Snorkeling in the Gulf of Eilat

Eilat is the southernmost city in Israel. It sits on the Gulf of Eilat which is one of the two fingers that come up around the Sinai desert from the Red Sea. Eilat is both an industrial port as well as a popular resort with big hotels, boardwalks, and shopping malls. Down here on the Gulf, Israel is narrow. It covers just about 10 linear miles along the water. Furthermore, the land surrounding Eilat is severe with lots of redstone hills and canyons (more on that later). Indeed, it is from these redstone hills that the Red Sea gets its name. Some copper mines just North of the city are the oldest on Earth. Eilat also appears in the book of Exodus as a location the Jewish people passed through shortly after they left Egypt.

We did many fun things during our stay in Eilat, but the subject of this blog is about how we went snorkeling at the Coral Reef Nature Reserve. One of the best buys we have made during our stay in Israel is our purchase of a National Parks pass. The National Park facilities are amongst the cleanest and best maintained in Israel, and they are often at very scenic or historic locations.

The Coral Reef Nature Reserve has not only an excellent beach for hanging out, but also a third of a kilometer snorkeling trail along a coral reef. Here are Miriam and Rebekah geared up and waiting on the pier to get started.

Here we are in the water. You can clearly see Lynn and Rebekah.


Here are some clear shots of Miriam and Rebekah in the water.


Hey, look, there's me taking a dive.


Enough clowning around. It's time to give our Canon PowerShot waterproof camera a workout. These coral look like cabbage.


The white fish with the blue stripes look to me to be Seargent Major fish. The dark fish looks like a Purple Surgeon fish.


Here are some unidentified fish and coral.


It's always a delight to go snorkeling and see that beautiful world that's hidden just below the water's surface. We'll tell you about our other adventures in Eilat in a future blog.