On Tuesday, our last full day of chol hamoed Sukkot, a morning appointment left us only a few hours of daylight. I said, “Let’s go to the beach!” We wanted something fairly close. I searched for information about the Bat Yam beach and found a glowing description of the tayelet, or promenade.
Bat Yam is not known as a tourist attraction. A relatively poor city, it absorbed large numbers of immigrants in the 50s, mainly from Turkey. In the 90s Russian immigrants found a home there.
The beach is well cared for and has so far escaped the over-development you see in places like Tel Aviv and Netanya. According to Wikipedia, one of the beaches is among the best in the country for surfing.
Here is my son building a sand castle. You can see the palm trees and apartment buildings lining the main street that borders the beach.
Surfing anyone?
After the kids had their fill of sand we walked further until we found this excellent playground:
Figurines bordering the playground. There was also a set of public exercise equipment, and a school with a basketball court. Fortunately we’d brought our ball.
Bat Yam produced a model of a future street with wind turbines and solar panels.
Not only was the Bat Yam tourist office open, it advertised activities for tourists and families.
My husband noticed that different activities are listed in English and Hebrew. The Hebrew offers a butterfly adventure, while the English recommends a gastronomic event. When he asked the tourist office about the discrepancy, he was told that the butterfly activity was for children, as the poster indicates I guess Bat Yam figures that tourists don’t have children and that Israelis aren’t interested in gastronomy. Or perhaps the tour isn’t kosher and they want to keep it off the haredi radar. Another sign mentioned seafood.
This flower was planted in the shade of the promenade wall.
These guys were walking down the street with their instruments to promote water conservation. The sign behind them says, “So you want to come and can’t find a babysitter?” along with activities for kids.
Sunset and sky:
So where have you visited this holiday? If you’ve written about it, please leave a link in the comments.
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I have very fond memories of Bat Yam. I visited in 1982 (!!!!) and loved it! I went (on my own) to see the ORT school. I stayed to shop and visit the beach. Residents and shop owners were quite surprised to see an American tourist. Everyone was very, very friendly and patient with my halting Hebrew. I was delighted to read about current tourism opportunities in Bat Yam and will try to revisit (bli neder) on my next trip to Israel. Thanks for the post, and great photos.
Thank you Lynne! I’m sure it’s changed a lot since then. . .
Wow! I haven’t been in Bat Yam in about 40 years! So close, yet so off my radar. I must remember about this next time we’re looking for something to do. I believe there is a separate swimming beach there somewhere as well.
Yes, forgot to mention the separate beach!
Looks like a lot of fun! We are always on the lookout for good beach/tiyul opportunities. I will have to put this one on my list. (Even though it is not one of the 61 national parks.)
that sounds lovely! Did you swim at all? The weather was unseasonably warm here the day after Yom Kippur and I jumped off a neighbor’s dock and swam in the harbor (swimming in New England in October!) It was glorious. My last swim of the season I’m sure. Very cold and autumnal here now. It’s delightful to read about your beach adventure!
It is great that the country found a way to make use of its beautiful scenery to improve by being a tourist destination. Wow, the weather looks so nice and the place does looks beautiful. It is unfortunate you found the wrong information about the waves but it is great that you still had a great time. Thank you for the suggestion.