Hi from Jerusalem!

[BluewaterSail]

Hi there,

A few years back I tried to see the world from the deck of a small sailboat. But I never finished the singlehanded circumnavigation because I hit some rocks and my dear sailboat is now under 50 ft of water in a harbor in Sri Lanka (long story). I was very sad.

I think that I have now found a passion that can replace my boat in my life, having just completed the PADI Open Water course on vacation in Curacao. And I can't wait to continue diving locally.

I moved from NJ to Jerusalem a few years ago after returning home boatless. Israel is not a sailing country, but has a number of interesting diving locations, lead by Eilat.

Now I am happy again! Experiencing a side of the ocean that I never knew!

I have really enjoyed reading the posts on Scubaboard, and finally decided to join and say hi.

Now if I could only get my buoyancy under control, life would be perfect!

 

[ROXANNE]

Welcome to ScubaBoard and your newfound passion for diving! Enjoy!

 

[Splitlip]

Welcome. Sounds as if you've had a great life so far. Enjoy what the future offers!

 

[lsorenson]

Hi there,

A few years back I tried to see the world from the deck of a small sailboat. But I never finished the singlehanded circumnavigation because I hit some rocks and my dear sailboat is now under 50 ft of water in a harbor in Sri Lanka (long story). I was very sad.

I think that I have now found a passion that can replace my boat in my life, having just completed the PADI Open Water course on vacation in Curacao. And I can't wait to continue diving locally.

I moved from NJ to Jerusalem a few years ago after returning home boatless. Israel is not a sailing country, but has a number of interesting diving locations, lead by Eilat.

Now I am happy again! Experiencing a side of the ocean that I never knew!

I have really enjoyed reading the posts on Scubaboard, and finally decided to join and say hi.

Now if I could only get my buoyancy under control, life would be perfect!

I do both myself... probably the two most expensive sports to get involved with, hell, and I thought skiing and golf was costly!!!

Sorry about the loss of your boat as I hope to upgrade to a blue water and catch the wind myself someday soon...

I hope you will enjoy diving as much as we do and we do enjoy it alot...!

I worked in Israel for better than 6 months... Lived in Haifa and worked in Nazareth along with some other towns. I did go down to Eilat and took a cab down to Sharm... Wish I was diving at the time but... still had a great time.

Jerusalem was an experience we both enjoyed since I brought my wife over... It was around 2003 or so and the intifada was going on but it was such a great place (the whole country) and for the most part safe (safer than many cities here in the US) she joined me for 2 weeks or so and we were all over the place...

Sorry, got a bit off track but again, hope you enjoy diving as much as we do and welcome aboard!

lee

 

[BluewaterSail]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I think I'm gonna like it here.

 

[Splitlip]

I do both myself... probably the two most expensive sports to get involved with, hell, and I thought skiing and golf was costly!!!

Sorry about the loss of your boat as I hope to upgrade to a blue water and catch the wind myself someday soon...

I hope you will enjoy diving as much as we do and we do enjoy it alot...!

I worked in Israel for better than 6 months... Lived in Haifa and worked in Nazareth along with some other towns. I did go down to Eilat and took a cab down to Sharm... Wish I was diving at the time but... still had a great time.

Jerusalem was an experience we both enjoyed since I brought my wife over... It was around 2003 or so and the intifada was going on but it was such a great place (the whole country) and for the most part safe (safer than many cities here in the US) she joined me for 2 weeks or so and we were all over the place...

Sorry, got a bit off track but again, hope you enjoy diving as much as we do and welcome aboard!

lee

Off topic post, LOL. I was speaking to a friend of my daughter's today and she was saying how much she wants to visit Israel. And she is only 18. I want to as well. My parents have been there twice and my mother a 3rd time after the death of my dad. Their pics and vids (and history of the region) put it on my bucket list.

Years ago (1980 or so) one of my friends did a semester as a Kibbutz volunteer. Her tales were fascinating! 30 years later, I'm finally thinking seriously. LOL

 

[drdaddy]

I love diving Israel's Red Sea - Eilat!!!

I have friends in Eilat and many dives there. My son was a PADI Instructor in Eilat and has over 700 dives there. My daughter also completed Medical School/MD at Ben Gurion U and is a MD in USA. Lots of stories - lots of dives.

I never went scuba diving in the Med (son did), but I loved snorkeling the Med, Sea of Galilee, and scuba in Eilat!

Have a great time! If you need any instructor contacts in Eilat - Private Message me.

 

[BluewaterSail]

Off topic post, LOL. I was speaking to a friend of my daughter's today and she was saying how much she wants to visit Israel. And she is only 18. I want to as well. My parents have been there twice and my mother a 3rd time after the death of my dad. Their pics and vids (and history of the region) put it on my bucket list.

Years ago (1980 or so) one of my friends did a semester as a Kibbutz volunteer. Her tales were fascinating! 30 years later, I'm finally thinking seriously. LOL

Splitlip,

From your profile it seems that you are quite the adventurer. So what's stopping you? It seems that there are many interesting diving opportunities here. Everyone knows about Eilat and various not-so-colorful Med sites including some wrecks. But there is more. In Cesarea there is a Roman harbor that sunk into the sea and is now an underwater archealogical park, and for the real adventurer in you, there is now a professional dive company that will take qualified recreational divers into the Dead Sea to look at all of the natural salt formations. I can only imagine how much weight would be needed to sink in the super-salty water there!

 

[drdaddy]

Off topic post, LOL. I was speaking to a friend of my daughter's today and she was saying how much she wants to visit Israel. And she is only 18. I want to as well. My parents have been there twice and my mother a 3rd time after the death of my dad. Their pics and vids (and history of the region) put it on my bucket list.

Years ago (1980 or so) one of my friends did a semester as a Kibbutz volunteer. Her tales were fascinating! 30 years later, I'm finally thinking seriously. LOL

I wrote the following to BluewaterSail as a private message - thought I'd share it with all about my personal experiences about Israel and diving in Eilat since 1974.

I am a goy/Christian, but was on a Kibbutz for Hebrew/Work in Northern Israel in 1974 - lived in Israel for 1 year. I still have great friends from that time. We were all college grads and Israel wanted to indoctrinate young Jewish people from the diaspora. My best friend's Dad was a Rabbi and he sent me to the Ulpan. It was wonderful and made a great impression upon my life. Unfortunately, scuba diving was not developed in Eilat at that time, but I snorkeled like crazy - even into what is now Egypt! 37 years later I am a clinical psychologist, 30+ years in a wonderful marriage to Debbie, and our MD/daughter/Rachel was in medical school in Beer Sheva (Columbia University/NY & Ben Gurion International Medicine - collaborative program) - So I scuba-ed like crazy for 4 years in Israel at each of our vacations, but now I scuba like crazy in our cold Pacific NW water (Oregon & Washington). The younger of our children, son/Michael became PADI Instructor and did 700 instructor dives in Eilat. He's home, college, engaged, and hates the cold waters of Oregon .​

I also will add that I have extensively snorkeled the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean, and almost scuba'd Caesarea as well. Only floating on my back in the Dead Sea - that's quite enough for me, thank you.

I would never trade all the experiences I had in Israel for anything. The Kibbutz Ulpan was a foundation for my life. In fact, my kibbutz housemate (1974!!!) and I are planning a get-together this summer. Go for it, SplitLip!!!