Who is suitable for vacationing and staying at Achziv Beach?
Couples, families, groups of friends, from early childhood to the elderly.
Location
Waze : “Akhziv State”
There is organized parking on site, but in order to get there you have to drive a bit on a gravel road.
History about the place
The story of the Achziv state begins somewhere in the 1950s. A young man named Eli Aviv rented two buildings on the Achziv coastline from the State of Israel, with the aim of renovating them, one to become his home and one to become a vacation village for rent by night. Later, the Achziv National Park, owned by the Nature and Parks Authority, was built right next to it with a common wall.
Eli Avivi’s holiday village was a huge success (especially in the 70’s) there is no one who didn’t want to go there, so it was completely blown away always. In 1971, Avivi and his wife, Rina, established Achziv state as a protest against the national park built next to them. What does it mean to establish a state? From what you hear, the state allegedly elected a president named Eli Avivi, a flag, an anthem and even passports were issued! Visitors to the site can request that their passports be stamped with a special stamp, in addition Avivi opened a museum in the state compound (allegedly) called “Achziv Museum” which has ancient bedding, some 3,000 years old, found in the country’s soil, as well as newer artifacts from the last century. Since then, the Akhziv state (allegedly) continues to attract visitors even though its president, Eli Avivi, passed away in 2018.
Let’s go back in time a bit, maybe way back in time a few thousand years…
Thousands of years ago (in the Iron Age), in the same place where the (ostensibly) Achziv state exists today, there was an ancient port city that according to the finds was a major trading city. In fact, the same city was already mentioned in this biblical period, and we know that it appears in Joshua chapter 19 as part of the territory of the tribe of Asher: “… And there were his immediate outcomes from the Achziba terrorist…”. And if you want a little more history about the same city, during the Crusader period, the city was given as a gift to one of the knights. During the Mamluk period, the place was conquered by the Mamluk general Baybars, who established a fishing village there called a-Zeb, similar in sound to Achziv. During the War of Independence, in Operation Ben Ami, the village was abandoned by its residents, and then in 1952 the place was bought by Eli Avivi (who later became President of the State of Achziv) who built his house and resort on the ruins of the Old City, making the resort even more interesting!
Today the resort complex is managed by Rina, Eli Avivi’s widow, who still lives there. She will receive you, open the gate for you and show you the bedrooms.
About the complex itself
In the complex itself there are not too many rooms, the place is quite intimate, suitable for family vacations or a group of friends (of course you have to take everyone into consideration and this is not a place to do blackouts as long as you have not rented the entire complex at least), at any age. The rooms are all kinds of sizes and shapes and there is a wide variety of options (of course according to what is available). The rooms themselves are air-conditioned but simple rooms with kitchenette and bed, no TV, shared bathrooms and most reception available, but if you are determined enough you will find a reception corner to soak up some civilization. This place takes you back in time and also makes you disconnect a bit from everyday life, in my opinion this is what should be done when going on vacation.
In the complex you can barbecue (but you have to bring a barbecue from home), group meals, and there is also a place for a bonfire, surrounded by concrete suitable for sitting, a bit like a small colosseum. The place itself is surrounded by diverse vegetation and at the end of the complex there are stairs that take you down to a private beach of the complex!
My trip to Achziv
I went for a long weekend with my family. We arrived in 3 cars of course they all had parking already waiting for us to arrive, we rented 2 rooms, one double (for parents), and one family for the rest (1 double bed plus 2 of single and single mattress). Luckily we arrived on a calm weekend, apart from us there was hardly anyone in the complex until Saturday when it started to fill up.
We settled in the rooms and ran straight to the beach, the private beach is beautiful, it has big canopies and also places to sunbathe and there is also a breakwater so it’s completely safe there. And of course there is lighting at night that those who sleep there can control it themselves. After going down to the beach and coming back to take a turn, to see the place. Rina, the owner, told us about the museum her late husband built there. We wanted to go in to see but she said it was closed as a pen and it would open the next day. Rina gave us a tour (yes we had protections there) of her amazing complex which they renovated, but made sure to keep it exactly as it was, really a perfect balance for preserving a historic complex. During the vacation we mostly rested, ate, laughed and were together, really together, the lack of cellular reception caused us to leave our devices aside and be with each other, which is very rare in our time and what is nice is that if we did want half an hour of Instagram and Facebook we found a corner where there is reception.
The place itself gives a sense of calm and tranquility, very grounding and causes consolidation (no matter if you came with friends or family) togetherness does well and improves any vacation. In Bohurim we ate omelettes or shakshuka made on stoves we brought from home, during the days we had snacks and fruit, and in the evenings we grilled. I must mention that the place is very convenient for preparing food, it has chairs and tables and lots of space, in addition outside the complex a 5 minute drive, there is a gas station with: convenience store, restaurant, ice cream parlor and also a pancharya.
On the last day of the trip we went in to see the museum and I must say that I was impressed, there are antiques that are thousands of years old and information about the land where we slept over the years, in addition there is an “Eli Avivi corner” where you can see pictures of him and read information about him from his beautiful time in the Akhziv state and also pictures of him with all the celebs who visited the place. The museum tells the story of the place in a tangible and interesting way and I recommend anyone who comes there to enter it even if it is brief.
In conclusion
In summary I highly recommend Achziv Beach and will be more truthful about Achziv State than the national park. There is something very authentic about this place, very calm and detached from the outside world. The place is minimally equipped of course there is a fridge and air conditioner and sockets to charge the phone in each room but TV is less catchy. The place is suitable for groups of friends and families alike.
Achziv Beach Tips
- Book at least a month in advance
- Bring cooking equipment and all that entails from home
- Enter the museum!
- Recommend bringing board and card games
- If you want to bring dogs with you there, please inquire with Rina beforehand. Generally forbidden but always worth trying and checking out.
Phone number for scheduling vacation: 04-9823219
Resort Links:
- Link to Facebook of the beach – here
- An article in Vint on the passing of Eli Avivi, President of Achziv State: here
- “This is where I founded the hippie state” wrote about the Akhziv state on the librarians’ blog: here
- “50 Years of Freedom” Walla’s article on the state of Achziv: clickhere
