The Dead Sea · Best time to visit
The best time to visit the Dead Sea
In July and August the mean daily low at the lake is 29.4°C, which is why the parks authority moves Masada's last Snake Path ascent to seven in the morning.
Hottest month
38.5°C
Mean daily high in July at the lake's own coordinates, over the decade to 2024
Warmest night
29.4°C
Mean daily low in both July and August, which is the figure that decides a Dead Sea summer
Rain in a year
129 mm
The twelve monthly normals added together, 112 mm of it between November and March
Snake Path cut-off
07:00
Last ascent at Masada on days of extreme summer heat, as the parks authority publishes it
The Dead Sea runs on an inverted calendar. Most of Israel is a spring and autumn country, and the shore of this lake is a winter one. The reason sits in the row of the table below that visitors tend to skip: it is not the daytime figure that decides a Dead Sea summer but the night. In July and August the mean daily low at the lake is 29.4°C, so the ground never gives its heat back and each morning starts where the previous evening left off.
Floating is the exception to all of it. The brine is bathable in every month of the year, and the Tamar Regional Council lays out the beaches at Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar for exactly that, with lifeguards, showers, changing rooms and chairs and umbrellas free of charge. Everything else on this shore depends on the weather: the canyon at Ein Gedi, the climb up Masada, the circuit at Qumran, the walk between the salt formations at Sodom. Those are the things that make a Dead Sea trip more than a hotel beside a salt lake, and they are the things summer takes away.
So there are two questions to settle, in this order. Which months allow the land as well as the water, and where the Jewish festival calendar falls inside them. The second is the one visitors most often get wrong. Two week-long festivals fill every national park in the country and every room in the Ein Bokek strip, and one day in autumn closes Israel down to the airport.
The year
What the weather actually does in The Dead Sea
Monthly normals computed from daily reanalysis at this destination's own coordinates, 2015 to 2024. Not a forecast and not an impression.
Month by month
When to go to The Dead Sea
January
Best20°C by day, 14.2°C at night, 6.2 wet days
The coolest month of the year on this shore and one of the two or three in which the Judaean desert canyons are comfortable at midday rather than at dawn. It is also near the top of the rain table, 29 mm across about six days, and that rain is what sends floods down the wadis, so the parks authority's advice to check the forecast before entering a streambed applies most of all now. Crowds are thin between Hanukkah and Passover and the Ein Bokek strip is at its quietest. Winter hours mean the sites close at 16:00, with the gate shutting at 15:00.
February
Best21.1°C by day, 14.9°C at night, 6.1 wet days
The wettest month by total, 32 mm, which in a desert basin means a handful of dramatic days rather than a grey fortnight. Walking conditions are excellent and the water is as good as it ever is. The one date to know is the Dead Sea Land Marathon at Ein Bokek, whose organisers' countdown runs to 5 February 2027 and whose routes climb the salt ramparts out into the southern basin under permits granted once a year; the hotels fill for that weekend. Otherwise February is the cheapest good month here.
March
Best24.4°C by day, 17.2°C at night, 3.8 wet days
The best walking month of the year at Ein Gedi and Masada. Rain has dropped to 17 mm across under four days, the days are lengthening, and nothing has yet acquired the glare that arrives in May. Purim falls on 22 and 23 March in 2027 and is a school holiday rather than a shutdown, so it crowds the sites midweek without closing anything. Flood risk has not gone: the parks authority lists spring alongside winter and autumn as flood season, and the Tzafit disaster was in late April.
April
Good29.6°C by day, 21.1°C at night, 1.7 wet days
Mean daily highs near 30°C, so the canyons become a morning proposition and Masada's heat rules start to apply. The month's real problem is Passover, which in 2027 runs from the evening of 21 April to the evening of the 29th and fills every national park and every Ein Bokek room; the fortnight before it is close to ideal and the week after is fine. April is also the month in which ten teenagers were killed by a flash flood in the Tzafit riverbed in 2018, which is worth remembering before entering a wadi on a day with any rain in the forecast anywhere upstream.
May
Mixed34°C by day, 24.9°C at night, effectively no rain
Highs of 34°C and nights that no longer drop below 25°C, which is the point at which hiking here becomes a pre-eight-in-the-morning activity and nothing else. The floating and the beaches are unaffected and the free council beaches at Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar are at their best before the school holidays start. May is also the month in which the parks authority says severe floods did significant damage at En Gedi, so check what is actually open before driving down. Lag BaOmer and Yom HaAtzmaut are single days that crowd rather than close.
