# Haifa surf guide Israel's northern port city under Mount Carmel, with its best winter waves: hollow peaks over flat rock at Bat Galim and BackDoor, and easier sandy peaks at Meridian (Pik) and Dado to the south. - **Location:** Haifa District, Israel (32.8191, 34.9984) - **Best season:** Oct – Apr (October, November, December, January, February, March, April) - **Water:** 18–30°C (boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest)) - **Waves:** Reef break, Point break, Beach break - **Suits:** Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced surfers - **Interactive map, stays and what's on:** https://swellcabin.com/town/haifa - **Feed (new YouTube surf videos and Instagram posts from Haifa):** https://swellcabin.com/town/haifa?feed ## Live surf cams - [Bat Galim](https://beachcam.co.il/batgalim.html): Beach Cam Israel, free - [Haifa Casino (BackDoor)](https://beachcam.co.il/backdoor.html) (BackDoor): Beach Cam Israel, free - [Meridian](https://beachcam.co.il/meridian.html) (Meridian (Pik)): Beach Cam Israel, free - [Haifa Surf Club](https://beachcam.co.il/testcam1.html): Beach Cam Israel, free - [Nirvana (Haifa Surf Club)](https://www.wavehub.co.il/en/beaches/haifa-nirvana): WaveHub, free - [Hof HaCarmel (Kahuna)](https://gosurf.co.il/cameras/haifa-carmel): GoSurf Israel, free ## Surf pools nearby - [SRF Park TLV](https://www.srfparktlv.co.il/en/), Tel Aviv: 88 km away, Wavegarden Cove. Livne Eitan 30, Park Darom, Tel Aviv. Israel's first surf lagoon, opened April 2025: the Bay for beginners and juniors, the Reef for experts. Sessions every day, book ahead. ## Surf spots - **Bat Galim**: Reef break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at high tide, rising. Hollow, powerful waves over flat rock on big winter storms (from about 1.5 m); clean and glassy the day after a storm. Rocks and pollution. Ask a local where to paddle out. (32.8353, 34.9783) - **BackDoor**: Reef break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides. Rocky reef by the Haifa casino at the north end of Bat Galim; lefts and rights over flat rock and sand. Inconsistent, best in winter. Rocks and pollution. (32.8355, 34.9795) - **Meridian (Pik)**: Point break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces W (offshore wind from the E), best at all tides. Sandy point peak in front of the Meridian hotel, working from under 1 m; very crowded with some localism. Best on winter groundswells. (32.8071, 34.9556) - **Dado (Kadarim)**: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces W (offshore wind from the E), best at all tides. Sandy peaks off a breakwater in front of the Kadarim restaurant at Dado beach; rarely crowded and surfable in an onshore breeze. Works for every level on small days. (32.7963, 34.9554) ## What's on Haifa is a big port city: bars and restaurants in the German Colony and downtown near the port, student nightlife around the Hadar area, and beach cafés along Bat Galim and Dado. No current fixed weekly nights could be confirmed from dated sources. _Updated 2026-11-08._ ## Where to stay 45 places to stay within 10 km. Hostels: Port Inn Hostel, Backpackers nest hostel, Yafo 82 Guesthouse, בית החייל, Al Yakhour Hostel, German Colony Hostel. ## FAQ ### When is the best time to surf in Haifa? The best surf season in Haifa is Oct – Apr (October, November, December, January, February, March, April). The sea ranges from 18°C to 30°C over the year. ### Which months have the most good surf days in Haifa? Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Haifa's best spot were good or better most often in January (23% of days, 3% great), December (20% of days, 2% great) and February (16% of days, 5% great), and least often in June (0%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast. ### Do I need a wetsuit in Haifa? Water temperature in Haifa is 18–30°C: boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest). ### Is Haifa good for beginner surfers? Yes. Haifa suits beginner, intermediate and advanced surfers; spots that work for beginners or all levels include Bat Galim, Meridian (Pik) and Dado (Kadarim). ### What are the surf spots in Haifa? Haifa has 4 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Bat Galim (Reef break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at high tide, rising); BackDoor (Reef break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides); Meridian (Pik) (Point break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces W (offshore wind from the E), best at all tides); Dado (Kadarim) (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces W (offshore wind from the E), best at all tides). ### Where should surfers stay in Haifa? Swell Cabin lists 45 places to stay within 10 km of Haifa, 8 hostels, 6 guesthouses and homestays. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot. ### What is the nightlife like in Haifa? Haifa is a big port city: bars and restaurants in the German Colony and downtown near the port, student nightlife around the Hadar area, and beach cafés along Bat Galim and Dado. No current fixed weekly nights could be confirmed from dated sources. ### What is the surf forecast for Haifa this week? Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Haifa and each of its 4 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/haifa: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway). ### When is the best tide to surf in Haifa? It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Haifa weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times (approximate: there is no tide gauge near the town). ### Is the Haifa surf forecast checked against measurements? Yes. The open water off Haifa is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 42 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 58 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 71% of the time. Of the three wave models compared, Météo-France has been the closest to the satellites here. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-04. ### How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Haifa? Trust in this page's data is high (100/100): the town was verified against sources in the last 12 months; 4 of 4 spots fully verified, 4 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md). ### Is there a live surf cam in Haifa? Yes: Bat Galim on Beach Cam Israel (free); Haifa Casino (BackDoor) (BackDoor) on Beach Cam Israel (free); Meridian (Meridian (Pik)) on Beach Cam Israel (free); Haifa Surf Club on Beach Cam Israel (free); Nirvana (Haifa Surf Club) on WaveHub (free); Hof HaCarmel (Kahuna) on GoSurf Israel (free). Swell Cabin checks these cams regularly. ### Is there a surf pool (wave pool) near Haifa? Yes: SRF Park TLV in Tel Aviv (88 km away, Wavegarden Cove, https://www.srfparktlv.co.il/en/). A wave pool works when the sea is flat and is a good place to learn or train; check its website for sessions and seasons.