lying on the southern edge of the country along the red sea coast Eilat is one of my favorite spots in Israel.
But only between October to February, when it’s not inferno hot outside all the time.
Most Israelis will say they hate the place, nothing to do here and it’s ugly. I guess they are right if you talk about the city which is kinda stuck in the 80’s. But we didn’t come ehre to see this sleepy town.
So what’s so good about this place?
The Nature of Eilat
The mountains around Eilat
Some of the fine nature spots of Israel are found around Eilat.
Eilat is located at the edge of the Gulf of Aqaba and is very interesting from a geological perspective, calm blue sea surrounded by high mountains.
Because there’s a lot of magmatic rocks in the area, the mountains are very colorful. it all creates a very dramatic landscape.
I recommended a day hike to a German friend of mine, and she said it was one of the best hikes she ever did in her life. And trust her, she’s been hiking in the US, Europe and Asia.
Some of the best desert hikes of Israel are in these mountains. it is also the end of the 970 km Israel trail hike.
The Red Sea
Diving in Eilat – more info on this page.
And of course, there’s the red sea. Because it’s part of the Dead Sea transform it’s very deep and sea bottom slope is very steep which is excellent news for…….. Divers!
It is simple to dive in Eilat, no need for a Boat– because of the steep slope it means that most of the diving sites are close to the beach and accessible with an easy shore dive. For example, the diving site “Hasatil” (missile ship in Hebrew) is an old navy wreck 50 meters long in depth of 30 meters, and it is just 60 meters from the shore.
It is cheap -compare to other places in the world the diving courses in Eilat are cheap and you get an extra dive in the open water course.
In this video you can see the combination of mountains and Sea:
Wind and kite surfing in Eilat
The place is also very good for wind and kite surfing. The sea conditions are very good almost the entire year and the clubs here have some champions in global scale including one Olympic windsurfer bronze medalist Shahar Tsuberi. Sup surfing is also slowly becoming popular.
An overview of Eilat
Map of Eilat and the southern coastline:
The city itself is built on a steep slope. The upper part is where people are living in old 70’s building style and as you get down close to the beaches there is fancier modern residential area, commercial and tourist’s areas.
There is a big fancy touristy promenade along the main beach with restaurants and shopping centers.
if you have a look at the map of Eilat you will notice that the city is quite small.
for info about the southern coastline go here.
- Eilat is a free VAT tax area. It means it is cheaper than the rest of Israel. A lot of Israelis are coming here for shopping.
- The city is full of 24h supermarkets. They don’t care about the tax-free area, And usually will be quite expensive. The big supermarkets up in the city itself will be much cheaper even compare to the rest of Israel.
- The city has free WiFi in all the touristic area! You can send selfies immediately back home.
Dead Tourist Attractions Of Eilat
As the tourist and leisure city that it is, in Eilat, there are many tourist’s attractions. For many reasons, the most grandiose attractions after few glorious years failed and now stand as a monument to their glorious past.
- IMAX pyramid– a 5 dimension cinema that was built in a big pyramid. Next to the musical fountain.
- City Of The Kings – Was an amusement park with a biblical theme built inside a big castle, kids were going crazy here.
- The Artificial Lagoon- Next to the city of kings. was supposed to be extra shore line and leisure area. still, a nice place to chill or camp.
- Wild West Town – Used to host shows of live actors performing stunts and “gun fights” Wild West style. located in Almog beach. Kids were going crazy here.
- Princess Hotel – for many years was considered to be the fanciest hotel in Eilat. Today it’s hosting mostly bats. Located on the southern cost next to the border with Egypt.
grown ups were going crazy here.
