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I actually quite liked the diving of the East Coast of the UAE. Sure, it's not a place you'd go half-way around the world just to dive, but if you're in the area and you're a diver, you can have an interesting time. I even liked it better than the Great Barrier Reef day trips, and divers are lining up for those.
 
This is Part II of my dive report on diving with different operators in the UAE the first week of Jan. 2007.

I didn't make it to Musandam for the reasons mentioned below, but have included contact numbers and names of operators who go there. Also, I did dive in Oman in Jan. 2005 with Global Scuba in Muscat. The diving was much better than the UAE (even the East Coastbecause the reefs were healthier, there were more fish and the viz was much better), but it ain't the Red Sea, Carribean, Pacific, etc. Global Scuba is French run (but the family spend a long time in the US) and they were friendly and competent and arranged all necessary permits to dive in Omna. But they had a very small boat and were experiencing some teething problems as a new operator (ie. they tried picking up some guests from the beach at the Hilton and the dive operator there caused a lot of hassle and delayed us leaving for our dive). I expect this has been sorted as I have heard good things about this operator and they keep sending me information about their growing dive services, like Junior Open Water for kids 10 and up and EANX diving courses. E-mail: marketing@global-scuba.com. Mobile: +968-929-76251

Now back to the UAE...



• Jan. 5, 2007 Dubai, Pavilion Divers, Jumeirah Beach Club that’s the 5 star next to the 7 star hotel). Tel. +971-4-406-8827. E-mail: diving@the jumeirahbeachhotel.com. Website: jumeirahinternational.com/diving. PADI Gold Palm Resort.

I had signed up for a day trip to Musandam which this dive centre supposedly runs weekly. I received “confirmation” only to find out the evening before this dive when I called to double check that everything was okay that had been called off that day due to lack of sufficient number of passengers. (The boat takes 25 but they sometimes go with 15). Considering there were only three people booked, they could have called this off sooner allowing us to plan alternatives. Certainly Al Boom diving and Divers Down could tell you a week in advance if they were going to Musandam or not. Therefore be warned: a confirmation from Pavilion Divers just means they have your credit card details and info.on file but is not a confirmation that you are actually leaving to dive in Oman!). Otherwise, they were quick to respond to e-mail bookings by e-mail but not general questions (e.g. “Do you have afternoon dives?”—answer no, but had to call to find out.)

I therefore signed up for a local Dubai dive. We were supposed to do a new deep wreck dive, the Miriam Express, but problems with the coast guard prevented us from going out for an hour by which time it was too late to go there. (There was a ferry accident in Bahrain about 8 months ago and so the UAE is jumpy about boats. The Coast Guard is controlled by Abu Dhabi which isn’t as geared to tourists as Dubai is, hence the coast guard issues.) We therefore did the Dubai signature wreck, the Cement Barge, which is 5 minutes from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The Dive Manager comped everyone capucinos, hot chocolates, etc. by way of apologizing for the delay. Divers signed up for the Advanced Class who needed to dive a deep wreck and now couldn’t were also comped their dive, so they were very customer friendly for an incident which was not their fault. Pavilion Divers has a couple of course directors on staff so this is where many of the UAE Instructors get trained.

The Cement Barge is at 40 feet. Viz is terrible. Imagine a sandstorm and fog in the middle of the desert, add a wreck, a few solidified cement bags (which caused the barge to sink) and stir with salt water. Voila, that’s the Cement Barge. There are no coral grows in Dubai because of all the dredging activity which also means the viz is terrible (1 meter max). We dove this wreck twice. The water was colder (18C) than on the East Coast and many people refused to do a second dive due to cold and poor conditions. This operator has a nice boat (but small with no room for dry stuff, showers or toilets), but then you don’t need a big boat with more amenities for short distances. They gave us fruit (melon) to feed the few fish (bat fish, a few tiny barracuda, snapper) and served fresh croissants and coffee during the surface interval. Like Al Boom they had one DM for every four divers. You will feel like a millionaire pulling into the Jumeirah Beach Hotel’s port with all the posh yachts parked out front. This was the best part of the dive for me. Toilet and changing facilities are the best you will ever hope to find as they belong to the uber swish Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Personable DMs and Instructors coming from the US and South Africa. Cost: a princely 300 dirhams for two tanks and weights, 350 if you need to rent gear.