June
Hard going36.5°C by day, 27.4°C at night, effectively no rain
The transition month, and it goes the wrong way fast: 36.5°C by day, 27.4°C at night, and effectively no rain. Masada's Snake Path is now on its summer cut-offs, which in very hot weather means the last ascent is at eight in the morning. Israeli secondary schools break up on 20 June and primary schools on the 30th, so the last week or so is the beginning of the domestic season at Ein Bokek. Shavuot, 10 to 12 June in 2027, is a full festival closure at its start and end.
July
Hard going38.5°C by day, 29.4°C at night, effectively no rain
The hardest month of the year here and the page will not soften it: the highest mean daily high of any month, nights that stay near 29°C, and rainfall of nothing at all across no days. A reading of 49.9°C was recorded near Sodom on 17 July 2019. Every school in the country is on holiday, so the strip is both at its most difficult and at its most booked. If July is the only option, treat it as a water and air-conditioning trip, climb Masada before sunrise or by the Roman ramp from Arad, and do not plan a canyon at all.
August
Hard going38°C by day, 29.4°C at night, effectively no rain
Marginally cooler than July by day and identical by night, which is to say indistinguishable in practice. Ultraviolet is near its annual peak, which is why the treatment clinics are busy and why an unshaded hour outside is a genuinely bad idea. The whole country is still on school holiday and this is the most expensive month to be here for the least usable one. The one thing that works as well as ever is the water, and the council beaches carry shade nets over the sand for the time between dips.
September
Mixed35.9°C by day, 28.3°C at night, effectively no rain
The first fortnight is August wearing a different name, and then the festival calendar takes the month over completely. In 2026 Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of 11 September, Yom Kippur on the evening of the 20th and Sukkot on the evening of the 25th. Yom Kippur closes the country for something like 28 to 30 hours including the airport; Masada shuts at 12:00 on the eve and En Gedi and Qumran at 13:00. Heat is easing by the end of the month but 35.9°C is still a summer figure.
October
Good31.9°C by day, 25.3°C at night, effectively no rain
April in reverse, and the second window of the year, but the first week belongs to the festivals: Sukkot runs to the evening of 2 October in 2026 and Simchat Torah to the 4th, and the parks run at capacity throughout. From about the 8th the month empties out and the second half is genuinely good, with 31.9°C by day, the first few millimetres of rain returning and the canyon walking coming back. Book the second half rather than the first and the difference in both price and queueing is substantial.
November
Best26.6°C by day, 20.7°C at night, 3.9 wet days
If one month has to be chosen without knowing anything else about the trip, choose this one. Highs of 26.6°C, 14 mm of rain across about four days, no festival in the month at all, and the whole itinerary available: Ein Gedi, Masada at an hour of your choosing, Qumran, Sodom and the water. The one adjustment is the winter timetable, which closes the parks at 16:00 with the gate shutting an hour before, so an afternoon that felt generous in October no longer is. Flood season has begun, so ring *3639 before setting out.
December
Good22.1°C by day, 16.6°C at night, 4.8 wet days
Cool, quiet and short. Highs of 22.1°C and 20 mm of rain across about five days make the walking excellent, but the daylight and the 16:00 closing between them leave a compressed day, and this is the month in which arriving at Ein Gedi after lunch means not seeing it. Hanukkah, 4 to 12 December in 2026, is a school holiday that fills the sites midweek without closing anything. For the clinics this is the low end of the ultraviolet year, so treatment courses run longer per day than they do in June.
The table
Every month in figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Wet days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°C | 14.2°C | 29 mm | 6.2 |
| February | 21.1°C | 14.9°C | 32 mm | 6.1 |
| March | 24.4°C | 17.2°C | 17 mm | 3.8 |
| April | 29.6°C | 21.1°C | 10 mm | 1.7 |
| May | 34°C | 24.9°C | 2 mm | 0.6 |
| June | 36.5°C | 27.4°C | 1 mm | 0.3 |
| July | 38.5°C | 29.4°C | 0 mm | 0 |
| August | 38°C | 29.4°C | 0 mm | 0 |
| September | 35.9°C | 28.3°C | 1 mm | 0.2 |
| October | 31.9°C | 25.3°C | 3 mm | 0.7 |
| November | 26.6°C | 20.7°C | 14 mm | 3.9 |
| December | 22.1°C | 16.6°C | 20 mm | 4.8 |
Computed from Open-Meteo's ERA5 reanalysis archive at 31.5, 35.47, elevation -427 m. Averages over 2015 to 2024. A wet day is one with 1 mm of rain or more, which is the threshold meteorological services use.
