By Roadjunky, Posted Nov 09, 2006
Sections: Guide to Tel Aviv Basic Info The People Travel Dating and Romance Work Health and Safety Accommodation The Beaches Jaffa Neve Tsedek Florentin Central Bus Station Photos of Tel Aviv Guide to Israel
Tel Aviv is a beach city and whilst we’re not talking white sand and coconuts, it does face the west and so every days hosts sunsets that are only hidden behind the smog in the summer.
The water is clean, sort of and the jellyfish only plague swimmers in May and June. There are also barriers of rocks about fifty metres out that keep the water fairly calm and you can wade your way out to them for some quiet.
The beach is one long strip but is named in pieces, the divisions seemingly marked by the cafes that mark their territory with plastic chairs and tables. It makes a good place to go and take a coffee at night in good weather and eat some hummous instead of going to a restaurant.
The coolest beach is the Dolphinarium Beach or Tupim, as it’s sometimes known. There’s a causeway of rocks stretching out to sea and they make a great perch to leave the city behind and read a book. They’re also the front row for seeing the sunset and it’s a good place to bring an instrument or meet new people.
On Fridays from the early afternoon drummers descend on the Dolphinarium beach to jam. A good crowd gathers with musicians and dancers and the action goes on until after dark.
Tupim beach has got busy in recent years in Tel Aviv though and sometimes the sands get pretty crowded. The Israeli guys all bust arteries playing beach tennis and the sound of the rubber ball on the wooden bats makes sure that the beach gets as loud as anywhere in Tel Aviv.
There’s also a good beach called Almah between Tel Aviv and Jaffa which stays pretty quiet even in the summer.
From the beach in Tel Aviv it’s also easy to see how development has choked much of the city as hotels and office blocks run along much of the sea front. In front of the Carmel Shook it’s still all low housing but once into Allenby and belong the concrete monsters tower over the promenade. This isn’t just a bitch about more tasteless architecture, the fact is that these buildings block the sea breeze from cooling the city in the summertime. Add to that the extensive air conditioning whose turbines also increase the temperature outside and you’ll see why Tel Aviv can be near intolable in July and August.
