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Beaches in Lebanon for People who Actually Want to go to the Beach.
You know the routine. You arrive at a beach resort, hand your car over to valet, pay an entrance fee you’ve convinced yourself is worth it, look for a lounge chair or beach bed, and finally put down your beach bag- which has just been searched by security. Your group of friends wants to order a bottle of rose. Ridiculously, a bottle is 50,000LL and a glass is 20,000LL- anyway you get your drinks and lounge. You lounge so hard with your tanning oil that you forget about the water. So you get in the water, but you don’t want your drink to get warm so you bring it in with you. Depending on how well you can coordinate a drink while swimming, you may manage to get as far as shoulder deep in the pool. Congrats, you’re beaching!
This is generally how it goes at resorts in Lebanon. I don’t see many complaining and sometimes it’s just what you need! It’s the Lebanese way to turn everything into a party, but what if you actually want to go to the beach- I mean like venture into the saltwater and onto the sand?
Here are beaches for people who actually want to go to the beach:
Sour Public Beaches
Free. The sand is white and the water is clear. Go with a few friends, bring snacks and have a picnic or eat at one of the casual beach restaurant huts.
O Glacee
Free. O Glacee houses the meeting point of an ice cold fresh river that flows from the mountains and connects with the warm salty Mediterranean. Its shore is entirely rocky and very clean. There is a bar and a natural rocky seating area around pure river water.
Lazy B
Entrance Fee. A tropical island with an adventurous landscape and the whole package. Lazy B has a bar serving exotic drinks, two restaurants, and three different pools over looking a good sized sandy shore line.
Janna Sur Mer
Entrance Fee. Two pools, one primarily for adults, and a restaurant. Past the pools extends a sandy shoreline that stretches along the length of the resort.
Chekka
In Chekka there is a good selection of sandy beaches including Florida Beach as well as various public beaches lined up next to it.
Ramlet El Bayda
Free. It is best to go with a large group of people to Ramlet El Bayda. Competing with sour public beaches, Ramlet el Bayda has one of the biggest stretches of sand of any beach in Lebanon leading up to the water. In addition, the sandy shoreline stretches kilometers down the coast as opposed to many other beaches that have a hardy patch you would run across while trying to catch a frisbee.
Rabbit Island
Transportation Fee. Off the coast of Tripoli, there is an island which most have heard of but never been to. If you want to take a little beach adventure, this is the place to go. Gather some friends, pack a barbecue or picnic, and pick one of the boats off the Mina Port ready to transport visitors. The Island is sandy with lots of nature to explore, including endangered turtles, rare monk seals, and supposed nesting grounds for migratory birds.
Although there are countless beaches in Lebanon that are casually breathtaking, these choices range from “oh this is what river water feels like”, to “what if our boat leaves us on the island?” Either way, they present interesting alternatives for an end of the summer no-chlorine beach trip!
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