For relaxation, water sports and winter warmth, Aqaba is definitely appealing and The Place to go. Fringed with palm trees, lapped by the crystal-clear waters of the red sea, cooled by a steady northerly breeze, and ringed by mountains that change in color with the change of the hours, Aqaba is just the place to relax and disconnect from busy life.
The Red Sea average temperature of 23° all year round, provides a perfect habitat for an array of unique and dazzlingly colored fishes and coral reefs to be discovered while snorkeling, diving or scuba-diving.
Aqaba, was in ancient times, the main port for shipments from the Red Sea to the Far East and has always been a strategic location at the junction of land and sea routes from three different continents and via three different countries: Asia (Saudi Arabia), Africa (Egypt) and Europe (Israel).
Due to this strategic location and because it is the country’s only seaport, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority was specifically created to protect the area economically and politically. Form the historical point of view, Aqaba is proud of its Fort’s remains. The castle, built by the Mamluk Sultan Qansweh El-Ghuri at the beginning of the 16th century, now hosts a fine museum at the historical residence of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, great grandfather of King Abdullah II, and containing a collection of fragments of lusterware from Samaria, Chinese ceramics, Umayyad Islamic archaeological finds, and pottery and coins.
Another place of great interest is the site of the oldest church in the world.
Recently, archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be the world’s oldest church, dating it to the late 3rd century AD, slightly older than the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, both dating back to the 4th century.