MapIsraelEilatEilat / Coral BeachEilat

Eilat / Coral Beach

South District · Eilat · Beersheba Subdistrict

also known as Reef Raf, Kite Beach Eilat, Hof HaKite, Coral Beach, Orchid / Reef Hotel

Part of Eilat →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Apr–Feb

Months riders and schools name

How windy

17-24 kt

Character: thermal

Room to launch

tight

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

27 °C in summerReef Raf/Kite Beach is relatively flat to choppy Red Sea water with reef, rocks and coral nearby

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Dec Jan Feb Apr

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

37 min

Ramon International Airport (ETM)

On the clock

08:00 · 20:00

On a north-wind day it blows through daylight rather than switching on in the afternoon; the local daily forecast is issued as one band for 08:00-20:00 and a lighter one for 20:00-08:00. Onset month by month is not published.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Aqaba / Tala Bay15 km

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Eilat North Beach / marina lagoonno page yet
Princess Beach / Taba-side south beachesno page yet
Taba Heightsno page yet
Sea of Galilee

The spot

The kite spot at Eilat is Reef Raf, the public Kite Beach on the southern strip next to the Coral Beach hotels, and not the Coral Beach Nature Reserve beside it. It is a properly designated kite beach with clubs on the sand, and it has the tightest launch in Israel: sharp rock at the waterline, one cut carved through it, and a rigging area that fills on any good weekend.

Water and wind

Water is warm Red Sea flat-to-chop rather than a standing lagoon, and it drops past your depth within a few metres of the entry. The wind is northerly, side-shore, funnelled down the Arava Valley and the Gulf of Aqaba, and N is the only comfortable direction; S, SW, W and NW are the dangerous ones and locals ride them, nobody else.

Season

The season argument is unresolved: April to September is the main run, while Eilat is also sold as a winter escape and does produce strong winter days, with January and February the quietest months for wind.

Safety and learning

What catches people out is downwind, where the reserve, closed compounds and the Taba border sit south of the entry, so a rider who cannot hold ground upwind books boat pickup before going out rather than after. Learn here with a club, and pick a weekday.

The wind

Direction

cross-shoreN

Direction to shore

Cross-shore. N is the working direction and runs along the beach down the gulf. S, SW, W and NW are the dangerous ones and are ridden only by locals who know the exits.

Dominant direction

N, funnelled down the Arava valley and the Gulf of Aqaba, with NNE and some NNW appearing in forecasts. Southerlies turn up in winter and are a locals-only proposition.

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Rideable days sit at 17-24 kt, so a 75-85 kg rider spends most of the season on a 9 m, with a 12 m for softer 15-18 kt starts and a 7 m for days that push past 25 kt.The launch is small enough that going one size down and staying comfortable is worth more here than squeezing the last of the range out of a big kite.Chart-derived planning sizes for the spot's wind band; no local club publishes its own.

Character

thermal

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

About 18 kt in summer and 14 kt in winter, both indicative. The local windy-day threshold is 16.5+ kt held for at least 2.5 continuous hours, but no monthly values for Eilat are published.

Typical strength

17-24 kt when it is on, with 30 kt and more not unusual; 15-30 kt is the band the spot is described by. The wind is steadier than at most Mediterranean spots, but the rigging area is so small that every change in strength is felt on the sand.

Usually steady for the region in a northerly. The launch is small enough that gusts or crowding make handling more demanding than the wind alone suggests.

The usable wind is northerly, channelled down the Arava valley and the Gulf of Aqaba.

The main season is spring and summer, mainly April to September, with wind days outside it as well. Eilat is also sold as a winter kite escape and it does produce strong winter days, but January and February are the quieter months for wind. Southerlies occur in winter and are rideable only for people who know the spot and its exits.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

riding season from the spot record · no wind series here is trusted enough to name a season

No month-by-month share of windy days is held for this spot. The months riders and schools name are Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, and whatever the series does hold is in the table below.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid, not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	6.7 kt	N	15 °C	21.7 °C
Feb	7.2 kt	N	16.7 °C	21.1 °C
Mar	7.6 kt	N	20 °C	21.1 °C
Apr	7.6 kt	N	24.4 °C	21.7 °C
May	7.8 kt	N	28.9 °C	23.3 °C
Jun	8.3 kt	N	31.7 °C	25 °C
Jul	8 kt	N	33.3 °C	26.7 °C
Aug	8 kt	N	33.3 °C	27.2 °C
Sep	7.7 kt	N	31.1 °C	26.7 °C
Oct	6.6 kt	N	27.2 °C	25.6 °C
Nov	6.5 kt	N	21.7 °C	23.9 °C
Dec	6.4 kt	N	16.7 °C	22.8 °C

About these figuresriders' months

Riders and schools name these months. The model reads lower here, and both are shown rather than averaged.

