The Best Place To Snorkel In Eilat
Best Place to Snorkel in Eilat
This was supposed to be a down day. However I’ve heard about the Red Sea as a great place for snorkeling for years, and had researched the best place to snorkel in Eilat. So I came equipped with mask and snorkel. Jim and I dropped the women at a shopping area and headed down the coast towards the Egyptian border.
Coral Reef National Preserve
The first place we tried was the Coral Reef preserve which is a National Park area. We rented fins and got appropriate instructions. The wind and the
current very strong from north to south so we started on the far left of the reef and cruised down the buoy line. There is a protective buoy line so you can’t get right over the coral. But it is very very good coral and the are a ton of fish here. Saw a number of fish I’ve never seen before. This includes 1 q/2 foot purple parot fish and avery large black puffer fish.
current very strong from north to south so we started on the far left of the reef and cruised down the buoy line. There is a protective buoy line so you can’t get right over the coral. But it is very very good coral and the are a ton of fish here. Saw a number of fish I’ve never seen before. This includes 1 q/2 foot purple parot fish and avery large black puffer fish.Go Against The Flow
We did forget what we were told and cruised on past a Patch Reef that was probably 30 yards farther out. I soon realized it and had to snorkel back 30 or 40 yards against the current as well as out to the reef and realized the current was even stronger than we had thought up until that point. The coral is very healthy here and I saw a variety of corals also that I’ve never seen before. However we heard that the snorkeling was even better farther south. So we smuggled our rental equipment out through the gate ( Israelis also subscribe to my theory that it is easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission) and headed down to the Egypt border. Would have loved to have crossed over for the possibility of even better snorkeling and added one more country to my list but I think it might have been too much hassle.
Princess Beach
The snorkel beach just above the Border with Egypt and across the street from a hotel that is being renovated ( I think it used to be called the princess). Was even better than the National Park area. To get to this, which is probably the best place ti snorkel in Eilat, just drive to the border of Egypt, turn around before somebody starts shooting (just kidding !!), and drive back to the next beach you see. What I recommend here is just look where everybody else is snorkeling. The best areas seem to be just north of the pier. So we swam against the current till we got tired and then coasted back down. This area is probably a bit smaller than the National Park area but lots of fish and lots of healthy Coral. This is an incredible experience. The water visibility here was a little better than farther north, probably 40 or 50 feet at best. Oh and I should mention that this is supposed to be the farthest north Coral Reef in the world. I think we are around 29 degrees latitude which is the same as Charleston South Carolina.
Dinner on the Red Sea
We figured we better get back before I wife spent all our money shopping so we took our equipment back to the rental place and headed back into town. The women had found a place to chill right with a view of the Red Sea and had already scoped out places for dinner. We had dinner at a restaurant called The Giraffe which we later found out is a chain in Israel. Food is Asian fusion. Very nice and a good break from Middle Eastern.
The coral along this coast is easily reached from the shore. Additionally, I have read a lot of guides and none of them convincingly suggest that a boat snorkeltrip is any better. In conclusion I believe we successfully found the best place to snorkel in Eilat,but welcome other comments.
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