 11 km north of downtown. Royal Jordanian flies from Amman in about an hour, and seasonal European charters land here in winter. [Website](https://khiaops.com/aac/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **JETT coach from Amman** (Bus): Four to five hours down the Desert Highway from Abdali station, several departures a day, arriving at the Aqaba bus station. Book ahead over the winter season. [Website](https://www.jett.com.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Ferry to Nuweiba, Egypt** (Ferry): Sailings cross to Sinai from the passenger port about 7 km south of town. Egyptian entry rules differ by nationality and by port, so check yours before you buy.
- **Taxis and walking** (Taxi): Downtown, the fort, the museum and the Ayla ruins are one walk. Yellow taxis cover South Beach and Tala Bay; agree the fare first if the meter is not running.

## Aqaba at a glance

- **Country:** Jordan
- **Region:** Aqaba Governorate
- **Population:** 241,936 in the governorate (ASEZA and Department of Statistics census, 2024), about four fifths of it inside the city
- **Founded:** Ayla, c. 650 AD
- **Nickname:** Ayla, its early Islamic name
- **Language:** Arabic, with English across tourism and diving
- **Currency:** Jordanian dinar (JOD)
- **Time zone:** AST · UTC+3
- **Calling code:** +962
- **Airports:** AQJ
- **Power:** 230V · Type C/D/G
- **Emergency:** 911

## Interesting facts

- Aqaba is Jordan's only coastline: 27 km of the Gulf, and most of it fringing reef.
- The Cedar Pride was scuttled in 1985 on the orders of the then Crown Prince, now King Abdullah II.
- The underwater military museum opened in 2019 with 19 vehicles, a combat helicopter among them.
- The Bird Observatory has logged 271 species, over 61% of everything recorded in Jordan.
- Ayla Golf Club, a Greg Norman design opened in 2016, was Jordan's first 18-hole course.

## Aqaba travel FAQ

### How many days do you need in Aqaba?

Three. One underwater, one for the fort, the Ayla ruins and the museum, and one in Wadi Rum. A fourth buys you Petra without a six o'clock start, or a second day on the reef, which is the better use of it.

### When is the best time to visit Aqaba?

March, April, October and November. Daytime highs sit in the high twenties to low thirties and the sea holds 22 to 25 degrees. July and August reach 40, which is why the beach clubs empty by noon and the diving moves to dawn.

### Do you have to dive to enjoy Aqaba?

No. The Japanese Garden reef starts at snorkelling depth and the sunken tank sits in about five metres, both reachable from the beach. The Neptune submarine at Tala Bay shows the same reef through glass in 90 minutes.

### Is Petra a realistic day trip from Aqaba?

Yes, at roughly two hours each way. Entry is 50 JD for visitors who spend a night in Jordan and 90 JD for those who do not, and the Jordan Pass covers the first case along with Wadi Rum and the Aqaba fort.

### How do you get from Amman to Aqaba?

Royal Jordanian flies it in about an hour into King Hussein International. The JETT coach takes four to five hours from Abdali station down the Desert Highway, and driving it yourself takes roughly the same.

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- [All of Asia →](https://wimup.com/asia): 109 cities

Part of the [Jordan guide](https://wimup.com/country/jordan.md) · [Asia](https://wimup.com/asia.md)

## Sources

- [Aqaba tourism board](https://international.visitjordan.com/wheretogo/aqaba/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Give a full day to Wadi Rum: UNESCO listing](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1377/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Walk the Mamluk fort: Jordan Pass](https://www.jordanpass.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Take the Desert Highway to Petra (official site)](https://petrapass.pdtra.gov.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Watch the migration at the Bird Observatory: RSCN](https://www.rscn.org.jo/page/Aqaba%20Bird%20Observatory?lang=en&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Ayla Marina boat trips (official site)](https://www.ayla.com.jo/things-to-do-in-aqaba-jordan/marina-and-yacht-services/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Royal Yacht Club (official site)](https://www.rj.com/en/explore-jordan/sun-sand-and-sea/aqaba/royal-yacht-club?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [King Hussein International (official site)](https://khiaops.com/aac/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [JETT coach from Amman (official site)](https://www.jett.com.jo/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.