Eilat · Israel · Reef · Cave & cavern
The Caves
A coral arch in 6 m of water, entered off the beach
Area photo: Yonatan Dodin · CC BY 4.0
Named for two passages that formed naturally in the coral, one of which is still open to divers as a wide, arch-shaped opening. Maximum depth is 4 to 6 m, which puts the site within reach of divers with little experience and of snorkellers. It sits on the southern stretch of coast just before Princess Beach, about a kilometre north of Taba.
Where it is and how deep
29.4955° N, 34.9105° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
You go in from the beach along the marked paths and swim out over the coral. The site takes its name from two passages that appeared naturally in the coral formation. The narrower of the two has been closed to divers, because anyone squeezing through it risked doing irreparable damage to the coral and the animals living on it. The one still open is much wider and shaped like a large arch.
Depth never goes past 4 to 6 m, so the dive is long and slow. Surgeonfish, angelfish and anemonefish work the coral, and one secluded coral head standing on the edge of the drop reliably holds a big turtle with a crowd of fish alongside it. The shallow profile and the walk-in entry are what make this as much a snorkelling and first-dive site as a scuba one.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Eilat: Divable all year; Mar–May and Sep–Nov are most comfortable, while July and August are extremely hot on the surface.
Know before you go
- One of the two coral passages is closed to divers. Do not try to enter it: it is narrow enough that passing through causes irreparable damage.
Dive videos
4K - Red Sea Diving / The Caves - Eilat (LONG VERSION) · Big Buddha on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is The Caves in Eilat?+
It is a shallow site with a maximum depth of 4 to 6 m, which is why it suits divers with very little experience as well as snorkellers.
Can you swim through the caves?+
One of the two natural coral passages is still open, and it is wide and arch-shaped. The other was closed to divers because it was narrow enough that passing through it damaged the coral.
Sources
- Snorkeling at The Caves, Eilat — Snorkeling Report
- Maps of dive-sites in Eilat: Caves — Ahla Dive
- Top Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Eilat — Zentacle
More dive sites in Eilat
A fenced reef you walk into, with a slope out to 35 m
Reef
Black Sea bottlenose dolphins that are not trained to perform
Sand slope
A garden-eel colony on sand between 6 m and 18 m
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Coral canyons to 16 m, then a wall that keeps dropping
Artificial reef
Coral-encrusted pillars off a beach opened in 2017
Reef
One coral head, from a 9 m base to a table at 19 m
Artificial reef
A closed 1995 underwater restaurant on a shallow reef
An Israeli missile boat upright at 24 m, reached from the beach
Similar dives elsewhere
Canyons cut into a reef table at only 8-10 m
Short caverns at 7 m under an overnight mooring
Tunnels and fissures cut into an 840 m reef block
Two enormous caves filled with shoaling glassfish