Cliff Beach, also known as Tzuk Beach (Hof HaTzuk) is Tel Aviv’s northernmost beach and a year-round favorite location for swimming, kayaking, fishing, windsurfing and — because of the ridge over looking the sea — paragliding as well.
Made of kurkar, a type of calcareous sandstone, the ridges that run along Israel’s coastline — actually fossilized sea sand dunes — are unique in the world. Hof HaTzuk is Tel Aviv’s last remaining kurkar cliff.
Photographer Shmulik Livyatan is one of a group of confirmed swimmers who come almost daily, winter and summer, rain or shine, to Hof HaTzuk. For two years, he has photographed the people he meets on the beach and — by employing a waterproof camera — in the water as well.
The results of his efforts are the subject of a new exhibition, Tzuk Beach – Meetings in the Sea, at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv.
“One can observe the aesthetics, body language, and the use of light which is not visible from the shore,” writes curator Kineret Palti
“In the water, Livyatan meets individual swimmers, swimming classes with an instructor, SUP surfers, people rowing in kayaks, sailboats, fishing boats, and of course – the sea, the sky, and the horizon.”
More Hof HaTzuk images by Livyatan are available on his Facebook page.
For an amazing overhead view of the ridge and coastline, check out this video by videographer Ran Shiftan.