Essential Info

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About Eilat
Weather Conditions in Eilat
Israeli Diving Law



Below, you'll find general useful information on planning your trip to Eilat.

 





About Eilat

Israel's southernmost city, on the shore of the Red Sea, modern Eilat was established shortly after the end of Israel's War of Independence in 1949 with the construction of the seaport and the opening of the copper mines in the Timna Valley. Today, Eilat is a city of over 55,000 residents and Israel's Red Sea resort, where visitors can enjoy the beautiful landscape of a deep blue sea surrounded by colorful mountains. Eilat boasts a coral reef with vibrant and exotic fish life and lots of other interesting creatures like crabs, octopuses and even occasional turtles. In fact, the Red Sea is renowned for the richness and variety of fish species and invertebrates. All of the photos on this site were taken by us in Eilat.

As a resort town, Eilat offers a variety of activities for visitors, with an emphasis on the natural world above and below the water's surface. There is a wide range of accommodations to suit most budgets, ranging from the fanciest full-service hotels to simple hostel-type accommodations and lots of private airbnb/booking.com type offers. You'll find plenty of restaurants, kosher and otherwise – something for every taste, and nightlife as well.

GETTING HERE: Planes, automobiles, buses and land crossings; no trains.

Domestic flights land at the Ramon Eilat Airport North of town (Eilat Airport), taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport on Israel’s ‘other’ airlines, Arkia and Israir. International flights from Europe land at Ramon Airport as well. Buses, shuttles, private shuttles and taxis take travelers to and from the airport.

Renting a car, either in Tel Aviv or in Eilat, can be a good option for getting here as well as for getting around; the large international car rental agencies are here along with one or two Israeli companies. Note that a one-way rental to or from Eilat carries a large extra charge for rentals under three days. Also note that all car rental agencies in Eilat close early on Friday afternoons and remain closed all day Saturday.

The cheapest way to Eilat if you're already in the country is usually via buses run by the Egged bus company. Buses to Eilat leave Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva. Reservations are required; if you don't read Hebrew you can't reserve online, but you can still reserve a seat in English by phone. 
 

GETTING AROUND: If you don't rent a car, taxis are a relatively inexpensive option. Except for intercity trips with published tariffs, never agree to a price if the driver offers you one in advance – instead, ask the driver to run the meter, and at your destination ask for a receipt. Most taxi drivers in Eilat are honest but there are bad apples in any group. One need not tip taxi drivers in Israel. If you prefer to take a bus, the bus lines most likely to be of interest will be No. 15, which travels the South Beach Road all the way to the Taba crossing (No. 16 is the return trip), and No. 5 can take you from the North Beach hotel area to the popular “Big” Shopping Center (No. 6 is the return trip).



Weather Conditions in Eilat

CLIMATE: Eilat has a long, hot and dry summer and a short, cool winter. As befits our location at the edge of the desert, we get very little rainful: A typical winter includes a few brief showers and a few scattered hours of heavy rain. 

This table, using data from Weather Spark, shows the monthly averages for high and low air temperatures in Eilat.

AVERAGE DAILY HIGH AND LOW AIR TEMPERATURES IN EILAT
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High °C 21 22 26 30 34 38 39 39 37 33 27 22
Low °C 10 12 14 18 22 24 27 27 25 22 16 12
High °F 69 72 78 86 94 100 103 102 98 91 81 72
Low °F 50 53 58 65 71 76 80 80 77 71 61 53

WATER TEMPS: If you've done any ‘internet research’ about Eilat, you may have read somewhere that water temperatures here are a constant 20 C or 21 C year-round. This is completely wrong! As you can see in the table below, seawater temperatures here have an annual cycle bottoming out in late winter at about 21 C and peaking in late summer at about 27 C. This temperature cycle is pretty reliable, as shown on the Weather Spark site: even with year-to-year variability, water temperatures fall within ±1°C (2°F) of the mean at least 90% of the time. In any case, we have a range of wetsuits appropriate for every season.

AVERAGE SEAWATER TEMPERATURES IN EILAT
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
°C High 22 21 21 22 23 25 27 27 27 26 24 23
°F 72 70 70 71 74 77 80 81 80 78 76 73

SURFACE CONDITIONS AND CURRENTS: The prevailing underwater currents in the Gulf of Eilat are counter-clockwise, that is, on the Jordanian side they run from south to north and on the Israeli side they run from north to south. However, most of the time currents are quite weak. As a rule, currents in Eilat cannot be predicted with great reliability. The maximum tidal range in Eilat is a mere 0.99m (3.3 ft) from low tide to high tide, and therefore tides have only a small impact on water movement. 

The prevailing winds in Eilat are from the north (bringing hot desert air in summer!) and as a result surface currents are generally north-to-south.
Stronger winds, more prevalent in summer, can raise small whitecaps on the sea and even generate some serious surface currents at our southern boat moorings. Most of the year we'll see waves of less than 0.6m (2 ft), but on windier days the waves can reach 1m (3 ft) or more.  






The Israeli Diving Law and the Rules of the Israeli Diving Authority


The Israel Diving Authority has made diving in Israel complicated, especially for divers who are planning on diving only for one day.
Expect some hassle when signing up for a guided dive at a dive center or when renting diving equipment.
Make sure you have a logbook or a dive computer with logged dives with you!



Here's what you need to know:

REFRESHER DIVES: Divers who haven't dived in 6 months have to undergo a ‘refresher’ dive, which consists mainly of underwater exercises and a lession and may take several hours. It is not cheap. You'll have to bring proof that you have been diving in the last half a year. Only if you’re a Master Scuba Diver or dive professional with 72 dives then you're exempt.

INSURANCE: Diving insurance is mandatory by law for any certified diver who dives in Israel. If you have a diving insurance, make sure to bring proof that your insurance is valid. If your insurance card does not show any expiry date on the card, make sure to bring proof that it is still valid.

The "IDive" insurance offers short-term Israeli insurance a policy. Here's the link.

MINIMUM AGE: The minimum age in Israel is 12 years. That applies to certified junior divers as well as to courses. This may cause unpleasant surprises for diving families with 10 or 11-year old certified kids.
Only introductiory dives are somehow except from that rule. Those dives are conducted on a 1:1 ratio, the instructior has to hold the participant firmly at all times.

MAXIMUM DEPTHS: You are limited to your certification level.