Petra is light on bites. Warm evenings in the Siq and at the camps need a little care.

Not many. Forum posters describe very little mosquito activity at Petra, Jordan has no malaria, dengue or Zika, and the dry sandstone canyons are light on bites by day. The one bite-borne disease to know is cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin infection spread by sand flies that bite from dusk to dawn, so warm-season evenings are when a little care pays off.

Sand flies and leishmaniasis in the south

CDC's Jordan page lists leishmaniasis, spread by sand fly bites. Petra and Wadi Musa are in Ma'an governorate, part of the southern region in Jordan's Ministry of Health surveillance. Of the 1,243 cutaneous leishmaniasis cases reported nationally in 2010–2016, 575 came from the south, according to a 2020 study of those records, and its authors describe southern Jordan as an endemic area. The study reports only by region, and the southern region also takes in Karak, Tafileh and Aqaba, so it gives no figure for Petra itself.

The best-documented outbreaks in the south were in the lowlands. In Wadi Araba, the desert rift valley below and west of the Petra highlands, 36 of 80 soldiers posted at a camp at Qurayqira developed the infection over an on-and-off posting of about five and a half months, a 1998 report found. In the southern Jordan Valley, 1992 studies found the main sand fly, Phlebotomus papatasi, peaking in September and October. Our Jordan briefing covers the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, the country's main focus.

Where and when to take care

Petra sits in dry sandstone mountains at around 3,300 feet (1,000 m), and daytime walks through the Siq to the Treasury and the Monastery tend to be close to bite-free. The exposure comes after dark in the warm months. The candlelit Petra by Night walk puts you in the Siq during sand fly hours, evenings at the Little Petra camps are spent outdoors, and Bedouin camp tents may lack screens. Wadi Rum's desert camps tend to be similar or lighter, with a few mosquitoes near standing water in the village in the warm months.

November to March is the easy season, with cold nights and few if any mosquitoes, and April and May are mild and mostly bite-free. From roughly June to October, mosquitoes are more noticeable and sand flies are active. In those Jordan Valley studies, the share of infected sand flies was highest in November, at the end of their season, so early fall evenings deserve the most care.

From April to October, put on an EPA-registered repellent such as picaridin 20%, DEET 20–30%, oil of lemon eucalyptus 30% or IR3535 before Petra by Night and before dusk at the camps. Wear long sleeves and pants after dark, and sleep in a screened or air-conditioned room or a tent you can zip shut. The same routine covers a night at Wadi Rum or in Wadi Araba, and our picaridin vs. DEET comparison helps you pick a spray.

CDC recommends no malaria medicine and no yellow fever vaccine for Jordan, and travelers flying in from the US need no yellow fever certificate. CDC also lists MERS, which may spread to people from camels, so keep camel and donkey contact brief and wash your hands afterward.

Where you're going

How Petra's main stops compare.

Heading on to Eilat or the Negev? Our Israel briefing covers the sand flies on that side of the border.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and linked so you can read them in full. Only one reply is dated, from 2026, and the month you go matters more than anything else.

• Petra · 2026

  In a 2026 reply about mosquitoes in Jordan, a poster said they are more noticeable in the warmer months, typically from late spring through early autumn, but that activity at Petra and Wadi Rum is very minimal, especially in Wadi Rum's dry desert. TripAdvisor ↗

• Wadi Rum, Petra, Dead Sea · late May and early June

  Replies were mixed: one traveler saw a few mosquitoes in Wadi Rum village, another found none at all in a Wadi Rum camp at the end of May the year before, and a third had been badly bitten in Wadi Rum in August. TripAdvisor ↗

• Wadi Rum · November

  Posters expected few or no mosquitoes in November; one recalled not a single mosquito and cold evenings in the first week of November, while another noted mosquitoes can still be found near stagnant water. TripAdvisor ↗

• Petra · early April

  A traveler planning three days in and around Petra from early April had been told that invisible biting bugs attack arms and legs, and asked whether long sleeves and trousers were needed. Replies said bugs were not a real concern: one poster had no bug problems in April, others mentioned mosquitoes only in summer, and knee-length shorts were suggested out of respect for local customs rather than for insects. The thread is roughly 15 years old. TripAdvisor ↗

One rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Jordan. So does a skin sore that hasn't healed weeks later; say you were in southern Jordan.

Traveler questions