Lomography

Kyriat Haim Public Beach
written by dudizm on October 19th, 2009 , 4 comments (3 votes)

Please activate JavaScript to see this gallery.

Kiryat Haim is one of five towns of the HaKerayot urban area in Israel, part of a conglomeration of five smaller towns located about north of Haifa in the Haifa District, which as of 2003 contains 40,000 residents.

The town was founded in 1933 and was named after Haim Arlosoroff who was murdered the same year. Kiryat Haim is technically a neighborhood in the Haifa municipality. It is informally divided into East Kiryat Haim (older neighborhoods) and West Kiryat Haim (newer) by the railroad tracks. The area between the tracks and the sea included many sand dunes until the early 60s when urban development overtook most of them. In an unusual urban planning, based on the socialist founding of the town, high rises were built for the poor and immigrants right on the beach with the best views of the Mediterranean Sea. Kiryat Haim’s beaches are some of the best public beaches in northern Israel.

It’s a very huge beach, where all kinds of people (families, old and youth) are gathering. Aside from the water, a lot of people are running skating, playing cards or chess. Body-builders, surfers and kite surfers are also present. This is definitely a very sporty spot! You can also play Frisbee or Matkot (kind of tennis with wooden racket and plastic ball) extremely popular in Israel. You can have a coffee or an ice cream in the little wooden restaurants and bars on the beach. The place is terrific!

The wind blows very strongly and the sea is sometimes very dangerous, that is why you have lifeguards everywhere, always watching and looking after the swimmers.

A part of the beach is dedicated to the religious people during the weekend.
Little problem I’ve found. Israeli people are very weak concerning the protection of the nature. They really don’t give a damn about this magnificent beach and throw their garbage in the sand. In the end of the day you find all kinds of dirt, cans, papers, plastic bags and all sorts of stuff. Nevertheless the beach is free and I strongly recommend the place :o)