Traveling to Israel - Red Sea Options?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

mm2613

Registered
Messages
28
Reaction score
4
Location
New York
# of dives
0 - 24
I'm traveling to Israel in late June - and I'm considering extending the trip to include some diving in the Red Sea. I would be staying in Eilat - does anyone know any groups that dive out of Eilat or liveaboards that leave from Eilat? Also a good(cheap) accommodation in the area?

I apologize if the information is already on this forum - I will be reading through it today probably through the odd hours of the night. I leave in a week or so and this is kind of last minute so i'm trying to get this figured out asap.

I appreciate all your advice!

Mike
 
I'm traveling to Israel in late June - and I'm considering extending the trip to include some diving in the Red Sea. I would be staying in Eilat - does anyone know any groups that dive out of Eilat or liveaboards that leave from Eilat? Also a good(cheap) accommodation in the area?

I apologize if the information is already on this forum - I will be reading through it today probably through the odd hours of the night. I leave in a week or so and this is kind of last minute so i'm trying to get this figured out asap.

I appreciate all your advice!

Mike

I have never dived Eilat, but from what I have read it is not all THAT great when compared to the rest of the Red Sea. I am also going to Israel in mid-June and I am tacking on a liveaboard out of marsa Alam.
Did you know you can fly both El Al and Royal Jordanian from Tel Aviv to Cairo? El Al is a direct flight and RJ goes through Amman but the El Al times simply did not work for my itinerary...

Sorry this may not help at all... but thought I would put in a few cents
 
Eilat (and Taba) aren't great diving by red sea standards. A few small sites. OK for 1 or 2 dives but thats about it.

Both Dahab and Sharm are within a few hours drive of there though with better diving.
 
There are no liveaboards outbound from Eilat.
You can organize a safari through one of the local operators, which will take care of all transportation to/from etc to Sharm- or a Taba-Dahab short safari which can be nice.

Aqua Sport have a branch in Taba and they have daily boats and short safaris.

And of course, you can stay diving in Eilat. It is not the best in the area, granted, but IMHO it offers more than 1-2 dives..
 
So if one has one weekend for a quick hop from Tel Aviv. What would one suggest?
 
One short weekend (1.5-2 days)- just stay in Eilat.

Longer weekend (3 days)- you can consider either staying in Eilat (easier) or go diving in Dahab (by far better dive sites, more hours traveling, border crossing etc). Aqaba is also a nice option- consumes less travel time (compared to Dahab).
 
Any operation in Eilat one would suggest for weekend of July 22nd-25th?
 
Does one require guide when diving in Eilat/Israel? Or can you just rent tank and go diving (after few guided local dives) on your own (i.e. I am traveling alone, no buddy). (I am just interested in legal side, not the solo vs. team diving discussion.)
 
AFAIK, there should be no problem with renting a tank, you do not need a DM to dive in Eilat.
You also won't lack buddies for your dives.... there are always people looking to team up.

As for a diving club, I'd suggest Deep-Siam, but I'm biased cause I dive there. Marina Divers, Manta and Aquasport nearby.
 

Back
Top Bottom