A reanalysis is a model on a grid rather than a weather station, and the grid smooths terrain. Temperatures come through it well. Rainfall totals are understated wherever hills do the lifting, so on the ridges treat the wet-day counts as the shape of the season rather than as a measured depth.
The windows
November to March is the season, and the parks shut an hour earlier inside it
From November to March the mean daily high at the lake runs between 20°C and 26.6°C. That is the band in which Nahal Arugot is a walk rather than an ordeal and Masada can be climbed at an hour of the visitor's choosing rather than the parks authority's. Every one of the other seven months has a heat rule attached to it, published by the operator, and those rules are the most reliable written guide to when this place is comfortable.
Winter has one cost worth planning around. En Gedi, Qumran and Masada all run a winter timetable that closes at 16:00 from Sunday to Thursday and on Saturday, and 15:00 on Fridays and holiday eves, against 17:00 and 16:00 in summer. The gate stops admitting an hour before closing and visitors have to be out by it. In practice a winter Dead Sea day is one site plus the water rather than two sites plus the water.
Within the season, November and March are the picks. November gives 26.6°C by day, 14 mm of rain across about four days and no festival in the month at all; March swaps a little more heat for longer daylight and the best walking conditions of the year. October is the third window and a narrower one, because its first week usually belongs to Sukkot and its mean daily high of 31.9°C is April in reverse. What March, April and November share is that the wadis can still flood, which is the next section and is not a theoretical risk here.
The calendar
Two festival weeks fill the country, and one day closes it
Passover and Sukkot are each a week long, and their intermediate days are a school holiday with collective paid leave across many businesses and government offices. The effect at the Dead Sea is that every national park on Road 90 runs at capacity and the Ein Bokek hotels sell out. Sukkot in 2026 runs from the evening of 25 September to the evening of 2 October, with Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah carrying it on to the 4th; Passover in 2027 runs from the evening of 21 April to the evening of the 29th.
Masada is where this bites hardest, because the parks authority sells timed entry and says plainly that booking ahead guarantees entry at a preferred time. Turning up on an intermediate morning without a reservation means taking whatever slot is left, and on a full slot the confirmation is what gets a visitor through the gate. The same authority publishes a 13:00 closing at En Gedi and Qumran on holiday eves, so the day before a festival begins is a half day everywhere on this shore.
Yom Kippur is a different order of thing. It falls on 20 and 21 September in 2026 and it closes the country: businesses shut around midday on the eve, the roads empty of everything but emergency vehicles, and services that normally run on festivals, the airports and border crossings among them, suspend for roughly 28 to 30 hours. En Gedi and Qumran close at 13:00 on the eve and Masada at 12:00. The smaller dates only move crowds: Hanukkah, 4 to 12 December in 2026, and Purim, 22 and 23 March in 2027, fill sites midweek without closing anything, and the school year ending on 20 June for secondary pupils and 30 June for primary ones is what makes July and August a domestic season on top of a difficult one.
The hazard
Rain that falls on the Judaean hills arrives here as a wall of water
The wadis that cut down to the Dead Sea drain a large, steep, largely bare catchment rising towards Jerusalem and Hebron. Rain falling thirty or forty kilometres uphill produces a flood in a dry streambed under a clear sky, and the parks authority states the risk on its own Masada page in blunter terms than most operators use: in winter, spring and autumn flooding is a danger, visitors should check the Israel Meteorological Service or the newscasts shortly before setting out, and when flooding appears likely they should not walk in or cross wadi beds.
The reason that warning is written the way it is can be dated. On 26 April 2018 a group from a pre-military academy entered the Tzafit riverbed near the Dead Sea and ten teenagers were killed by the flood that came down it. The Beersheba District Court found that repeated weather warnings had been disregarded, convicted the academy's former principal and a former teacher of negligent manslaughter and sentenced both to seven years. Late April is not a month anyone would file under flood season, and that is the point.
