Eilat is situated at Israel’s southernmost tip on the shores of the Red Sea and is the ultimate resort city for local holidaymakers and visiting tourists from abroad throughout the year due to the very few days of rainfall annually.
Eilat is a unique oasis at the lower end of the Negev desert. It contains everything that vacationers could ask for, excellent hotels, lovely beaches, an abundance of restaurants and seafront bars, as well as an endless choice of outstanding activities, including amazing water sports, especially for scuba divers, who can experience the spectacular coral reefs and a captivating underwater world with thousands of varieties of fish and marine life.
Popular places are Dolphin Reef, where visitors can swim, dive, or observe the dolphins. The Famous Underwater Observatory is only one of four similar facilities in the world.
Visitors can walk down a spiral staircase to view the marine life at levels under the water and climb up to the top of the tower where there are wonderful views, and Egypt, Jordan, and even Saudi Arabia can be seen.
It is not a very well-known fact that Eilat is one of the top spots in the world for bird watching and is the International Bird watching Center headquarters. Between September – November, more than one billion birds travel between the Mediterranean coast and the mountains of Jordan, and these migrating birds make their return flight from the beginning of March until the end of May. This makes the southern part of Israel one of the most outstanding areas of migrating birds worldwide.
Eilat was an active port city more than 3000 years ago and reached its heyday during the time of King Solomon when there was a flourishing trade with Africa. However, it remained strategically important for centuries when it was under the control of Nabataeans, the Romans, the Arabs, and the Crusaders, all of whom ruled Israel.
The modern city of Eilat was established during the early 1950s when the port was redeveloped. This was the starting point for its economy. However, it was only towards the end of the 1960s that the tourist industry began to develop, which led to the paradise resort that Eilat has become today, attracting many vacationers during the winter months from the cold weather of the U.K., Scandinavia, Germany, and France who come to bask in the warm sunshine and dry weather conditions.
Eilat offers a wide variety of accommodation to suit individual requirements, excellent restaurants, and shopping opportunities, as well as “Kings City,” which is a theme park based on bible stories. There is also an IMAX theatre and many other fun activities, including Jeep tours and camel treks.