My Days on Gordon Beach Tel Aviv Israel

When flying into TLV Israel you see 220 km of beautiful coast lined with some of the most desirable beaches on earth. Watching  deep blue water of the medrantian ocean roll on to golden sand and you know the 15 plus hours of travel across an ocean is well worth the trip. My annual Israel vacay has officially started.  ⛱

Over the years we have frequently visited several of the beaches in and around Tel Aviv.  The top beach for me is Gordon Beach. Aside from being steps out the back entrance of the Renaissance Hotel this is why I stay here, it features great services.

My first order of business every beach day is arranging chairs and umbrellas on the perfect spot for the day.  While this use to be arrange with the help of chair staff, not so much as of 2019. before you step into ankle deep golden sand you need to visit the vending machine on the sidewalk to rent your chair and two umbrellas. 👈🏻 take two umbrellas trust me! Cash or credit cards are accepted and be sure to grab your ticket from the machine because the chair staff we be asking for it later. If you go to the Gordon beach early the chairs will be neatly arranged in lines and the sand cleaned off.  Staff will set up your umbrella, grab you a table and tear the bottom of your ticket.  😎 Beach Tip: Be sure to keep your ticket you could be asked again by another beach staff later.

La La Land is the full service restaurant that services the part of Gordon beach behind the Renaissance Hotel.  They have everything from eggs for breakfast, falafel and bottle service drinks. It can get pricey quickly at $10 to $12 dollars for an adult beverage. 🍹Eating from La La is not required when renting chairs on the beach.

Some of my favs from the La La menu are: Beach Peachy Tea made with gin, Watermelon and salted cheese, Iced coffee☕️ think Wendys frostie meets Starbucks. 🥰, Hummus and fresh pita, any of the "toast" think hot sandwich off a sandwich press. There is a food court on the back of the Renaissance Hotel with some great food.  Pizza, coffee and other options. This is a little more affordable than full service at LA LA but you have to go get it and bring it back yourself. No biggie

😎 Beach tip: wear shoes you can get wet the sand is hot during the and can burn your feet. You need to use rinse stations to clean off the sand when you leave because taxis will not service you covered in sand.

All the beaches I have visited in Israel have lifeguards, even at the Dead Sea. 🙄. Be sure to listen for instructions and warnings such as jellyfish in the water to dangerous under tow and lost children. They will be announced in multiple languages, English being the second normally. Do not walk out to the breakers and play on the rocks. This is a sure fire why to be removed from the beach for the day. You maybe see "perfect selfie" setting all the lifeguards see is you slipping and cracking your head open.  Sure fire way to ruin any vacay.

As the day progresses the beach will become extremely busy mid afternoon as many locals hit the beach after work. The nice lines of cleaned chairs and clam from earlier that morning turns to chaos.

😎Beach tip: bring a small dust brush or 4 inch paint brush to clean sand off chairs.

This is the part of the day when having two umbrellas is necessary. The sun and salt of the Mediterranean will make most people burn. One umbrella isn't going to cover all of your chair and leaving your feet out will be a disaster. 😩 Umbrellas will sell out by mid afternoon when the sun is the strongest.

😎 Beach tip: if you are a guest at the Renaissance it is well worth the extra 30 second walk to use the restroom just inside the hotel instead of the public restrooms at the beach 😃 and they have a rinse station next to the door.  No explanation necessary.

The beach "closes" at dusk. By close the beach staff will start lining the chairs up, pulling down the umbrellas and stacking the tables. Twice a week all the chairs will be stacked up as well for the tractors sift clean the sand.

You can still be on the beach and LA LA will serve until 2am but it is best practices to move up to the tables provided for free at LA LA. Your waiter has had a very long day in the blazing sun and would like to be a little closer to the actual restaurant. Walking in six in deep sand is hard working all day.

A day on beautiful Gordon beach should be on your bucket list at least one day. For me beach day is just about everyday until 1pm.  You didn't do Israel if you didn't do a beach day. 😎