The floods damage the sites too. The parks authority's notice for En Gedi says severe floods in May caused significant damage, that Wadi David is open only along its accessible path to the first waterfall, a walk of about five minutes each way, and that the Ein Gedi Spring and Dudim's Cave remain closed until further notice. None of this argues against a winter visit. It argues for one telephone call: the authority asks visitors to ring its information centre on *3639 for current trail conditions, and on this road that call is the difference between a canyon walk and a two-hour drive to a closed gate.
The heat
A Dead Sea August is not a hot day, it is a different kind of place
The honest sentence about summer here is that the land part of the trip stops working. July's mean daily high at the lake is 38.5°C and August's is 38.0°C, the mean daily low in both months is 29.4°C, and rainfall in both rounds to nothing across zero days. There is no cool morning to start early in, no evening in which the stone gives its heat up, and no weather coming to break it. A reading of 49.9°C was recorded near Sodom on 17 July 2019.
Masada encodes the problem in its opening hours, and the ladder is worth reading before booking a summer flight. In normal hot weather the last ascent by the Snake Path is 10:00 and the last descent 11:00; when the weather is very hot those move to 08:00 and 09:00; in extreme summer heat the last ascent is 07:00, the Runner's Path and the Elazar Ascent close at 07:00 altogether, and only the Roman ramp from the Arad side stays open to an 11:00 ascent. A summer itinerary is built backwards from those times: climb before dawn, be back by mid-morning, spend the middle of the day indoors and use the water in the late afternoon.
Spring adds its own version of the problem. The Israel Meteorological Service defines a sharav day as one on which the maximum temperature exceeds the long-run figure by five degrees or more and passes 27°C, with relative humidity under 20 per cent inland, and calls it a heavy sharav when the excess passes ten degrees. On this shore that arithmetic can turn a pleasant April forecast into a July afternoon at a day's notice.
Treatment
For the clinics, the seasons run the other way round
Some of the people at Ein Bokek in any month are not tourists. They are there for photoclimatotherapy, mostly for psoriasis, and their calendar is the inverse of everyone else's, because what they have come for is ultraviolet rather than shade. Twenty-five years of measurement at the Dead Sea, published in 2022, put daily therapeutic UVB at roughly 5.5 to 6 minimal erythemal doses in December and January against 23.6 to 24.6 in June and July. That fourfold swing is why a winter course takes longer per day to reach the same dose, and why courses are counted in weeks: the published protocols run to two weeks of graded exposure and the clearance figures are quoted after four.
The same study makes a point that applies to every visitor regardless of why they came. The ratio of burning to therapeutic wavelengths peaks in the middle of the day in every season, so exposure is scheduled for early morning or late afternoon all year round. The low elevation attenuates the shortest, most burning wavelengths more than it attenuates the rest, which is precisely what makes a midday hour here feel more forgiving than it is.
Practical
What to know before you go
- Check the forecast before entering any wadi, in any month between autumn and spring. The parks authority's own instruction at Masada is to consult the Israel Meteorological Service or the newscasts shortly before the visit, and not to walk in or cross wadi beds when flooding appears likely.
- Telephone the parks authority on *3639 before driving to Ein Gedi. Its notice says severe floods in May caused significant damage, that Wadi David is open only along the accessible path to the first waterfall and that the Ein Gedi Spring and Dudim's Cave are closed until further notice.
- In summer, Masada is a sunrise trip or nothing. The last ascent by the Snake Path is 10:00 in normal hot weather, 08:00 when it is very hot and 07:00 in extreme heat, with the descent cut-off an hour later in each case.
- The Roman ramp is the summer route up. It opens for ascent about half an hour before sunrise, takes roughly thirty minutes against the Snake Path's hour, and on extreme heat days stays open to an 11:00 ascent when the Snake Path has shut at 07:00. Access is from Arad on road 3199.
- Winter takes an hour off the day. En Gedi, Qumran and Masada close at 16:00 from Sunday to Thursday and on Saturday in winter against 17:00 in summer, 15:00 on Fridays, and the gate stops admitting an hour before either.
- Holiday eves are half days. En Gedi and Qumran close at 13:00 on holiday eves and on Yom Kippur eve, and Masada closes at 12:00 on Yom Kippur eve.
- Book Masada rather than turning up during Passover or Sukkot. The parks authority says booking ahead through its system guarantees entry at a chosen time, and asks for the confirmation at the gate when a slot is full.
