Achziv Islands

The Achziv Islands lie in the waters off Israel's northwestern coast, roughly five kilometers north of Nahariya along a rocky shoreline of lagoons and natural pools.[3] The northernmost islet, Tekhelet, sits nearly a mile offshore, just south of Rosh Hanikra — the cape that marks Israel's border with Lebanon — and the remaining islets extend southward in a reef-like formation stretching approximately four miles toward Achziv.[4]

Geologically, the islands are remnants of Israel's westernmost kurkar ridge, which was once continuous with the land. Changes in sea level flooded sections of the coast over time and later retreated westward, leaving these outcrops isolated offshore.[2] One islet, Tchelet, is not a conventional island in the ordinary sense but rather a submerged rocky ridge whose highest point barely reaches the surface; an Israeli Navy marker indicates its position, and the ridge descends to approximately 35 meters near an underwater canyon.[5] Shgavion, known locally as "Love Island," is described as part of the same kurkar ridge running from Rosh Hanikra toward Haifa and lies about a kilometer from the coast.[6]

The islands lie within the Rosh Hanikra–Achziv Marine Nature Reserve, declared across approximately 100,062 dunams of Mediterranean Sea.[1] The reserve extends along about seven kilometers of coastline — from the Israel–Lebanon border south to north of Nahariya — and reaches approximately 15 kilometers westward into the sea.[1] Its shallow coastal section has been under some form of protection since the 1960s.[7]

The reserve's seabed is unusually steep: the continental shelf drops to a depth of roughly one kilometer within just one kilometer offshore, allowing deep-water fish species to approach relatively close to the coast.[5] The underwater terrain is a three-dimensional rocky environment of kurkar formations, cavities, and niches, and a deep submarine canyon cuts through the rock, reaching depths of approximately 850 meters — described as unique along Israel's Mediterranean coast.[8][5] At shallower depths, rocky habitat is dominated by algae; at greater depths, coverage shifts toward sedentary animals such as sponges.[7]

The reserve has demonstrated measurable ecological benefits from protection. Monitoring studies found food fish at least four times as abundant inside the reserve compared to a comparable area where fishing was permitted, and the reserve's rocky shallows supported substantially greater coverage of native brown algae than the neighboring unprotected zone.[7] As of 2023, the reserve held Israel's highest documented concentration of cartilaginous fish species, with 13 species recorded.[8]

Shachaf, Nachlieli, and Tchelet function as annual nesting colonies for waterbirds.[6] The islands are among the few places in Israel where white wagtails, yellow-legged gulls, common terns, and rare bridled terns nest.[1] Common terns — characterized as endangered in Israel, with a national population of approximately 2,000 individuals at the time of reporting — nest on Nachlieli, with most of the country's nesting population concentrated in the Achziv area.[5] Seagulls also nest on the islands during summer.[3]

The wider reserve protects a diverse assemblage of coastal and marine habitats: kurkar ridges, coastal reefs, sandy beaches, sea caves, cliffs, underwater rocky terrain, and the deep submarine canyon.[7] The rocky seabed's complex structure provides varied habitats and shelter for fish, invertebrates, and sponges throughout the reserve.[5]

A 2013 account stated that landing was prohibited on Tchelet, Shachaf, and Nachlieli; 2023 rules also require visitors to remain at least 150 meters from Shachaf and Nachlieli.[2][1] Fishing is prohibited throughout the marine reserve and on its islands, and anchoring is not permitted except with coordination and approval from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority or as part of regulated boating activities.[8]

Shgavion was described in 2021 as an exception among its neighboring islands and as a site where visitors could land and remain.[6] The island's nickname, "Love Island," is associated with a short-lived commercial venture in the late 1980s, when local entrepreneur Shmuel Wizengreen erected a makeshift café-restaurant on the island — a wooden deck with umbrellas, tables, and food and drinks. The venture lasted only a few weeks before a powerful storm broke up the deck and washed its boards back to shore. Notable visitors during its brief operation reportedly included then-tourism minister Avraham Sharir and Al Gore.[6]

The Achziv Islands have appeared in discussions of the Israel–Lebanon maritime boundary. The site at Achziv itself holds ruins of a Phoenician port dating back more than 2,000 years, lending the area long historical significance.[4] In 2021, an earlier Lebanese exclusive economic zone proposal was reported to have conceded the islets to Israel, while a later Lebanese position characterized them as uninhabited and irrelevant to negotiations.[4] These represent positions recorded in reporting from that period and do not necessarily reflect the islets' present legal or negotiating status.

Different reports over the years give varying figures for the reserve's total area — 100,373 dunams in 2019 and 100,062 dunams in 2023 — without explanation of the discrepancy.[9][8]

Fishing rules have been described differently across time: a 2013 travel account reported that rod fishing was permitted in the reserve, while 2023 reporting states that fishing is prohibited throughout the reserve and on its islands.[2][8] Access accounts concern different islets: the 2013 article prohibited landing on Tchelet, Shachaf, and Nachlieli, while a 2021 report described Shgavion as open to landing and visits.[2][6] The fishing discrepancy may reflect changes in reserve regulations or boundaries over time; the access accounts are not necessarily contradictory.