The Best Beaches for Snorkelling in Tel Aviv

Let a naturalist be honest from the first line: Tel Aviv is a glorious city beach coast, not a snorkelling destination. The eastern Mediterranean here is warm and pleasant but the shore is long, open, sandy and exposed to surf, and there is no coral on this side of the country. A snorkeller swimming off the main promenade beaches will find clean, empty water and little to look at, because the bare sandy floor gives fish nowhere to gather.

The honest rule, as ever, is to follow the rock. The few places where stone or a breakwater breaks the sand hold what life there is, white sea bream, ornate wrasse, the occasional small moray or flounder over rock and the rare patch of posidonia seagrass. Hilton beach at the north end is the most rocky of the central beaches, which makes it the city's best modest shore snorkel on a calm, clear day.

The genuinely rewarding spot lies just south of the city. At HaSela beach in Bat Yam a large rock pool shelters a shallow, protected patch where wrasse, sea bream, bass and red mullet gather, the closest thing to a proper snorkel in the Tel Aviv area. It is a short trip and a world away from the open sand, and well worth the effort for anyone set on putting a mask in the water near the city.

For real reef, the naturalist must travel. The coral and the clear water of Israel are far south at Eilat on the Red Sea, a different sea entirely, with reefs that rival Sharm across the gulf. Closer to home, treat Tel Aviv as a swimming and sunset coast and the snorkelling as a quiet curiosity. We have ranked the six city beaches below, the rocky ones first, the open sand honestly last, each linked to its full guide.

The honest read is that Tel Aviv is a city swimming and sunset coast, not a snorkelling one, and the famous promenade beaches are for the scene and the sea, not for marine life. The shore is long, open and sandy with no coral, so a snorkel off Bograshov or Frishman shows clean, empty water. The fish are only where the rare rock or breakwater breaks the sand, and even there the life is modest.

Within the city, Hilton beach at the north end is the most rocky and so the best shore snorkel, with the quieter northern beaches at Hatzuk and the breakwater coves at Tel Baruch and Metzitzim worth a curious look. The genuinely rewarding spot is just south at HaSela beach in Bat Yam, where a protected rock pool shelters wrasse, sea bream and bass, the closest thing to a proper snorkel near the city.

For real reef you must travel, and that is the honest truth of this coast. The coral and clear water of Israel are far south at Eilat on the Red Sea, a different world from the Mediterranean. Near Tel Aviv, go on a calm, clear morning, seek out the rock, respect the surf and the swimming flags, never tear at the rare seagrass, and treat the snorkelling as a quiet curiosity rather than the reason to come.

The snorkelling here is a quiet aside, so the day naturally builds around Tel Aviv's superb city beach life. The beach bars, matkot courts and seafront cafes along the promenade rent loungers, shade and a kitchen behind the water, which makes an easy base for a swim, a sunset and a long lunch. Operators, opening hours and any fees vary with the season, so we keep the live list on the directory. Tell us your dates and the kind of day you want and we pass the enquiry on to confirm what is open.