Four things to do in Eilat this summer besides shopping and tanning

Heading down to Eilat? What fun! You have cleared out the back seat of the car for all the bags and cardboard boxes that will join you on the way back, the swimsuit and sunscreen are already at the ready, and you already know what the next few days will look like: Shopping on the promenade, continuous lounging on the beach below, too much food, and too little afternoon naps.

So put a diving mask on your face, fins on your feet, and let us begin.

Did you think Eilat was just a desert? Not many know that Eilat also has green grass beds, carpets of seagrass growing on the sandy seabed, located opposite the hotel complex and opposite the Religious Beach on the North Shore. Just like daisies, seagrass also has flowers and seeds, creating an extensive and spectacular meadow.

If you snorkel in relative quiet and maintain calm movement, you have a good chance of seeing large and impressive stingrays. This is also where the sea's nursery for young fish and other creatures takes place, where they feel protected before moving on to the big world.

• If you are snorkeling far from the shore, you should equip yourself with a marker buoy (a buoy in a prominent color attached to you) so that boat owners, jet skis, and others will notice you. Although motorized sailing is prohibited within 300 meters of the shore, a jet ski or rogue motorboat sometimes approaches the beach at the North Shore.

• Fishermen often stand on the pier at the entrance to the lagoon, casting fishing rods into the water. Make sure you are far enough away from them.

Between one reef knoll and another, and across large parts of the seabed, lies the sandy system, and it is certainly not as sleepy as it might look. If you have a mask on your face and plenty of patience, you can catch wonderful occurrences. Many of the sand creatures are burrowed most of the time or well camouflaged, requiring patience and sharp eyes.

With a little luck, you might observe a spotted eagle ray passing in noble motion. Behind its serene appearance hides a sixth sense of electricity with which it locates fish or crabs hiding deep in the sand.

There is another heart-expanding surprise for experienced snorkels, divers, and free divers: An eel garden. Opposite the Aqua Sport diving club, on the sandy slope where it begins to deepen into the blue abyss, you can watch a fascinating show: Slender garden eels stand up from the seabed and begin a dance. Each is anchored at its lower part to the sand, while its upper part moves with the current, catching plankton, and if you get too close, it disappears all at once inside. The eels are quite timid, do not like divers' bubbles, and the best chance to see them up close is during calm snorkeling.

The southern beaches of Eilat, including the Coral Beach Nature Reserve, Lighthouse Beach, and the rest of the beaches spread out to the Taba crossing, are a wonderful opportunity to observe live the bustling coral reef revealed there in all its glory.

You do not need a diving star or to be a star swimmer to see all this colorful wonder. Eilat's reefs are, first and foremost, accessible: You take snorkeling equipment with you and enter the water in the area marked with yellow buoys. Start working with your legs, and you will reach the coral knolls. If you move just a few meters away from the shore, you will already be floating above large coral villas and get to know this wild and dynamic beauty.

The end of the day is approaching, time flies when you are having fun, the mountains are starting to be painted in red hues, and there is no place more suitable than the quiet and peaceful Princess Beach to top off the day. Just before the Taba terminal lies the beach named after the deserted Princess Hotel. It is a less regulated and less touched beach, without lifeguard services. We recommend the strip of beach located in its northern part, between the abandoned and unmaintained "bridges" and Caves Beach located slightly to the north. The location is perfectly suited for sunset snorkeling before returning to the tourist area somewhere in the north of the city.

You enter the water and pass through impressive coral corridors, pass by coral knolls crowded with anthias dancing in tight schools, and notice a slope descending deep with beautiful coral knolls along it. Above it, you can snorkel and see the beautiful transition between sandy expanses and coral structures, or dive deeper to see developed corals, sandy areas with eel gardens, and even small patches of seagrass. The water is clear and blue, and who knows, maybe you will decide to forego the pampering hotel room and stay here in the camping area to feel nature up close.