Eilat · Israel · Sand slope · Muck & macro
Eel Garden
A garden-eel colony on sand between 6 m and 18 m
Area photo: Yonatan Dodin · CC BY 4.0
A sandy slope running from 6 m down to about 18 m, reached through the Aqua Sport beach. The draw is the colony the site is named for: garden eels standing out of the sand with their tails buried, swaying in the current and folding back down as divers approach. Barracuda patrol the same water in thick groups, and the shallows carry soft and hard coral.
Where it is and how deep
29.5121° N, 34.9253° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
You enter through the Aqua Sport beach and go down a steep slope; the eels start at its edge. From there the route follows a reef that juts out perpendicular to the main reef, sand on one side, and the colony comes into view: eels standing clear of the bottom with their tails stuck in the sand, waving to and fro in the current and dropping back out of sight as you close on them. The sand keeps falling to about 18 m.
Turn at depth and the return leg is the coral half of the dive. Between roughly 5 and 10 m the slope carries a healthy range of both soft and hard corals, and this is where slow searching pays: a thick congregation of barracuda patrols the area regularly, and the rare seagrass ghost pipefish is one of the finds people come here hoping for. The profile is shallow enough to make the dive a long one.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Barracuda
| 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 Eel Garden in Eilat?+
The sandy slope starts at about 6 m and runs down to roughly 18 m, so the whole site sits inside recreational limits and divers of all levels dive it.
What is there to see at the Eel Garden?+
Garden eels standing out of the sand are the reason to come, along with a thick congregation of barracuda that patrols the area and, for patient divers, the rare seagrass ghost pipefish. Soft and hard corals cover the shallows between 5 and 10 m.
Sources
- All the Best Sites for Diving in Eilat — Abraham Hostels
- Eilat Dive Sites — Aqua Sport Int.
- Diving in Eilat Super Scuba Guide — The Broke Backpacker
- Aqua Sport, Eilat (node position) — OpenStreetMap
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Similar dives elsewhere
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