• Jan. 6, 2007, Ocean Diving Center, Rotana Beach Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Tel. +971-2-644-1696 or 697-9313. Mobile: +971-50-771-4795. E-mail: info@oceandiving center.com. Website: www.oceandivingcenter.com.

I was eternally grateful for this new operator for taking me out at the last minute. (I called the night before to dive here given that my Musandam dive trip was cancelled). They are located in a very nice hotel on the beach (Rotana Beach Hotel, next to Abu Dhabi mall) which has a dedicated dive center with classrroms and space for gear. You use the hotel’s very nice changing facilities (includes a lovely Jacuzzi!, perfect after those chilly dives) and they will lock your valuables in the dive office.

They have a nice comfy boat with a small storage space for day packs and provide towels on board as well as water. They offer tea or coffee at the dive center.

Abu Dhabi has coral reefs and some wrecks (in excess of 20 meters) and much better viz than Dubai. First dive was Delta Buoy, about 25 minutes out. We saw schooling bat fish, a cuttlefish, angel fish, a large porcupine pufferfish and lots of sea urchins. Water was 19C. Viz. about 10 meters.

Our next dive was closer to Abu Dhabi at the breakwater. Viz was 6-8 meters and there wasn’t much to see except a lot of black sea urchins. Biggest thing I saw was a dead fish caught in an old fishing net which shows how little life there is there as it wasn’t immediately eaten up by crabs, shrimps, etc.

There was a French instructor who drove the boat and an English DM for three divers. This was the friendliest dive operation in the UAE. I had a really good day out with them they were so pleasant. They were also the cheapest. 150 dirhams for two tank dives with my own gear—which is half the cost of what Pavilion divers in Dubai was charging for a 5 minute boat ride and diving a shallow wreck with 1M viz. . (It costs 50 dirhams more if you rent gear.) Diving in Abu Dhabi is way better than diving in Dubai but not as good as the East Coast of the UAE.

Bottom Line: Overall, this was the operator I liked the best in the UAE due to the nice boat and friendly and personal service. They even helped divers clean their personal wet suits and bcds.


Other options:

• Sandy Beach Dive Center, Al Aqah Beach, Fujeirah. Al Boom used to run their dive center and it has reportedly gone downhill since they moved to the Le Meridien. Still, they offer diving (including night dives) to over 14 different sites on the East Coast daily. They run trips to Musandam and you can dive but you need to give them at least a week notice as they need to arrange tanks and weights and other equipment with another company. I have also seen comments on the web that you guide yourself on their dives. If this is the case, I don’t know how they deal with solo divers. Martie Stokes, the Operations Manager of the Sandy beach hotel for Diving was reasonably efficient in responding to e-mail questions. E-mail: sandybm@emirates.net.ae.. Tel. +971-9-244-5555. Mobile: +971-50-455-3596.

• Charlotte Anne Charters, Dibba. Traditional Baltic Schooner which sometimes runs weekend and 4 day adventure (dive) trips to Musandam. Overnight charters are 600 per person. Tel:+971-9-222-3508.Website: www.charlotteannecharters.com. Did not respond to my e-mails.

• Al Marsa, Dibba: Offers speedboat and liveaboard trips to Musandam. Dive shops contract with this company for their Musandam trips but then supply their own gear and staff. Tel. +971-6-544-1232. Website: www.musandamdiving.com. Did not respond to my e-mails.

• Discover Nomad, Dibba. Tel: +971-50-885-3238. E-mail: chris@discovernomad.com. Webiste: www.discovernomad.com. I wasn’t in touch with them but saw in the Dubai Time Out that they advertise trips to 33 dive sites and provide guesthouse accommodation in Dibba, plus trekking, deep sea fishing, kayaking, camping and dhow trips during peak season.
 
This is Part II of my dive report on diving with different operators in the UAE the first week of Jan. 2007.

