Page 6 - Discover Israel Magazine - 2015 Edition
P. 6
Caesarea. Photo: Itamar Grinberg
The inlets are part of the strip of clifs west
of the beach strip made of calcareous
limestone, or kurkar. The hallmark of
the coastal landscape, these ridges –
actually dunes hardened by a natural
time adhesive – are home to an amazing
array of plant and animal life waiting
to be discovered by beachcombers.
Where sand and sediment block the
erosion channel lowing through the
ridges, swamps form. In the early days
of Zionism, these were some of the
irst areas purchased and cultivated by
pioneers.
Achziv
To its north is gleaming, white, 120-foot-
high Rosh Hanikra with its limestone Sharon Beach. Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority
grottos pounded out by the waves that
have been called “a poor man’s Capri.”
To the south is Tel Achziv with its remains
of settlement from the Canaanite,
Israelite, Persian, Hellenistic and Roman
periods. The ive kilometers of beach in
between, only about 200 yards wide,
pack in a wide variety of attractions.
About a mile of shore are a series of
islands, all that remains of Israel’s former
coastline, looded some 5,000 years ago.
A ride on the waves of Achziv beach
or on the cable car down to the Rosh
Hanikra grottos ofers a spectacular view
of the islands, which serve as a refuge
for hundreds of swooping gulls and
thousands of cormorants. The erosion
of the shoreline’s calcareous ridge has
left some rough edges that will probably
rule out barefoot wandering, but here
is where one inds the inlets that make
a beach walk beautiful. On part of the Habonim. Photo: Baz Ratner
Achziv beach is a guesthouse owned
and run by a colorful individualist named
Eli Avivi who moved here in the 1950s
and turned it into what he calls an
“independent state.”
Close to the beach, the waves have
lattened the calcareous ridge into a
table formation that is home to a variety
of sea creatures, including the sea rose,
sea urchins, small octopi and star-ish.
An amazing 40 diferent varieties of
ish make their home here, more than
anywhere else along the coast. Some
species of corals live in the complete
darkness of submerged caves. Best of
all, dolphins can sometimes be seen
cavorting ofshore.
The heavyweight contenders on this
beach are not Israelis showing of their
muscles (although some of that species Apollonia. Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority
may also be encountered); they are giant
loggerhead and green turtles weighting
as much as 200 pounds each. The
turtles lay between 300 and 400 eggs
each season here and elsewhere on
Israel’s beaches. But hunting of their
eggs in the past and current urban
development, damage caused by dune
buggies and other of-road vehicles,
along with collisions with boats have
reduced the numbers of this species to
the point of endangerment. To protect
and rehabilitate the sea turtles and their
6
DISCOVER ISRAEL
The inlets are part of the strip of clifs west
of the beach strip made of calcareous
limestone, or kurkar. The hallmark of
the coastal landscape, these ridges –
actually dunes hardened by a natural
time adhesive – are home to an amazing
array of plant and animal life waiting
to be discovered by beachcombers.
Where sand and sediment block the
erosion channel lowing through the
ridges, swamps form. In the early days
of Zionism, these were some of the
irst areas purchased and cultivated by
pioneers.
Achziv
To its north is gleaming, white, 120-foot-
high Rosh Hanikra with its limestone Sharon Beach. Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority
grottos pounded out by the waves that
have been called “a poor man’s Capri.”
To the south is Tel Achziv with its remains
of settlement from the Canaanite,
Israelite, Persian, Hellenistic and Roman
periods. The ive kilometers of beach in
between, only about 200 yards wide,
pack in a wide variety of attractions.
About a mile of shore are a series of
islands, all that remains of Israel’s former
coastline, looded some 5,000 years ago.
A ride on the waves of Achziv beach
or on the cable car down to the Rosh
Hanikra grottos ofers a spectacular view
of the islands, which serve as a refuge
for hundreds of swooping gulls and
thousands of cormorants. The erosion
of the shoreline’s calcareous ridge has
left some rough edges that will probably
rule out barefoot wandering, but here
is where one inds the inlets that make
a beach walk beautiful. On part of the Habonim. Photo: Baz Ratner
Achziv beach is a guesthouse owned
and run by a colorful individualist named
Eli Avivi who moved here in the 1950s
and turned it into what he calls an
“independent state.”
Close to the beach, the waves have
lattened the calcareous ridge into a
table formation that is home to a variety
of sea creatures, including the sea rose,
sea urchins, small octopi and star-ish.
An amazing 40 diferent varieties of
ish make their home here, more than
anywhere else along the coast. Some
species of corals live in the complete
darkness of submerged caves. Best of
all, dolphins can sometimes be seen
cavorting ofshore.
The heavyweight contenders on this
beach are not Israelis showing of their
muscles (although some of that species Apollonia. Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority
may also be encountered); they are giant
loggerhead and green turtles weighting
as much as 200 pounds each. The
turtles lay between 300 and 400 eggs
each season here and elsewhere on
Israel’s beaches. But hunting of their
eggs in the past and current urban
development, damage caused by dune
buggies and other of-road vehicles,
along with collisions with boats have
reduced the numbers of this species to
the point of endangerment. To protect
and rehabilitate the sea turtles and their
6
DISCOVER ISRAEL
