Kibbutz Sde Yoav is located in the south-center of the country between the cities of Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon. In the 1950s, there was oil drilling in the area, and in Kibbutz Sde Yoav the members dreamed of seeing a black jet burst from the ground. Instead, all that was found was hot water that bubbled from the depths of the boreholes.
The boreholes were covered and left to stand for 30 years until in the late 1980s the virtues of the bubbling hot water were discovered and the thermal-mineral baths, rich in sulfur and other minerals with medicinal properties were turned into the Hamei Yoav Spa. In recent years, Hamei Yoav has undergone a facelift, a pampering spa hotel was built and the old dream of oil has become a new dream called “Dream Island Spa”.
In addition to the spa hotel, you’ll find the Yoav Country Lodge, where you can enjoy a slightly more kibbutz atmosphere.
Thanks to the expansion neighborhood and large absorption waves over the past decade, the kibbutz’s population has almost doubled and today in Sde Yoav, drilling continues, but now to lay the foundations of a warm and bubbling community life.
Photos: Kibbutz Sde Yoav
