Eilat is a port city at the
Gulf of Aqaba. The town is Israel's only connection to the Red Sea and hence strategically important
for its oil import.
The city's history goes back 9000 years and early on it was an important trading post for the pharaohs
of Ancient Egypt.
When
Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran in 1956 this led to the
Suez War with Israel, the
same happened again in 1967.
In both cases Egypt lost and was forced to lift the blockades and restore Israeli access
to the Red Sea.
In the
2023 Israel-Hamas War,
Houthi rebels in Yemen have sided with Hamas and attacked ships in the Red Sea.
This has caused a dramatic reduction of ships calling port at Eilat.
The dry, hot desert climate, the beaches and the
coral reefs in the Gulf make Eilat a popular place for tourists and divers.
We visited Eilat in December 1998.
for a tour into Jordan you have to endure a long wait at the border
the electrics are out of order but the rest is fine
inside the Satil wreck, you are not allowed to enter the bridge, but....
a nice outgrow of Turbinaria coral
this one fits nicely
I need a new wetsuit
the Underwater Observatory Marine Park lets you inspect the reef without getting wet
from this pier you can board a glass bottom boat to see the coral reefs from above
the beaches on the west coast are small and cramped
and so do the mountains on the Jordan side
Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan both sit at the end of the Gulf of Aqaba
from our pleasant room we have view of the camping area of the hotel
the mountains behind the North Beach resorts glow in the afternoon sun
a school of Sergeant Majors