Diving
Dubai’s diving is mostly on its variety of wreck and artificial reef sites with a site for all levels of experience. These can all be reached from shore or a short boat ride. Unfortunately in the last few years due to the construction of Dubai’s offshore islands the underwater visibility has been greatly reduced. However do not let this deter you, all of the dive schools in the area know which dive sites to dive and which not to and lots of the wrecks are still very interesting and the reduced visibility can add some mysterious atmosphere to the dives.
Despite the poor visibility a lot of excellent marine life can still be spotted including turtles, schools of barracuda and many other reef fish and macro life. Lots of life can be found around the wrecks of the area which have created an artificial haven for this diverse marine life. One “must dive” wreck in the waters near Dubai is the tragic MV Dara which was a passenger liner sunk in the 60’s by a terrorist bomb and suffered the highest loss of life after the Titanic with 238 deaths. The wreck lies at 18m in 3 sections, although the middle section is completely smashed to pieces and is now home to an abundance of fish, large rays, moray eels, dolphins and schools of barracuda.
Dubai is not lucky enough to have its own natural coral reefs off its coast, but there are many artificial reef projects in the area and in the east coast of Fujairah. These projects have the aim to build reefs where there are none, increase the amount of reefs around the world and therefore increase marine life in the oceans, and also to help restore and rebuild reef where they have been damaged or destroyed due to Man’s activities and natural disasters. This is achieved by planting artificial reef balls which have coral transplanted onto them allowing new reefs to form where they will be protected and hopefully with a stronger structure to withstand larger natural forces.
For the more dedicated divers, or those who would like a change of scenery, a trip to the east coast of Fujairah or the stunning reefs of Musandam in Oman is definitely recommended and can be easily arranged in Dubai. These can be day trips or an overnight trip. These two areas have brilliant coral reef diving, much higher viz than the surrounding waters of Dubai and also a high chance of spotting large pelagic species!
Catherine Owen
how do you get to this location??
Gordon Smith
This site was originally set up in the 1980s most likely for fishing. visibility really exceeds 5 meters and is usually around 2-3m.