Snorkeling in the Red Sea – Israel

Lindsay and I plan very hard for our international trips. Most of the destinations we go to require serious planning but no matter what we always leave a little room for the unexpected. Sometimes the “unexpected” is bad but most of the time it is once in a lifetime opportunities that present themselves and spontaneous experiences that could never be planned for. This happened to us during our one night stay in the Israeli beach town of Eilat. I had always heard that the diving/snorkeling in the Red Sea is incredible but I didn’t think this was something we could actually do…I didn’t “plan” for it. However, Lindsay and I were able to do this thanks to a little luck and spontaneity. We were staying at the beautiful Isrotel Yam Suf hotel in Eilat which is right across the street from the ocean. Immediately adjacent to the hotel is a coral reef preserve that costs money to enter. However, someone had told us that you can actually rent snorkel gear from the hotel and then simply sneak into the coral reef preserve for free. Looking back on it we probably shouldn’t have done this (honesty is the best policy) but it actually ended up being an incredible experience. We rented some snorkel gear from our hotel and walked across the street to Cocoa Beach. From here we could see a large steel fence that projected out about 20 yards into the ocean. We were told to snorkel along this fence until it ends which then allows you to get into the preserve. The ocean scenery at Cocoa Beach, and along the fence, was nothing special. However, once we made it to the end of the fence and crossed over into the preserve we were blown away! All of the sudden we were surrounded by hundreds of bright colorful fish and tons of unique and colorful coral reef. We spent hours just swimming around trying to take in the beauty of what we were seeing. Eilat Israel is such a unique landscape because the desert hills eventually make way to the turquoise waters of the Red Sea which is home too acres and acres of some of the most beautiful coral reef we have ever seen. Looking at the brown desert landscape surrounding the Red Sea you would never expect that the water had such colorful and diverse ocean life. Eventually we were exhausted from swimming and had to call it a day. Our one afternoon snorkeling in the Red Sea is something we will always remember.