Over the last few weekends Kelley and I explored some new beaches in Israel. The first one was Hof HaBonim, which came highly recommended and is apparently one of Israel’s best kept secrets. The HaBonim Beach is a protected nature reserve and over the centuries has been sculpted by wind and waves creating an undulating coast line with many different coves, beaches, reefs, and even a ship wreck! The best part is that you can camp pretty much anywhere on the beach!

The next beach was near Caesaria and it is noteworthy because a Roman aqueduct runs right along the beach creating a very unique setting. The aqueduct was built by King Herod to supply water to the Roman seaport of Caesaria from the foot of Mt Carmel, near present day Haifa. The beach runs for miles along the coast and is a lovely romantic stroll (or run). There are not many places in the world you can smoke hookah in a 2,000 year old Roman Archway.

The third beach was not really a beach but the sea caves of Rosh HaNikra, which are right on the border with Lebanon. The caves are a whiter than white (i.e. Matt’s tan or lack thereof) chalkstone and limestone that has been sculpted by the sea over the ages to a depth of nearly 200 meters. To access the caves you take a gondola from the cliffs down to the sea.

Once at the sea you can walk around and explore the various caves and grottos, which were very photogenic with some amazingly colorful lichen on the rocks.