Eilat's Coral Beach, National park and marine reserve in Eilat, Israel.
Eilat's Coral Beach is a 1.2-kilometre reserve on the Red Sea where the northernmost shallow-water coral reef in the world meets the shore. Two bridges lead over the fenced lagoon to the reef front, a coral wall 6 to 12 metres high above a sandy bottom 8 to 15 metres deep. The northern and southern bridges stand 150 metres apart, and from the southern bridge a further 250 metres of reef front can be followed to the next beach exit.
The reef once ran along more than 12 kilometres of the Gulf of Aqaba's western shore before human damage reduced it to a small strip in the south, where the reserve was created to let it regrow. Coral Beach was declared in 1964, one of three reserves recognised in Israel by early 1962; the adjacent South Sea reserve followed in 2002 and the Coral Sea reserve in 2009.
The reserve's name comes from the coral reef it protects, and the beach is known locally as Coral Beach. Volunteers from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel clean the beach and reef, and divers are asked to report sightings of the crown-of-thorns starfish, which damages corals. Rules forbid feeding fish, since human food and plastic wrappers can harm them.
The reserve lies about 7 km south of Eilat beside Route 90, opposite the Eilat Field School and Mount Tzefahot. Two bridges 150 m apart cross the fenced lagoon to the reef front, where the coral wall drops 6 to 12 m over a sandy floor 8 to 15 m deep. From the southern bridge a further 250 m of reef front leads to the next beach exit. Semi-circular wading pools marked by buoys give non-swimmers and children shallow entry; snorkeling gear can be rented at the beach shop.
About 70% of the fish species in the Gulf of Aqaba also live in the Indian Ocean, while roughly 30% are endemic to the gulf, among them the Friedmann's fangblenny, the Eilat damselfish and the white-fronted butterflyfish. Divers who see the spiny crown-of-thorns starfish are asked to report it to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, which works with the Underwater Observatory to reduce its numbers.
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