The Best Beaches
in Eilat

Eilat is Israel squeezed into a narrow wedge of desert at the very top of the Red Sea, where the country meets Jordan and Egypt across the same small, brilliant gulf. It is a town of two halves for a beachgoer. The central strip is a full resort, a row of big hotels behind a bay, a promenade and a marina, busy and easy and built for a holiday. South of town the coast turns into something far rarer, the coral coast, where a living reef sits just off the shore and the snorkelling and diving are among the best you can reach from a public beach anywhere. Knowing the difference between the two is the whole game in Eilat.

The honest read is that you come to central Eilat for the scene and to the south for the sea. The North Beach bay is lively and convenient but the swimming there is plain, a calm shallow stretch that catches out travellers expecting clear reef water the moment they arrive. The magic is a short drive south at the Coral Beach Nature Reserve and the free Princess Beach beside it, where a few strokes off the rock open into a wall of fish and coral. A traveller who reads this town well spends the day under the surface on the coral coast and the evening on the promenade, and below we rank the beaches that justify the trip, honest about which are reef and which are resort.

This is also a place where the beach is only ever part of the day. Eilat is a duty free town between the Negev desert and the sea, with the Underwater Observatory marine park, dive and glass bottom boats, desert canyons and trails behind town, and a border town energy with three countries in view. The food leans to Red Sea fish, good hummus and the easy mix of a holiday town, and the sunset over the red Edom mountains of Jordan is the nightly event. The beaches below are the heart of it, ranked for what they actually deliver, with the snorkelling, the scene and the desert all in mind.

Be honest about why you are coming, because Eilat rewards two opposite travellers. If you came for the underwater world, the reef is everything and the central beaches are a distraction. Head straight south to the Coral Beach Nature Reserve and Princess Beach, accept the awkward rocky entry, bring water shoes and a mask, and the gulf delivers some of the most accessible reef snorkelling in the region. If you came for an easy sun and scene holiday, the central bay around North Beach, Mosh and Dekel is made for you, with hotels, restaurants and a promenade on the doorstep, and the plain swimming will not matter much.

The trap is expecting both from one beach. The single most common mistake is booking a central hotel, walking onto North Beach and feeling let down by the ordinary water, having pictured the coral. Eilat keeps its two faces a few kilometres apart, so plan to move between them: snorkel the coral coast by day, return to the promenade for the evening. The reef beaches have an entry fee or limited facilities, the central beaches are free but built up, and parking and crowds peak around Israeli school and Jewish holidays. Conditions are typical and never guaranteed, the reef is protected and fragile, so tread carefully and never stand on the coral.

For a traveller who treats the beach as one part of the day, Eilat gives you the rare combination of reef, desert and town in a space you can cross in twenty minutes. A morning over the coral, an afternoon escape into the Negev canyons or the marine observatory, and an evening of Red Sea fish and a sunset over the Jordanian mountains is the shape of a good Eilat day. The beaches are the anchor, but the desert behind them and the border town buzz around them are what make this corner of the Red Sea unlike anywhere else on the coast.

Eilat is a year round beach town, but the sweet spot is spring and autumn. March to May and October to November give a warm sea and bearable heat, ideal for long days on the reef. Winter is mild and sunny and draws sun seekers escaping the European cold, with the Red Sea still swimmable, while high summer is very hot, often near forty degrees, with the warmest water and the biggest local crowds. Prices and crowds spike around the Jewish holidays of Passover in spring and Sukkot in autumn, so time the trip with those in mind. Our Eilat season guide lays out the month by month picture.

Eilat does the beach club in its own relaxed, restaurant led way, with the lounge beaches of the central bay leading the scene. Mosh, Dekel and the hotel fronts on North Beach offer sunbeds, shade, beach bars and good food, some with floating rafts and DJ nights, more easy going holiday spot than exclusive club. The southern coral beaches are about the reef rather than the daybed, so save the club day for the central bay. Our directory keeps an honest note of where you can reserve a lounger and a table and where the beach is simply free.