Ramlet al-Baida is a public beach in Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

. The beach is situated along the southern end of the Corniche Beirut

Corniche Beirut

The Corniche Beirut is a seaside promenade in Beirut, Lebanon. Lined with palm trees, the waterfront esplanade offers visitors a magnificent view of the Mediterranean and the summits of Mount Lebanon to the east...

 promenade where Avenue General de Gaulle

Avenue General de Gaulle

Avenue Général de Gaulle is a seaside, palm-lined street in Beirut, Lebanon. The avenue, which was named in honor of the French general and president, Charles de Gaulle forms with Avenue de Paris the Corniche Beirut promenade...

 meets Avenue Rafic Hariri and ends at Rue Venezuela. Despite the beach's location in the upscale district of Ras Beirut

Ras Beirut

Ras Beirut is a luxurious residential neighborhood of Beirut. It is the most cosmopolitan and open-minded area of Beirut, where sizable populations of Christians, Muslims, and Druze coexist peacefully. It is known as the cultural and intellectual center of Beirut...

, the beach is popular with a predominately male clientele from Beirut's low-income southern suburbs

Dahieh

Dahieh -2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict:On July 13, 2006, Israeli jets dropped leaflets over Dahieh warning residents to evacuate the area before carpet-bombing the neighborhood to rubble. However, not everyone managed to flee the town, and those who did escape became refugees within the mainland...

. The beach is also a popular gay, cruising area.

History

The beach was the location of major events during the war in Lebanon. On April 10, 1973, a seaborne Israeli commando unit that landed in Dora

Dora, Lebanon

Dora is a suburb north of Beirut in the Matn District of Mount Lebanon Governorate. The suburb has commercial and residential zones.Dora is administered by Bourj Hammoud municipality.-Demographic:...

, departed from Ramlet al- Bayda after assassinating PLO officials, Muhammad Al Najjar, Kamal Adwan, and Kamal Nasser. The corpse of Francis Meloy, the incoming U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, was discovered on this beach on 16 June 1976. In 1983, a terrorist group, believed to be Iranian-backed, bombed the barracks of the French peacekeepers that were stationed four miles from the beach area. The attack killed 58 French soldiers.

Beau Rivage

Hotel Beau Rivage

Beau Rivage (Beirut)

The Beau Rivage is a four-star luxury hotel on the Ramlet al-Baida beach in Beirut, Lebanon.From 1997 until the 2005 Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the hotel served as the headquarters for Syrian intelligence in Lebanon. Prisoners held there were often tortured; some were "disappeared" and...

, which overlooked the beach, was the headquarters of the Syrian intelligence in Beirut from 1997 to 2005. The hotel became the center for detaining Lebanese dissidents and synonymous with torture and human rights violations. After the Syrians withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, the hotel was renovated and in 2008, it was reopened as a civilian luxury hotel.