- Wadi Arugot runs on its own clock. The published last entry is 14:00, and the flood notice permits entry only up to three hours before closing, which is the earlier of the two on the winter timetable.
The figures
Numbers behind this page
Each figure carries the year it belongs to and links the source it came from.
| Measure | Figure | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high at the Dead Sea, July | 38.5°C | 2015-2024 | open-meteo.com |
| Mean daily low, July and August | 29.4°C in both months | 2015-2024 | open-meteo.com |
| Mean daily high, January | 20.0°C | 2015-2024 | open-meteo.com |
| Mean rainfall over the year, and days with a millimetre or more | 129 mm across 28.3 days | 2015-2024 | open-meteo.com |
| Mean rainfall, July and August | 0 mm across no days | 2015-2024 | open-meteo.com |
| Israel Meteorological Service threshold for a sharav day inland | 5°C above the long-run figure and over 27°C, humidity under 20% | 1994 | ims.gov.il |
| Highest reading near Sodom, southern Dead Sea | 49.9°C on 17 July 2019 | 2019 | timesofisrael.com |
| Daily therapeutic UVB at the Dead Sea, winter against summer | about 5.5 to 6 MED in December and January, 23.6 to 24.6 MED in June and July | 2022 | pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
The rest of the The Dead Sea guide
Sources and further reading
Every link below was opened and checked when this page was written. Official statements are marked as such: they are the subject's own account, not an independent one.
- OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.ilEn Gedi Nature Reserve
Summer and winter hours, the 13:00 holiday eve and Yom Kippur eve closings, the one-hour gate rule, the 14:00 last entry to Wadi Arugot, and the flood notice covering Wadi David, the Ein Gedi Spring and Dudim's Cave
- OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.ilMasada National Park
The Snake Path heat ladder of 10:00, 08:00 and 07:00 last ascents, the Roman ramp timings from Arad, the 12:00 Yom Kippur eve closing, the booking guarantee, and the winter, spring and autumn flooding warning
- OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.ilQumran National Park
Summer and winter opening hours, the Friday and holiday eve closings, and the rule that the entrance shuts an hour before the cited closing time
- OfficialDead Sea Land, Tamar Regional Councildeadsea.co.ilThe Hotel Beaches
Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar operated by the council with free chairs, umbrellas and shade nets, lifeguards, showers, changing rooms and lockers, against the hotel-run beaches which charge non-guests for chairs
- OfficialDead Sea Land, Tamar Regional Councildeadsea.co.ilThe Dead Sea Land Marathon 2026
The circular routes over the salt ramparts of the southern basin, the once-a-year security permits that allow them, the 5 to 50 km distances and the start beside the Isrotel hotel at Ein Bokek
- OfficialDead Sea Marathon (race organisers)deadsea.runDead Sea Marathon
The organisers' countdown, set to 06:00 on 5 February 2027, and the list of race distances
- OfficialIsrael Meteorological Serviceims.gov.ilBetween Khamsin and Sharav
The 1994 forecasting definition of a sharav day, the 20 per cent humidity threshold for inland areas against 30 per cent on the coastal plain, and the ten-degree excess that makes it a heavy sharav
- ReportingThe Times of Israeltimesofisrael.comEducators sentenced to 7 years over deaths of 10 students in flash flood disaster
The Tzafit riverbed flood of 26 April 2018 near the Dead Sea, the ten teenagers killed, and the Beersheba District Court's finding that repeated weather warnings were disregarded
- ReportingThe Times of Israeltimesofisrael.comIsrael bakes as temperature climbs to near-record 49.9°C
The 49.9°C reading on the southern Dead Sea shore near the site of biblical Sodom on 17 July 2019
- DataHebcalhebcal.comJewish Holidays 2026-2027
Gregorian dates for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, Yom HaAtzmaut, Lag BaOmer and Shavuot across 2026 and 2027
- ReferenceInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2022), via PubMed Centralpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govUltraviolet Measurements and Photoclimatotherapy for Psoriasis at the Dead Sea: 25 Years of Experience
Monthly daily UVB in minimal erythemal doses from December to July, the graded two-week exposure protocol, and the recommendation to schedule exposure for early morning or late afternoon in every season
- ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.orgPublic holidays in Israel
The status of the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot as a school holiday with collective paid leave, and the scale of the Yom Kippur shutdown including the 28 to 30 hour suspension of airports and border crossings
- ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.orgEducation in Israel
The school year running from 1 September to 30 June for primary pupils and 20 June for secondary ones, which sets the Israeli summer holiday
The best time to visit the Dead Sea: common questions
What is the best month to visit the Dead Sea?+
November, with March close behind. Mean daily highs of 26.6°C, about 14 mm of rain and no festival in the month mean the whole itinerary is available: the canyons at Ein Gedi, Masada at an hour of your choosing, Qumran and the water. The only adjustment is the winter timetable, which closes the parks at 16:00 with the gate shutting an hour earlier. March swaps a little more heat for longer daylight and the best walking conditions of the year.