The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Eilat (WeatherSpark modeled climatology) · weatherspark

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

No standing lagoon. Depth varies right off the entry, the bottom is reef and rock as much as sand, and you are past standing depth quickly - part of why a rider who cannot hold ground upwind has no easy walk back. The water is flat to lightly choppy rather than shallow, and no measured standing depth is published.

Tides

Small Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba tides, roughly semi-diurnal, running about 0.3-1.0 m in August 2026. What that does at the launch is unconfirmed.

Temperature

27 °C summer · 21 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 21–27 °C

Wetsuit

Boardshorts or rash vest in summer; many ride without a wetsuit in winter, but a shorty or sleeveless 3 mm is commonly suggested for cooler winter sessions.

Currents

Current is mild to nothing at all on most Eilat dive sites, but Coral Beach can run stronger current and more chop than Princess Beach, so do not treat the reserve shoreline as current-free.

Conditions

Reef Raf/Kite Beach is relatively flat to choppy Red Sea water with reef, rocks and coral nearby.

It is not a shallow standing lagoon, and losing ground downwind is a serious access problem because the next easy exit is restricted/reserve or border-side shoreline.

Visibility and water clarity are generally high in Eilat.

The paid Coral Beach Nature Reserve itself is primarily a snorkel/dive reserve with roped reef access rather than the kite launch.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Schools teach at the spot and it gets listed as beginner-friendly, but a rider who cannot ride upwind has no easy walk home: the launch and exit are tiny, rocky and hemmed in by restricted or crowded shoreline. Beginner-friendly here means with a local school, a rescue plan and strict zone discipline, and nothing looser than that.

The scene

What riders come here for

flat waterfreerideprogression with schoolwarm-water sessionswingfoilflat-to-chop blasting

Who it suitsbeginner

Small local kite scene clustered around surf clubs and the Reef/Coral Beach hotel strip. Weekdays can feel manageable, but good-forecast weekends are very crowded and difficult for launching. The wider beach area is touristy, with divers, snorkelers, hotel guests and beach users close to the kite zone.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

7 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: tight

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Aqaba / Tala Bay15 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

There is no municipal rescue for kiters.

The working arrangement is to book boat pickup with one of the beach clubs before you go out if you are not confident of holding ground upwind. Surf Center Eilat sits on Almog Beach beside the Reef hotel, has run boats there for over twenty years, and answers on 08-6371602.

Do not plan on improvising: if the wind drops, walking back is not the simple option it is on the Mediterranean, and the shoreline immediately south of the entry is reserve and restricted.

Launch

Public Kite Beach on Eilat's southern strip, running between Mykonos Reef Beach and U Coral Beach near the Herbert Samuel Reef hotel, at roughly 29.5137 N, 34.9265 E. Free public access, showers, shade, toilets, rental and clubs on the sand, with parking by the hotel beachfront.The rigging area itself is the smallest of any Israeli spot, and the water entry is a cut carved through sharp rock - miss it and you cut your feet.

Hazards riders report 19 reported

Wind

Southern, southwest, west and northwest winds are identified by a local kite spot guide as dangerous directions for ordinary riders at this spot.
If the wind drops you cannot simply walk back the way you can on the Mediterranean - a rider who does not hold ground upwind needs boat pickup arranged in advance.

Crowds and zones

small beach with limited launch space when crowded
Very small launch/landing area that becomes crowded on windy weekends.
Heavy beach user mix in the south beach strip, including snorkelers, divers, swimmers and beachgoers.
Very small launch and landing area, the tightest of any Israeli spot, and unmanageable on a crowded weekend with a good forecast.
Heavy mixed beach use along the southern strip: snorkellers, divers, swimmers, hotel guests and beachgoers close to the kite zone.

Bottom

Rocky, sharp entry/exit; missing the cut entry can cause foot cuts.
Buoy/rope entanglement risk near marked reef and swim areas.
Rocky, sharp water entry through a carved cut; missing it cuts feet, and booties are worth carrying.
Buoy and rope entanglement near the marked reef and swim areas.