• Jan. 6, 2007, Ocean Diving Center, Rotana Beach Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Tel. +971-2-644-1696 or 697-9313. Mobile: +971-50-771-4795. E-mail: info@oceandiving center.com. Website: Home.
Bottom Line: Overall, this was the operator I liked the best in the UAE due to the nice boat and friendly and personal service. They even helped divers clean their personal wet suits and bcds.


Other options:

• Sandy Beach Dive Center, Al Aqah Beach, Fujeirah. Al Boom used to run their dive center and it has reportedly gone downhill since they moved to the Le Meridien.

Thanks for the report, it's great! I'll definitely check out the people in Abu Dhabi soon.

I know it's been ages since this was posted, but to add an update, Sandy Beach has a new owner and things are going very well there now. I did my OW there, and the new DM is Jeff, a very experienced diver and an excellent teacher.

I have been there several times now, and the divers who regularly use the facility all say that standards have picked up since the new owners took over and Jeff runs a great dive center now.

I can recommend it. They're helpful, friendly and it's got great facilities. So the comment about Sandy Beach is definitely no longer valid.
 
I have also done a dive with Divers Down in Khor Fakhan.
It was a nice friendly dive centre but on both dives there was no guide in the water with us. On the first dive the only guides were dropped off at Shark Island with half of the divers whereas the rest of us wer told to dive at Anenome Gardens with no guides. This was a complete waste of a dive as Anenome Gardens was completed trashed by the Cyclone ealier in the year and there was practically nothing to see (whereas the guides and other divers had 10 black tips circling them at shark island)

For the second dive we did Martini Rock and on this occasion there was only the boat captain and no guides at all. This dive centre is also the only one that I have used that made you lug the tank and weights down the beach to the boat and then lug the empty tanks back after the dives.

Will maybe give the Palms Dive Centre a try next time I go to the East Coast but otherwise will stick with Al Boom.
 
Divers Down has all the best dive sites on the east coast within 15 minutes boat ride.
Now you can't complain at that!
Having been herded like sheep by an over-zealous DM in Florida i dream of diving without a guide. I can guide you around Martini Rock from here; keep the rock on your left (or right) and go round it.
The east coast of the UAE is still the best diving i've done.
 
As an update I did 2 dives last week with the Palms Dive centre at the JAL Hotel Dibba.
I have previously seen their decent sized Catamaran dive boat out on the water but when I got there it was out on the slipway. So we went out on a small rib for 2 minutes out to Dibba Rock(2 minutes but they still charge nearly 350dhs for 2 dives with tanks and weights)

First dive was ok but the guide (Japanese) didnt really seem to know where he was going and didnt point out much of interest. Did have a Black Tip swim past just a few metres away which was good.

On the second dive, also at Dibba Rock, there were 9 divers and all their equipment on a small RIB. far too many for safety. The vis had fallen which it usually does there in the afternoon and we dived the other deeper side of the rock. towards the end of the dive the current was soo strong that I ended up having to surface (luckily no safety stop was needed as we had been at less than 5m for a while). On this dive the guide (Egyptian) was more interested in taking photos than guiding.

Changing rooms in teh dive centre were tiny, smelly and lots of small flies.Surprising when you consider its part of a 5 star resort hotel.
 
Definitely do East Coast instead of Dubai. Just did Dibba rock and it was OK, though I did get a killer shot of a cuttlefish who seemed to want to be my dive buddy! Guess it's all relative depending on where you've dived. I wouldn't make the UAE a dive destination if you have to travel far. Instead, enjoy the beautiful architecture, wonderful people and AMAZING developement that is Dubai and the UAE!!! (go skiing, too)!
 
I have lived and dived in Dubai for the last 10 years. I would recommend you to dive with a freelance Instructor because they have good connections with all of the dive shops. There is one PADI IDC Staff Instructor Imad Khashfeh mobile no +971507766078 or check out his facebook group Undersea diving - Imad Khashfeh who is an excellent Instructor. He dives both Dubai, Dibba, Musandam and the East Coast. He can also advice you where and with whom to dive with in Thailand and Lebanon.
Go dive :wink:
 

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