Is the Dead Sea too hot in summer?+
For everything except the water, yes. July's mean daily high is 38.5°C, August's is 38.0°C, and the mean daily low in both months is 29.4°C, so there is no cool part of the day to work with. A reading of 49.9°C was recorded near Sodom on 17 July 2019. The parks authority's own response is to shut Masada's Snake Path to ascent at seven in the morning on extreme heat days, which tells you what it thinks of the conditions.
Can you float in the Dead Sea in winter?+
Yes, and it is the one thing here that works in every month of the year. Mean daily highs on the shore sit near 20°C in January, which is warmer than most of Israel in the same week, and the water in a basin 400 metres below sea level does not behave like a winter sea anywhere else. The Tamar Regional Council maintains the beaches at Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar with lifeguards, showers, changing rooms and free chairs and umbrellas.
What do Passover and Sukkot do to a Dead Sea trip?+
They fill it. The intermediate days of both festivals are a school holiday with collective paid leave across many businesses, so every national park on Road 90 runs at capacity and the Ein Bokek hotels sell out. Sukkot in 2026 runs from the evening of 25 September to the evening of 2 October, with Simchat Torah on to the 4th; Passover in 2027 runs from the evening of 21 April to the evening of the 29th. Book around them rather than during them.
Is anything open on Yom Kippur?+
No. Businesses close around midday on the eve, the roads carry nothing but emergency vehicles, and services that normally run on festivals, including the airports and the border crossings, suspend for roughly 28 to 30 hours. In 2026 it falls on 20 and 21 September. Masada closes at 12:00 on the eve and En Gedi and Qumran at 13:00, so the day before is a half day as well.
Are flash floods really a risk at the Dead Sea?+
Yes, and the parks authority says so on its own Masada page: in winter, spring and autumn flooding is a danger, and visitors should not walk in or cross wadi beds when it appears likely. Rain on the Judaean hills tens of kilometres away produces a flood in a dry streambed under a clear sky here. On 26 April 2018 ten teenagers were killed by a flood in the Tzafit riverbed near the Dead Sea, and a court later convicted two educators of negligent manslaughter for disregarding the weather warnings.
Is Ein Gedi open?+
Only partly, at the time of writing. The parks authority states that severe floods in May caused significant damage, that Wadi David is open along its accessible path to the first waterfall alone, a walk of about five minutes each way, and that the Ein Gedi Spring and Dudim's Cave are closed until further notice. Wadi Arugot is open as a challenging trail for fit hikers, and the antiquities site is open as usual. Ring the information centre on *3639 before travelling.
When should I climb Masada?+
Before sunrise in any month with heat in it, and by whichever path is still open. The Snake Path opens for ascent about an hour before sunrise and closes for ascent at 10:00 in normal hot weather, 08:00 when it is very hot and 07:00 in extreme heat. The Roman ramp from the Arad side opens about half an hour before sunrise, takes roughly thirty minutes rather than an hour, and stays open to an 11:00 ascent on the days when the Snake Path has already shut.
Is there a rainy season, and does it matter?+
There is barely a rainy season in the ordinary sense and it matters a great deal. The twelve monthly normals add up to 129 mm a year across about 28 days with a millimetre or more, and 112 mm of that falls between November and March. What makes it consequential is not the volume on the shore but the runoff from the hills above, which is why the flood warnings apply on days that look clear at the lake.
Which month is cheapest?+
The winter months outside the festivals, with January and February the quietest of them. Both are good walking months and the Ein Bokek strip is at its emptiest between Hanukkah and Passover. The exception is the weekend of the Dead Sea Land Marathon at Ein Bokek, whose organisers' countdown runs to 5 February 2027 and which books out the hotels; the races run circuits on the salt ramparts out into the southern basin under permits issued once a year.