Diving in Dubai? Yay or Nay?

[Gombessa]

I'm going to be in Dubai for a few days, and will probably have time for half a day or a day trip for diving. I've heard that some of the west (gulf-side) dives are plain canceled because of heavy construction stirring up the silt. I was wondering if anyone has been recently, and know of options in the area?

Taking a shuttle out to Musamdam/Fujairah is also a possibility, but how realistic are the schedules given by the dive ops (out of Dubai around 6:30am, back in Dubai around 5:30pm)?

Thanks!

 

[MarkH]

From what I heard from local divers when I was there, there is still some great wreck diving off Dubai, but most of the near shore wrecks have been either covered over or dredged away during the various palms construction. Dives are still done on the farther out ones, but because of the distance, I wasn't able to find a shop that runs charters out to them on a regular basis. Usually, it's local clubs that charter a whole boat. I went out to the East coast several times and, even with nasty traffic, we'd be back in Dubai at around 5:00. Of course there are no guarantees. The dive shop shuttle is also the most economical way I found of getting there and back. It cost me 150 Dhs for the return trip.

 

[ubascuba]

We dived in Dubai in October although the diving off of Dubai is limited to wrecks - the marine life has suffered from the extent of the building work off the coast so we travelled to Oman. You can read full details of our diving here:

Dubai | Scuba | Diving | Reviews

Having said that, we do know divers who've had some good diving in the UAE - our experience was more about the quality of the dive leader so we didn't get an opportunity to really sample what the UAE had to offier. Good luck!

 

[cklonowski]

I would not recommend diving in Dubai itself due to the low viz from dredging projects and lack of coral. Most dive shops take you across to Fujairah, Musandam, etc but that entails a long day with a two-hour drive in each direction for most areas. However, the diving, if viz is decent, is nice and my experience with Al Boom was great: very professional but friendly PADI shop. Musandam was my favorite area due to clearer waters and above water scenary. Fujairah seemed to have some silt problems from construction projects and viz was pretty low on some days, better on others.

I enjoyed my week there but heard some disgruntled comments from individuals who set out for a one-day dive trip and endured a day with two long drives, waiting for other groups to arrive for the boat, etc. What would normally be a leisurely dive day elsewhere was a rather long (14 hour) day door to door.

 

[Redaman]

Anybody have any experience with Arabian Divers out of Abu Dhabi?? I am here for a few weeks and would like to get my feet wet.

Thanks.

 

[Redaman]

Well.. I answered my own question. Dove here in Abu Dhabi and while the diving wasn't spectacular like I expected, I got a chance to get my feet wet.

We just dove off the breakwater in about 25' of water but there were quite a few fish and the water was nice and warm.

I went through Arabian Divers and they were very nice and helpful. Anybody who has been here knows public transportation is a challenge, but Arabian Divers helped me out quite a bit.

I rented the gear, and dealt with the usual rental gear stuff... but all in all it was fun... and a lot better than staying in the hotel