Protected areas and rules

coral reef nature reserve just offshore - avoid the reef
Coral and protected reef/reserve areas close by; avoid touching reef and avoid the reserve zone.
Downwind exit options are poor because of crowded beaches, closed/private areas, the Coral Beach Nature Reserve and the nearby Egypt/Taba border area.
Coral and protected reef close in, with the Coral Beach Nature Reserve immediately south; riders who exit there are reported to be fined.
Poor downwind exits: crowded beaches, closed and private compounds, the reserve, and the Egypt/Taba border area to the south.

Other

proximity to the Egyptian (Taba) border
S, SW, W and NW are the dangerous directions here and are ridden only by locals who know the spot.
Extreme summer heat and sun, even when the water feels comfortable.

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: Kite Beach Eilat is a free public beach designated for kitesurfing, between Mykonos Reef Beach and U Coral Beach. Stay inside the defined kite area.

Bathing zone restrictions

The 2004 national bathing-places order prohibits bathing along Coral Beach itself (405 m), the Coral Beach marina (186 m), Hof HaVillage (51 m) and 688 m south of the Princess hotel, and lists only the separate beach, Herods and the north-west beach as Eilat's declared bathing places, so the southern strip is not swimming water and should not be treated as such.

Coral Beach Nature Reserve

Coral Beach Nature Reserve is a paid Israel Nature and Parks Authority reserve, adult entry 40 shekels and child 25, and is not the kite launch: fines are reported for riders who exit through it, though the amount is unconfirmed.

Open-beach rules

Eilat's open-beach policy for the southern strip from Lighthouse Beach to the Taba terminal bans shelters, caravans, bonfires, unreasonable noise and barbecues inside shade structures, with overnight vehicle parking banned on parts of the strip from 24:00 to 07:00.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Come April to September for the northerly; winter still gives strong days, but January and February are the quietest for wind.
N is the only comfortable direction. S, SW, W and NW are the dangerous ones and are a locals-only call.
Book boat pickup with a club before you go out if you cannot reliably hold ground upwind.
Learn the carved entry cut and the rock either side of it before your first launch, and wear booties if you are not sure of your footing.
Fold your lines the moment the kite is down, and skip a big weekend forecast: the rigging area is the smallest of any Israeli spot and it is shared.
Stay north of Coral Beach Nature Reserve, where fines are reported, and take bus 15 or 30 from central Eilat if you are not driving.

Getting there

Airport

Ramon International Airport (ETM)

Route

From Eilat city, buses 15/30 and taxis serve the Coral Beach and south beach stops; central Eilat to Sadeh School and the Coral Beach Nature Reserve stop takes about 6 minutes.From Ramon Airport, line 30 runs to the same stops in about 36-37 minutes, or it is around 30 km and 38 minutes by car. The Taba border is just south of the beach, and bus 15 links the city with the crossing.

Transfer

37 min

Cost level

medium-high

Staying

Eilat has a large hotel/resort base, including hotels immediately around the Reef/Coral Beach area, plus hostels, apartments and camping options; accommodation is generally pricey but with hostel and camping alternatives.

No-wind days

Snorkeling or diving Coral Beach Nature Reserve, Dolphin Reef, the Underwater Observatory, Eilat beaches, VAT-free shopping, nightlife, Timna Park, Red Canyon/Eilat Mountains hikes, and cross-border day trips where feasible and legally/currently open.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite?

Northerly wind is usable across most of the year, with April to October the core season and some Israeli sources describing November to February as a winter kiting escape.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Schools teach at the beach and it is marked for all levels, but the tiny rocky launch means independent beginners who cannot ride upwind are advised to arrange a boat pickup or use a local school.

Are there kite schools or rental?

Yes, several operate at the beach, including Surf Center Eilat, Kite X Eilat, Kite Surfing Eilat and Extreme by Asa Brothers.

Are there rules or restrictions?

The beach is an official public kite zone; riders must stay within the marked area and avoid the neighboring Coral Beach Nature Reserve, where drifting in can bring fines.

What are the main hazards?

The launch is small and crowds on windy weekends, entry is over sharp rock, and southern, southwesterly, western and northwestern wind are flagged as dangerous directions for ordinary riders.

The bigger pictureEverything about Eilat

Last updated: August 2026