My boss just decided to send me 3 weeks to israel (Herzelia).
Has anyone ever been there and is there much surf ? I keep hearing about the attitude of Israeli surfers abroad (plenty of agro) and I'm just wondering about localism over there

HAvent heard about any localism there, but I'm sure that visiting surfers are a rare, and as such you will be welcomed, unless perhaps you are from palestine

Sure you'll have a blast

Ment to be very friendly

i remember seeing a couple of pics of that place and there was perfect surf in the backround with nobody out,but in the foreground there were tanks and people with big guns wanting to kill each other (i suppose there is heavier line ups in the world )
lot of very good surfers in israel considering the surf.never been and i must admit its not in my top 100 places to get to.

Surfers Path did a good article on surf over there a good few months back.
Pretty much what Wes said - surfers sneaking into forbidden zones for a surf, with barbed-wire n what not around the place.
But pretty sure that was in the area that the land-grabbing problems are around (the whole Palestine/Israel kerfuffle).

Surely there are more chilled out places to go away from the disputed zone.

I was there (Tel Aviv) for a week a few years ago. Was in herzliya a couple of times.(My hotel was in city centre)It has got a lot more popular since I was there eg There are girls surfing now - none when I was there. it was weak and onshore when I was there. I liked Israel to be honest great food good bars - I went to Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc. and it was fascinating. It was much more Americanised than I was expecting.

Thanks. Just found out the hotel's right at the beach so I'll be able to go early in the morning if there's any surf. It'll be a nice way to start the new year.
From what I hear I shouldn't have problems renting or buying a board there either.

I'm liking my job more and more

so India and Israel in the last 12 months - who do you work for - international arms dealers? drug dealers?

Da French secret sevice

and germany for the past 5 weeks.

yeah krusty that article was on the Gaza Strip, i actually dont think tourists are allowed even enter there now so no chance of a surf there im afraid Longz...

Found out there's three waves right outside the hotel i'll be staying in.

...so everything is "bon" !!

Got my first surf in Israel this weekend, at the Herzilia beach. Great to be surfing in shorts this time of the year. The water was 17C and still the locals thought i was crazy surfing in "cold" water without a winter wetsuit.

Surf wasn't great, but still fun. Fetch being limited they obviously rely on local winds so most of the surfing is done after strong onshore winds.
Locals were very friendly and totally welcoming. They paddle to me and asked my name and where I was from etc... Don't expect them to make any room for you though, with limited wave supply, lineups get really crowded. Thankfully it's mostly beach break, so there's plenty of waves to be had if you don't mind giving the best waves a miss.

There's a lot of very good surfers here, but there seem to be an absolute cult to shortboarding. I simply didn't see anyone with a board over 6'6 which. All I could get then was a bic shortboard . This is surprising considering the poor quality of waves there. There were still some small clean waves the day after, but too small for a shortboard so nobody in the water. I managed to get my hands on a 8' foam board that day, not great,i know, but I was surfing.

Still it was a fun experience. The sea has returned to it's usual flatness, but it seems like there's more winds on the way for this coming weekend.