It’s so easy to float in the Dead Sea because its water is much denser than your body, thanks to an extremely high salt concentration of about 34%, which creates a strong upward buoyant force that holds you up.

Quick Scoop

  • The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth, with roughly ten times the salinity of typical oceans.
  • This extreme salinity makes the water denser (about 1.2–1.24 g/cm³ versus around 1.0 g/cm³ for fresh water).
  • Because your body is less dense than this salty water, it experiences a large upward push (buoyant force), so you float with almost no effort.
  • This is a real-life example of Archimedes’ principle: the water’s density increases the weight of water you displace, so the upward force on you becomes very strong.
  • The effect is so strong that people famously float on their backs while reading a newspaper, and normal “swimming” strokes feel awkward and unnecessary.

In simple terms: the Dead Sea is like super-heavy liquid.
You’re “lighter” than it is, so it pushes you up and refuses to let you sink.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.