Eilat

With just a few Shekels to spare John Trew headed to the Red Sea resort of
Eilat. He found it a totally Kosher experience ­ dolphins, dogs, snorkeling
and all...

MAGNIV! That's a word you will use regularly when you go on a sun-seeking
winter holiday with a difference to Eilat on the Red Sea coast of Israel.

It means Great! in modern Hebrew and it encapsulates the excellence of the
hotels, attractions, food, activities and standards of service. Magniv! also
means Cool! which is an odd way to sum up the guaranteed warmth of the
winter weather and particularly, the warmth of the welcome.

Eilat is ultra-cosmopolitan but when, on my first day there, I signed the
visitors¹ book at the Tourist Information Centre as being from Belfast, I
was amazed at the reaction.

³Belfast? All Israeli children are taught that our revered President Chaim
Herzog was born there,² exclaimed Jodi Kite Sorota, the manager. ³His son
Issac is our Minister of Tourism and I have his number here. He would be
thrilled to hear from someone visiting from his father¹s homeland. Would you
like to speak to him?#178;

I have notched up 240,000 miles as a travel journalist in the past 23 years
but Cabinet ministers of all the other 38 countries I have visited were too
busy at summit meetings and suchlike to have a wee chat with me.

That¹s probably because none of them had a father with the distinction of
being born at 185 Clifton Park Avenue, son of Belfast¹s rabbi. Chaim was
educated in Dublin, then emigrated to Palestine, then joined the British
Army to fight Nazis before becoming one of the founding fathers of Israel in
1948. He excelled as a military strategist, diplomat and arguably became
Israel¹s most popular Head of State.
No wonder there¹s a special welcome for tourists from our part of the world.

Eilat is Israel¹s southernmost town. It¹s a working port on the Red Sea
which is fast becoming a truly world-class, up-market winter resort.

The golden sands of buzzy North Beach and quieter Coral Beach are lapped by
tide-less waves. North Beach is largely dominated by 50 dazzling white
megahotels many of which aim to rival Dubai and Las Vegas for pure luxurious
self-indulgence and architectural extravagance. A superb range of activities
and attractions have been developed to take advantage of Eilat¹s
all-year-round sunshine.

It is particularly popular for its dry, warm winters (21-24C) which attract
flocks of human Osnowbirds¹ from northern Europe ­ as well as millions of
migrating birds from Africa and Asia including a flourescence of flamingoes
which nearly blinded me on the salt-beds Nature Reserve.

However, even in summer when it can get up to 110 F (43C), Eilat is still
popular with young watersports fanatics who go to sail, waterski, windsurf
or just hang out along its colourful beaches. Youth hostels and cheap
accommodation are easily available in this most democratic of luxury
destinations. There are scores of lively pubs and late-night clubs but you
won't encounter drunken mobs of yobs.

Like me, many active visitors go to snorkel, swim and scuba-dive among the
exotic fishes of the fabulous coral reefs.