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Israel on the Red Sea
At the southermost tip of Israel, lies a unique oasis on the coast of the Red Sea. Blessed with everything that makes a perfect vacation - a beautiful mirror-like sea, lively beaches, seafront bars and restaurants, first-rate hotels, all kinds of water sports, spectacular underwater world and coral reefs, diving clubs, desert treks, camel tours and even swimming with dolphins, this haven is not what you would normally expect when considering Israel as a holiday location.
The sun always shines on Israel's Red Sea coast (it rains about a half dozen days a year) and the average daytime temperatures rarely dip below 70°F (21°C), even in winter. During the summer, temperatures can soar well above 100°F and the water can feel almost like a Jacuzzi. Even in mid-winter, the average daytime water temperature stays above 68°F (20°C).
The most popular resorts in Israel's Red Sea region are :-
Eilat
A resort town of over 55,000 and a bustling port, combining sea and desert, Eilat is the jewel of Israel's Red Sea region, seperated from the rest of the country by the Negev desert. It is sprawled along 7 kilometers of Red Sea coastline, between the borders of Egypt and Jordan, and offers spectacular views of the Gulf of Aqaba.
The 2 km North Beach area is full of hotels with opulent names like Herod's Palace and Queen of Sheba. The Tayelet promenade extends the length of the beach front and hosts numerous stalls, street artists, restaurants, and fashionable shops. The promenade has great views of the bay, and each evening it is full of strolling tourists. The southern beach, which has coral reefs, is protected by the Israel Nature Reserve Authority. It has many public beaches and excellent scuba diving centers. The Navy and commercial ports lie between the south and north beaches.
Eilat is a great place for water skiing and swimming. The calm surface of the sea is also ideal for boating activities: sailboats, rowboats, kayaks and motor boats.
The main attraction of Eilat is diving in the Red Sea (actually an inlet from the sea known as the Gulf of Eilat or Aqaba), one of the world's most spectacular underwater preserves. You can see brightly colored coral and fish and may see everything from a venomous lionfish to a moray eel to a shark to a sea turtle to a manta ray.
Even if you're not a diver, you can enjoy the magnificent coral reef from the surface with a snorkel and mask or on a glass-bottom boat ride (though you usually don't see nearly as much). If you want a really unique view (and don't mind spending the money), try an underwater safari in a submarine (yup, it's a real one) that holds 50 people and takes you 200 feet below the surface. And, if you're really a landlubber, there's the Coral World Underwater Observatory that lets you enjoy the wonders of the Sea as if it were an aquarium. One of only four in the world, the observatory offers a kaleidoscopic view of the reef and sea life 15 feet below the surface. One of the newer Eilat attractions is Dolphin Reef, where you can swim and dive with dolphins.
And there's plenty of activities outside the water, including rappelling on craggy cliffs of the desert mountains, hiking in the desert and mountain biking.
Less well-known is the fact that Eilat is one of the best places in the world for bird watching. Approximately one billion birds traverse the area between the Mediterranean coast and the Jordan mountains, making southern Israel the site of one of the greatest concentrations of migrating birds in the world. The migration from Europe to Africa takes place from September to November and the return flight begins in March and lasts through May. Eilat is the headquarters for the International Birdwatching Center.
Eilat is also known as a great place to party at night with lots of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. It's also a good place to shop because the city is a free trade zone with no VAT.
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