BootsnAll Travel Community

Does anyone have an opinion on which is better as far as the beach, diving, snorkeling, and the general vibe?

It would be easier for me to visit Aqaba, but it sounds like people like Dahab better.

Any help is appreciated as usual... thanks!

Dahab and Aqaba are very, very different places. Aqaba is a fairly big city, quite developed with lots of fancy hotels, and a huge port. The better beaches and snorkeling are out of town, often isolated, and often near these "beach camp" type of places. These camps are sort of bungalow/hostel setups out outside of town, where you do all your eating, sleeping, snorkeling, playing, etc.

Dahab is also very developed, but in quite a different way. It's a little village that basically exploded around the backpacker tourist trade. The beach front is basically lined for miles with little shops, hostels, Internet cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. Many of the cafes have tables on the beach, though much of the beach is basically just a rocky sliver of land. You can snorkel right off this beach, but the sights are *much, much* better if you go outside of town.

So, as to which has the better vibe, I'd say Dahab.

Better snorkeling and better beach, that's harder since there are many options for both places. The beach camp we visited in Aqaba had a huge, totally isolated sandy beach right in front of it, and the offshore snorkeling was fantastic and within walking distance. In Dahab, the snorkeling just outside our hotel was pretty mediocre, but a 45 minute van ride took us to an amazing spot -- even snorkeled with a dolphin.

Another consideration is price: The beach camps in Aqaba can be well priced because they're all-inclusive. But Dahab, and Egypt in general, is far cheaper than Jordan.

My gut feeling is go for Dahab if you can. But if it's too much of a hassle, you probably won't be disappointed by the snorkeling in Aqaba.

I'd say Dahab, too. I'm actually surprised that there are camps with secluded beaches, since Jordan has such a tiny amount of coastline, but what we saw of Aqaba was much more urban and modern...less unique than Dahab. And while the diving we did there was probably the best I've ever done, I've seen pictures from around Dahab that were even better.

Unfortunately, we had bad luck with Dahab (it got bombed the night before we arrived), but the town was just plain beautiful. It really is a backpacker town, and foreigners outnumber locals quite heavily, but I don't think that takes much away from it.