Eilat · Israel · Reef · Wall
Dolphin Reef
Black Sea bottlenose dolphins that are not trained to perform
Area photo: Yonatan Dodin · CC BY 4.0
Dolphin Reef is a privately owned beach on Eilat's shore where a group of Black Sea bottlenose dolphins has lived since 1990, in a sea pen of 10,000 square metres closed off with buoyed nets. The water averages 12 metres deep, the eastern side falls away as a steeply sloping wall into sand, and guided dives, snorkelling and introductory dives are all booked at the site.
Also known as Dolphins Reef.
Where it is and how deep
29.5153° N, 34.9261° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Dives run from the beach into a sea pen of about 10,000 square metres closed off with buoyed nets, and the water inside averages 12 metres, so the profile stays shallow and the dive stays long. The dolphins have been here since the site opened in 1990 and are not trained to perform, so an encounter happens on their terms: they come to the observation posts and the floating piers, and swim alongside the people snorkelling and diving, rather than being produced at a set time.
Away from the dolphins it is a reef dive. The eastern side carries the steeper profile, a wall that slopes steeply and then gives way to sand, and the fish around it are the ordinary Red Sea mix: angelfish, butterflyfish, cuttlefish, and bluespotted and blackspotted stingrays are the common species. No maximum depth is published for the wall or the slope below it, so the 12-metre average is the only figure there is to plan against.
Background
Dolphin Reef opened in 1990 as a privately owned beach and sea pen on the Eilat shoreline, an area of 10,000 square metres enclosed with buoyed nets. The animals are Black Sea bottlenose dolphins; they are not trained to perform and there are no dolphin shows, and the site describes them as free and not restricted. They approach the observation posts and floating piers on their own account and swim alongside the people snorkelling and diving there, which is what separates the place from a display aquarium.
Marine life and season
- Dolphins
- Stingrays
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the diving at Dolphin Reef?+
The water inside the sea pen averages 12 metres deep, and the eastern side has a steeply sloping wall profile that gives way to a sandy slope. No maximum depth is published for that wall or slope.
Can uncertified divers dive Dolphin Reef?+
Yes. The site sells guided dives, snorkelling and introductory dives for uncertified divers, all booked at the beach itself.
Sources
- Dolphin Reef — Wikipedia
- Dolphins Reef — Scubago
More dive sites in Eilat
A fenced reef you walk into, with a slope out to 35 m
Sand slope
A garden-eel colony on sand between 6 m and 18 m
Reef
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
Reef
A coral arch in 6 m of water, entered off the beach
Similar dives elsewhere
Shore entry onto a 10 m shelf with a coral wall below it
A resting pod of 60 to 80 spinner dolphins in the lagoon.
Shallow reef at 7 to 13 m with a drop-off past 60 m alongside
The Fury Shoals' longest reef, with a resident spinner-dolphin pod