Diving near Israel

[ReefWreak]

Hi guys,

I'm going to Israel over winter break for 2 weeks and want to get some diving in. Anyone have any suggestions? I saw the thread earlier about the pictures from diving in Egypt, and really want to do it, but I'm kind of pressed for time and don't think I'll have time to hit Egypt... I'm aiming for something either in Eilat, or that I can easily get to from Eilat or Israel. Any suggestions?

 

[Razor]

The diving in Israel and Egypt are on the same sea, The Red Sea. This is probably one of the best dive sites I've ever seen. I dove it from both sides, the Israeli and Egyptian sides, and they're both great. Once you get down there simply ask around and you'll be directed to the dive sites. Both we did were walk-in shore dives and while we did scuba dive, we could have easily snorkeled the sites and they were 6'-15' in depth.

If you're really pressed for time go to the aquarium. It's a structure that sits in the middle of the reef and you take stairs/elevators down into it. Once inside the building looking out any of the windows puts you face to face with the reef, really nice, and my kids (who can't dive) loved it.

 

[natan]

>>>I'm going to Israel over winter break for 2 weeks and want to get some diving in. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thats simple: Eilat. In their, there are several places in the reserve wery close to each other. Take in to account it is going to be seriously cold. I did it in winter once, and will never repeat the mistake. There is plenty of fish, but the reef itself is in the pityful state, unlike in Egypt.
If you want to go and dive in the Mediterranean, than go north (which is the rocky substrate and not sand). Hof Ha-Bonim is a good place to go to. BTW winter is a good time to dive there, plenty of cool algae growth (and fish invading from the read sea are all over the place).

Being native, i prefer spring and sammer, but given that you have no choice...

 

[ReefWreak]

So just an update,

I'm sitting here in my hostel/hotel (Deep Siam, on Coral Beach, very inexpensive for the hostel or hotel room), and I dove yesterday in Jordan at the Royal Beach Diving Club or something like that, and that was pretty good, but it was a cold, windy, and dark day out, so it wasn't fantastic, but very nice. Crossing the border was a PITA, but I did it. I didn't bring anything but fins, mask, and a towel across (I wore my bathing suit, a t-shirt, and a heavy ski jacket cause it was in the 60s in the morning), butit was still a pain to cross, and I had to wait 1.5 hours to cross. The diving was very nice though.

Then today, I dove Eilat twice. One of the dives was LITERALLY 10ft from the shore of where I'm staying (it's a dive shop that is right on the beach). I walked into the water, and boom, a reef, 10ft out, at about 4-6ft depth. We swam along it, and it was covered with fish and corals. Then we went out to Moses Rock, which was insane. It was littered with Anthia and other fish. there were many goatfish to observe digging through the sand, small croppings of LTA with clownfish in them, and so much other stuff. I took plenty of pictures and video with a rented diving camera (digital). Considering dives cost about... 100 NIS per dive (about $26) including full equipment, wetsuits, a tank, and a divemaster guiding, it was definitely worth it.

If anyone is considering going diving in Israel, it's worth the pain in the butt to travel down to Eilat just to go diving for as long as you can. I ended up spending more on eating 2 meals a day than I do on my hostel for a night, and diving was very affordable as well. Overall a great time, saw TONS of corals, and TONS of fish. I can't even imagine what it would have been like in Summer if this is considered miserable... BTW the weather wasn't bad today, about in the high 70s in the shade, 80s in the sun, and it was a clear day out. Yesterday it was in the low 70s in the shade and high 70s in the sun, and cloudy and overcast, with a stiff wind, which apparently made the water very cloudy, but I didn't notice much. Not too terrible for diving, especially considering most of my dives have been off the coast of FL, which is usually full of particulate matter anyway.

I hope this information eventually helps someone who is considering going to and diving in Israel.