WHAT LIES ON THE SEABED AT CAESAREA?

Herod the Great did not earn his greatness from being a family man. He killed most of his sons. Neither did it relate to his compassion for his subjects. He slaughtered all the sons of Jewish families under two years of age in an effort to rid himself of any threat of competition from the newly born ‘King of the Jews.’ His legacy of greatness lies in the many structures built during his reign.

After walking amongst the remains of his handiwork on land at Caesarea, we headed to the bay for an underwater inspection of his achievements. Blue skies, clear, warm water provided ideal conditions for our snorkelling adventure. The biggest surprise - the remains of a wreck at the edge of the bay.

It was the work of the Haganah – the Israeli secret service. They blew up this British munitions ship in 1945 at the end of the war. It added further tension to the strained relationship between England and Jews, wrestling to shake off their mandate.

You never know what you’ll find when you poke around in Israel!

By the way, I discovered from the dive master the identity of the mysterious marine muncher who took a small piece from my leg – a fish named ‘sergeant major’. I’m grateful I didn’t meet the whole battalion!