The Big Felafel

Ashdod: A vacation spot without leaving Israel

I always thought Ashdod, Ashkelon, same thing, whatever. So I was surprised, on my recent trip to the beach, to discover what a truly beautiful place Ashdod is. The streets are lined with palm trees, artsy buildings, and modern sculptures. And the mall even has a Mango store.

Warning: This may not be the beach to ogle at the bikini-clad women that were on the cover of Maxim.

When we got to the beach, we saw many religious women fully clad in bathing dresses and their hair covered. In fact, we saw all types of women, but not one man. Or boy. Or male of any age. But we figured, hey, maybe guys just don’t like coming to the ocean anymore. So, as we were unpacking, we got a plethora of dirty looks and the crowd started approaching fast, telling us this beach is for women only and to move on down to the next section.

Woops!

So, we went over to the mixed beach and started swimming away. I couldn’t get over how clean the beach was, how quiet, not crowded, and best yet, no jellyfish. For those who have been to the Tel Aviv beach, just imagine the complete opposite. So instead of spending tons of money to see beautiful beaches elsewhere in the world, first check out Ashdod.