Options 2 - Scuba Diving - Coby Jankelowitz
It all started with a nice wake up at the usual, 6:30. All 35 of us, plus the madrichim, set off at around 8:30 for a 4 hour ride to the beautiful city of Eilat. We had arrived around midday and were treated to an amazing lunch of Burgers Bar! Then, we headed off to what, for many of us, was our first dive! Some of us are experienced divers, so we started our advanced course. Since myself and Noah had completed a dive within the last couple months, we did not need to do a refresher dive.
Noah, our instructor and myself set off to a shipwreck not too far from shore. It was great to see the others learn how to dive and help each other succeed. As we approached the massive navy ship, the mast was swarmed with schools of silver fish. Other fish like Lion fish and Needlefish crowded the vessel too. After our dives, we were given the opportunity to shop in an Eilat mall, which was fun after a long day. The dinner was not that great as there weren’t many kosher restaurant options.
The next day, we woke up bright and early for an abundance of fun and good times. The weather was perfect for diving, cool water, good visibility and little current. We all completed around two dives that day, whether it was training for a license or admiring the gorgeous Red Sea. A wide array of sea creatures and coral amazed each and every one of us as we spotted things like Parrot fish, Butterfly fish, Moray eel, etc. One thing about scuba diving that isn’t brought up enough is the sheer amount of effort it is to set up your tank before and after each dive, or maybe, I’m just lazy?
After an awesome day of diving, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the best night ever, ice skating!!! We set off to the Ice Mall, where we were given money for dinner and I chose to eat a very Israeli meal, sushi. Then there was the main event, we put on ice-skates and had an amazing and memorable experience together.
On the final day, we woke up extra early and arrived at the dive centre at 8:30 to get our final few dives in. We put on our soggy wetsuits and away we went. There were reports of dolphins being spotted but we weren’t able to spot them. Seeing the natural beauty that Israel has to offer was definitely a breathtaking (literally) sight. Scuba diving in Eilat was an amazing, once in a lifetime experience that I’m so glad I chose as an option.
Coby Jankelowitz - 25.12.2019
