Diving
Diving in Arabia
Diving in Arabia is surprisingly great fun.
Dubai is not known as a diving destination but then again Arabia is not limited to just Dubai. The Arabian Gulf is home to many fascinating shipwrecks most within access to the majority of recreational divers. Most of the wrecks lie in 18 to 30 metres of seawater and are on average about a 50 minute speed boat trip away.
Dubai below the sea is similar to what we find above the sea. A desert is a fitting description as the sea bed is very sandy with no rock outcrops and therefore no coral to speak of. With this, the diversity of marine life is limited but that said there is still plenty to see with schooling barracuda, stingrays and a reasonable splashing of general reef fish on the shipwrecks. There are now the new man made islands in the Gulf which are still to be fully completed but promise new diving locations and help increase the rocky areas in the ocean with the hope of coral growth and increased marine diversity.
The visibility in Dubai fluctuates during the year and is predominantly better during the summer months when the sea state is calm and warm. The visibility can be around 12metres on most of the deep shipwrecks. Closer to shore and in the cooler winter months when weather is a little temperamental the visibility suffers
Thankfully, when the weather is unpredictable in the winter in Dubai the oasis of the Indian Ocean on the East Coast is a great option. This is where the majority of diving takes place in the UAE. The Indian Ocean is a much more fertile body of water with a very diverse amount of marine life with a good amount of hard and soft coral formations. There are many offshore rocky outcrops and small rocky islands where all the popular dive sites can be found. Sites range from 10 to 30metres. The visibility is generally cleaner and the dive sites are much closer to the mainland leading to shorter boat trips and increased repetitive dives.
Finally, the last diving area accessible from Dubai is the Musandam. This is a really special place and is the best diving in the region. There are several huge rocky offshore islands and a coastline that is a divers playground to explore. This remote area is still relatively virgin as the world of diving has not really found it yet.... You can find almost anything that your heart desires in the Musandam - whale sharks, reef sharks, turtles, rays, a plethora of reef fish and much more. Dive sites here range from 10 - 40 metres with water running as deep as 200 metres in some areas. Although the Musandam is actually an enclave of The Sultanate of Oman, there is no visa required. You will however be required to carry your original passport or carry Emirates ID to cross the check point.
So despite not being known as a diving destination, a holidaymaker or a resident of the UAE can have a short or long term diving hobby.
There are nearly 20 Dive Centres in the UAE mostly PADI Centres with a few in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and the largest concentration on the East Coast.The bigger and more reputable centres are located in Dubai providing good quality diving education and diving trips to all 3 areas mentioned.
