Haifa, 100 km south of Lebanon and west of the Sea of Galilee, is Israel’s third largest city and also Israel’s main port and point of arrival and departure for passenger ferries. It is the home of Israel's technology industry. A modern and cosmopolitan city, Haifa has an almost equal mix of Jews, Christians and Muslims, Druze and Baha’is. The population is about 600,000 and the languages spoken are Hebrew, Arabic and English.

Haifa rises steeply from Haifa Bay and is a beautiful town, its hillsides covered with trees. The city is divided into three terraces, with the rich living on top, and the poor at the bottom. Haifa University and the Technion, Israel’s acclaimed scientific academy are situated here. Summers here are very humid, and winters mild. The western coast (on whose northern part Haifa is), with miles of vineyards, caves and jutting sea cliffs extends up to the Lebanese border.