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Sport & Activities
Watersports: Tunisia’s clear waters, coral beds and diverse sea life make it a popular destination for scuba diving. Tabarka Yachting Club and the International Diving Centre at Port el Kantaoui are recognised by the World Confederation for Diving and offer fully equipped lessons and trips. Permission must be obtained to dive to the natural reserve islands of Zembra and La Galite. For underwater fishing, it is necessary to bring one’s own equipment, and obtain details of conservationist underwater fishing restrictions from the National Tourist Office. Visitors who have brought their own equipment can refill their air bottles at the offices of the Société d’Air Liquide at Mégrine, 7km (4 miles) from Tunis, and at Sfax. Most hotels on the coast have a heated pool as well as a private beach suitable for swimming. Port el Kantaoui is a port of international standard offering mooring for 340 boats, harbour master’s office, deep-sea navigation school, sailing school, ship-chandler, boat-rental and a dry-docking area with maintenance shops. Prices are competitive, especially for winter careening services. There is a marina at Cap Monastir with similar facilities. Among other sailing (and water-skiing) centres is Le Club Nautique de Sidi-Bou Said, which has a marina complex. The abundance and great variety of fish makes fishing very popular. Catches include mullet, ray, dogfish, groupers, red rock mullet, crayfish and shrimp. A wetsuit is necessary only between November and April. One can watch coral fishing at Tabarka, octopus fishing off the Kerkennah Islands, sponge fishing at Sfax, on the island of Jerba and in the Gulf of Gabès, and tuna fishing by the experts at Sidi Daoud. These ‘fishing spectacles’ take place in May and June.
Golf: There are excellent courses at Port el Kantaoui near Sousse, Monastir, Tabarka, Carthage at Tunis, Tozeur, Djerba and Hammamet. Players of all abilities will find very high-quality facilities. The Open Golf Championships there have already attracted many leading competitors from all over the world. Created by eminent golf-course architects, the courses are dotted with palm, olive and pomegranate trees, and are next to the sea. Each of the 18 holes is on a different kind of terrain, and treated turf has been imported from California. The courses are well suited to all players. There are luxurious clubhouses, equipment to rent and training/practice grounds with putting green. In Tunis, the golf course at the Country Club at La Soukra has recently undergone extension and re-landscaping. More courses are planned for every major resort.
Gliding: The best-known venue for gliding enthusiasts is the Federal Gliding Centre at Jebel Rassas, 25km (15 miles) from Tunis, where gliders and qualified instruction in the sport are available to visitors.
Birdwatching: Tunisia has many species of birds, most of which are protected in national parks. The cork-oak forests of Ain Draham, the lake and marshes of Ichkeul near Bizerta, the coastal lagoons round Tunis and Sousse, the rocky hills and steps from Kef to Kasserine, and the oases and deserts of the south all have their characteristic birds. Birdlife also varies with the seasons; in winter, spoonbills, geese, ducks, robins and wagtails seek refuge from the cold further north, while in spring and autumn, migrant swallows and warblers and birds of prey at Cap Bon pass through on their journeys between Africa and Europe. In summer, Mediterranean species like storks, bee-eaters and rollers stay to nest.
Health spas: There are about 100 hot-spring stations throughout Tunisia – mostly in the north of the country. Many of the spas have been used for this purpose since Roman and Punic times. The most important stations are run by personnel specialised in the medical and paramedical fields, and treatments are available for rheumatism, arthritis, a variety of lung and skin complaints, circulatory troubles and gynaecological problems. More information is available from the National Tourist Office.
Film tours: Tunisia’s desert near Tozeur has featured in numerous films, most notably The English Patient and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. An increasing number of tour operators now offer desert safaris to the locations where these famous blockbuster movies were shot. For further information, contact the Tunisian National Tourist Office (see Contact Addresses section).
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