Eilat

At the southernmost tip of Israel sharing the borders with Jordan and Egypt is the town of Eilat. Route to it could be along the dead sea or the more scenic route through Mitzpe Ramon. This town is duty free for everyone so a great spot for shopping and the only beach on the Red Sea in Israel makes it a real tourist hot-spot.

Just before you enter Eilat is an ostrich and other African deer reserve. We did a little offroading to get there as we were there after the closing time but I suppose they let you in even with your vehicle. Our offroading did not get us inside the fence but there were a few ibexes and ostriches close to the fence. There are camel tours and Timna national park there(few mines I guess). We skipped those however.

There are plenty of places to stay there. Youth hostels are quite cheap for 3-4 people and you would not have to sell your soul for a motel either. I stayed in a motel and a youth hostel on separate trips. There is a decent night life here and close to the city center beach a nice place to shop. There is also an ice pub not to be missed which is really cool. An imax theater shows 3d movies (1 English for every 3 Hebrew) also near the huge mall at the center. The airport is truly hard to miss as it lies right between two roads and handles private and domestic flights only I guess.

The red as opposed to the other water bodies in Israel is a clear and calm sea with plenty of sea-life. The corals support a wide variety of colorful fishes and scuba diving is an absolute pleasure. I tried diving in the coral reef as well as in the dolphin reef with an instructor. Each experience is completely different. The dolphin reef has 6-8 dolphins and a couple of sea turtles which from underwater are really amazing to watch. The coral reef of course has tons of colorful fishes all around you all the time. I managed to see an eel as well at 6 mtrs underwater. One of the guys with me was a non swimmer and he was also able to dive with an instructor.

The other water sports there are pretty much like any other tourist beach. Para-sailing, Jet skiis, motorboats. There is also an oceanarium which houses various fishes and provides an underwater observatory. There are films on fishes with effects and moving seats which is nice. Glass bottom boat rides to get up close and personal with the coral reefs are also a good idea. The oceanarium also provides the feeding times of different fishes and watching piranhas chomp never gets old.



This would wrap up my travels in Israel. I did miss out a couple of places(Nazreth and Gaza). Though I don't intend to visit those places. Currently being a tour guide for my colleagues here.