Haifa diving

[VeryBigFish]

Hi guys,

I am new here but already i found loads of information!!!! A big thank you. I am from Singapore but is recently based in Isreal, Haifa. Will be here for about a year. I have no experience diving in this region having only dived in south east asia. (Malaysia, indon, thailand etc) I brought all my gears with me (except for my reg set). I intend to go to eilat to dive the red sea some day but now i would prefer to "taste" the local delights. I have a few questions I hope can be answered.

1. I have AIA general accident insurance plan which covers leisure diving as well (up to 500K USD). will this do for the "dive insurance"?

2. When they say dive log, would my dive computer do, since it would record my last dive etc? My last dive was in Sipadan, Sabah Malaysia about 2 months ago but as usual being the lazy me i did not log it.:11doh:

3. Where can i find local dive centers or clubs? I walked along the gotam beach area... saw tons of people wind surfing and kite surfing (or whatever u call those with surf baords and a parachute) but i dont seem to see any dive clubs. in any case the waves seems quite large for diving isn't it? Maybe i was at the wrong beach?

4. Any other tips would be good!!!

Thanks a milion guys.

[Jai Bar]

Welcome!

1. Probably the insurance will do. Make sure it covers also hyperbaric chamber treatment. The dive club may call the insurance company number to verify if it covers scuba.

2. It depends on the dive club. Some of them may ask for the old fashioned paper hardcopy, others will do with the computer. If you can print the computer log on paper it may be sufficient.

3. I don't think there are many dive clubs in Haifa. Actually, I think that in the present there aren't any. Closest clubs could be "Blue Dive" 04-8744698 located in Quiriat Yam, "Putsker" 04-9511503 in Naharia, "Indigo" 04-9521919 in Shabei Tzion.
I am not sure if all of them operate during weekdays all year round.
In weekends they usually arrange some boat dives to sites like the "Scire" WWII Italian submarine and many others.

In any case, you will have hard times diving this area without a car and/or buddy. As you've noticed, the sea does is not always good for diving. A local saying says "You should dive when the sea allows you, not when you *want*"

So, my advice to you is to sign in the local diving forum http://diving.tapuz.co.il Although it is a Hebrew based website, you can introduce yourself in English and ask to join local divers when they go diving. Many divers arrange in small groups of friends and do early morning dives (or late night) before/after work, and during weekends. If you are a nice companion you shouldn't have any problems associating with enthusiastic divers and have lots of dives- when the sea allows...

However, you'll need full gear and having your own tank may help you a lot.

4. When the sea is good, there are some pretty nice dive sites. To begin with, contact Putsker and ask to dive at "Rosh Ha Nikra" and "Achziv Canyon". Both "Blue" and "Putsker" take dives to the "Scire" and many other shipwrecks (Missile boats, tug boats and many others).

Send me a PM if you need assitance opening an account in the local diving forum (Hebrew interface...)

[BobSch]

Welcome aboard!!!!
Jai Bar rapped up things very nicely. Diving in the Med Sea is very different from diving in Eilat. In Eilat there are very few changes during the seasons. The temps. in the Med vary from 30 degrees C. as it is now to 17 degrees in the Winter. Strong currrents and waves and not to mention jelly fish in the summer. I suggest to wait till October November when the diving season really starts. The sea wil be calmer, better visiblity, and while diving off the beach you can find yourself in huge schools of small fish. I do suggest looking into Putskir in Naharia they are a very good outfit, professional, and nice folks. They'll take you all over the Northern beaches and they also speicalize in diving sefaris to Cyprus and to the "Zanubia".
Enjoy and hope to met up with you there.
Rauven Schneider

[VeryBigFish]

Hi Jai Bar and Bobsch,

thanks for answering. So diving in haifa itself is not a very good idea now i c. hmmm I guess it eilat in august and I will contact Putskir during the dive season in the med.

I guess diving in eilat is a whole lot easier to arrange? I was thinking of end august with my wife. We both need a reg set and she needs a bc. could we just rent these stuff (with tanks and weight of course) and just walk a long the beach and do shore dives ourselves? I am from south east asia where almost all diving is done by boat so I am a little apprenhensive about diving without "boat support". any particular things I should note? currents? strong tidal movement etc? we don't mind getting a DM for a day or two but from what i read, they only guide for 2 times a day? I am more used to multiple (5-6) dives a day including the night dives as I hate doing nothing on the surface.

well looking forward to diving with you guys if chance perimts!!!

[Jai Bar]

Eilat is relatively more easy to dive. You walk into a dive club, show some credentials (insurance, logbook, c-card), rent whatever you need, put the gear on, walk into water, dive dive dive... There are a few sites for boat diving too.

Most dive clubs are on-or very near- the waterfront.

However, in some places you cannot just walk into the water, the entrances into the water (for divers, swimmers etc) are marked with floating rope lines.

Some places are closed for divers :-( The good news is that any club will assist you in choosing the divesites: most of them have some sort of map or drawing with the recommended itinerary.

Currents? Huh? OK, sometimes you may meet some sort of current but most of the time conditions are almost like a big pool...

Night dives- you need to register with the local naval base. Ask the dive club to assist you with the phone call.

About Med Sea- it ain't that bad. This morning for example the sea is excellent. You just can't plan that it will keep like this until weekend. So if you can, dive today!

[ofleisher]

You can PM me as well for Med. dives during the "season".
Just back from Eilat which is great as usual... At any dive club you can ask for DM or simply ask to join to local divers, it is like a pool indeed .....

Have fun

[BobSch]

Hi V-B-Fish,
Eilat is neat as Jai Bar has said like a big pool. Try a boat dive to the "Japense Garden" a very nice dive you swim up a lite current and then you just glide back to the boat. It's like flying!! You look down on some remarkable scenary. You can dive off the shore with no problem what so ever. Another nice off shore dive is "the light house". Check it out. Just be careful while diving off shore because before you know it you can be at depth of 40 meters!
Enjoy
Rauven Schneider

[VeryBigFish]

Hi Guys thanks for the input. I just recently finish some under water excavation at Dor near Haifa. Its amazing... we found so many pots and ancient pottery... I heard the finds even got onto national TV.. haha. what an experience...

Next stop the red sea. Too many people have told me to forgo Eilat and head straight to Sinai. I am not a big fan of wrecks so the northern region do not seem too interesting for me. Any suggestions on a good plan?

[Cyber_Ghost]

Congrats, I've heard the excavations were great this year. Planned to spend a week there but couldn't make it.

I've only recently got to do some diving in Eilat after about 50 dives in the med. It was rather interesting to dive there.

How much time have you got for diving? If it's a few days go to Eilat, if you've got more (like a week) go for Sinai.

[Tortuga68]

Been to Haifa but never had the time to dive there

Make sure you check out the Baiha'i gardens while you're there - amazing!

There are also some great views from the top of Mt Carmel, near the university

Oh and there's a very good israeli/arabic restaurant near the top of the cable car, I forget the name