Middle East - New Flight in Israel, Connecting the Dead Sea!

Arkia to operate Dead Sea line (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4143719,00.html)

Airline to expand local travel network with regular flights and travel packages to Dead Sea region

This will add new service to the Dead Sea from the Tel Aviv area, cutting travel time by more than 2 hours.

I wonder whether Arkia will begin selling packages, including flights and spas... at the Dead Sea.

Now if only there was a half decent hotel on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea.....

What about the Leonardo?

I find this absurd for some reason...how far is it really from tel aviv to the dead sea hotel area ? 3 hours?

The Leonardo, seriously?

The Leonardo, seriously?

Have you stayed there? Seriously? Because it's one of the nicest hotels in Israel

Have you stayed there? Seriously? Because it's one of the nicest hotels in Israel

There are 17 1/2 Leonardo's at the Dead Sea. About which one are you talking?

There are 17 1/2 Leonardo's at the Dead Sea. About which one are you talking?

There used to be a hotel, Le Meridien Dead Sea Resort. That changed to a Leonardo when they bought out Le Meridien's operations in Israel. I don't remember the exact name, but I believe it's a half hour south of Ein Gedi.

There used to be a hotel, Le Meridien Dead Sea Resort. That changed to a Leonardo when they bought out Le Meridien's operations in Israel. I don't remember the exact name, but I believe it's a half hour south of Ein Gedi.

Ok, this will be one of 4-5 Leonardo properties in Ein Boqeq. It was built as a Hyatt and will be leaving Starwood as of Jan 1, 2012. It is still a Le Meridien until then. The folks that have always owned it are changing it to their own Leonardo brand. It isn't a nice hotel, just the best of the horrible options. The best option is the Ein Gedi youth hostel.

Anyway it will be nice to have flights to the Dead Sea, just sad there are no good hotels there on the Israel side.

Arkia to operate Dead Sea line (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4143719,00.html)
This will add new service to the Dead Sea from the Tel Aviv area, cutting travel time by more than 2 hours.


How much time would one have to calculate for the security checks for this flight? Is that a rather quick affair?

Ok, this will be one of 4-5 Leonardo properties in Ein Boqeq. It was built as a Hyatt and will be leaving Starwood as of Jan 1, 2012. It is still a Le Meridien until then. The folks that have always owned it are changing it to their own Leonardo brand. It isn't a nice hotel, just the best of the horrible options. The best option is the Ein Gedi youth hostel.

Anyway it will be nice to have flights to the Dead Sea, just sad there are no good hotels there on the Israel side.

I thought it was a very nice hotel. It had clean and well-attended to basketball courts and tennis courts, gorgeous outdoor pool, and the hotel itself ranked well IMO with solid 3-4 star hotels in the US. It specifically reminded me of a the Renaissance Marriott at Sea World (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcosr-renaissance-orlando-at-seaworld/).

I have stayed at the Ein Gedi youth hostel, and it happens to be one of the nicest youth hostels in Israel. (Similar to the Mitzpe Ramon Youth Hostel (http://www.iyha.org.il/eng/Index.asp?CategoryID=80&ArticleID=66).)

How much time would one have to calculate for the security checks for this flight? Is that a rather quick affair?

Less time than at TLV. Not sure how quick. Only time I ever flew from SDV was in the army, so I barely had any wait at all. But I'd imagine not much more than 10 minutes at the worst.

There used to be a hotel, Le Meridien Dead Sea Resort. That changed to a Leonardo when they bought out Le Meridien's operations in Israel. I don't remember the exact name, but I believe it's a half hour south of Ein Gedi.
Everyone has different standards I guess. I've stayed at the Le Meridien Dead Sea several times and it kept going downhill until I decided about a year ago that even at 2000 SPG Points a night its not worth it

Less time than at TLV. Not sure how quick. Only time I ever flew from SDV was in the army, so I barely had any wait at all. But I'd imagine not much more than 10 minutes at the worst.

That sounds interesting. On a foreign passport I would expect to be checked for a bit longer maybe. Anyway, DOV looks like an interesting alternative. And they also fly to Eilat from there.

But - shock, horror - luggage allowance is only 10kg. I would be travelling with dive gear which weighs about 25-35kg, depending on how many lights and photo equipment I carry. Do they have any extra allowances for scuba divers? Their web page didn't say anything about that.

If not, I guess the alternative would be to get a car and drive. I suppose it would be an interesting route. I'm not really a big fan of bus travel anywhere in the world.

That sounds interesting. On a foreign passport I would expect to be checked for a bit longer maybe. Anyway, DOV looks like an interesting alternative. And they also fly to Eilat from there.

But - shock, horror - luggage allowance is only 10kg. I would be travelling with dive gear which weighs about 25-35kg, depending on how many lights and photo equipment I carry. Do they have any extra allowances for scuba divers? Their web page didn't say anything about that.

If not, I guess the alternative would be to get a car and drive. I suppose it would be an interesting route. I'm not really a big fan of bus travel anywhere in the world.

LY flies to ETH from TLV, and they have higher luggage allowances. They're flying a 737 as opposed to an ATR. I doubt they would offer exceptions though.

Getting to Eilat, your options are flying from TLV or SDV, a bus, or driving. Not even a train option :td:

If you don't like the bus, take a car. It's a 4 hour drive from Jerusalem. Never did it from Tel Aviv, but I believe the bus is just over 6 hours, though that includes 1 or 2 stops.

Thanks joshwex90. Oops, sorry, yes, its SDV not DOV (Dover AFB). :o

I'll search this forum for suggestions on driving the route down south. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I'll bother you again with questions. ;)

Thanks joshwex90. Oops, sorry, yes, its SDV not DOV (Dover AFB). :o

I'll search this forum for suggestions on driving the route down south. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I'll bother you again with questions. ;)

I doubt you will find much info on that here, but it never hurts to search.

I personally would drive, as long as you don't mind long drives. It helps if you have a companion. The benefit of driving is that when there, you have a car to get around. While Eilat does have intra-city buses via Egged, they aren't as extensive as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or Be'er Sheva. Some of the better beaches for diving I believe require a taxi. Or, if you want to get there early, it's nice to have the independence of the car.

But I look forward to being bothered with more questions! :)

The Drive is pretty easy and quite calming as the scenery is very open and...dull between Tel Aviv and Eilat. I do tell people to avoid the late night bus to Eilat. The time we did that bus it was full of drunken Israelis having a damn good time which is great but at 5am I just needed to sleep.

Thanks joshwex90. Oops, sorry, yes, its SDV not DOV (Dover AFB). :o

I'll search this forum for suggestions on driving the route down south. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I'll bother you again with questions. ;)