New Saudi female diver facing dificulties

[Louie]

Nada,

Hope you've had some promising outcomes and leads since your rather dubious start.

I've made a few trips to the Red Sea and as previous responders have mentioned, there are "western" operated outfits.

A nice liveaboard out of Marsa Alam - when I went a couple of years ago anyways - was the Ghazala Voyager, run by an English couple with a good local crew. I'd taken other liveaboards in the region with crews not trained to to behave in ways women would deem appropriate or civilised (ie. leering, rude remarks and sexual advances to the clients).

Out of Hurghada, I believe Emperor - please correct me if I'm wrong - is a British outfit and I've heard good reviews from female friends who'd dived with them.

I realise it is because you are a Saudi and a woman that you may get the difficulties that foreign women may not encounter but I imagine you would find dive outfits that will cater to you with a bit of looking.

And the region is worth diving: absolutely spectacular.

Of course, there are many other places in the world to dive - plenty where your origins don't make an ounce of difference. But whever you do decide to dive, stay tough, dive safely and have fun.

 

[Ian T]

From what I know, Saudi women are not allowed to run or own businesses... not so sure about business demand in KSA...
Also, tourists tend to avoid KSA - for many reasons....

cancun_mark...
that's the problem... there is no real demand...unfortunately for Nada...
Not many women there from other countries either, and of those...how many dive?

mike_s...
you're right, females that are Saudi nationals are escorted and cannot 'usually' be in the company of other men, let alone foreigners..

Apart from going diving with her (muhram) chaperone or arranging an all-female dive day..i don't know what the solution might be...

If you still follow this thread, Nada, let us know what has happened...

 

[Amphibious]

this was a surprise to you? I can;t even take my female western students out without a bunch of hassel. you'll need to find a male escort that is part of your direct family or find someone with a private boat. not many dive operators will be keen on taking a single female diver, esspecially on the west coast. I'll be in Ras Tanura over the summer, not sure if I can be any help but I can see if any of my old contacts from Daharan are still diving privately. long shot, but you never know. Good Luck.

 

[Hank49]

Not to be insensitive but, it seems kind of odd to me that you would be asking mostly non Saudis how to dive in Saudi. And especially since you are having a hard time not because of training or a diving technical issue, but because of the cultural barriers within your country. If I were in Saudi and assisting you in this endeavor, I would be fearful of reprisals from your male family members or even of getting thrown in jail. This is the oddest question I've ever seen on SB. But, good luck, if you're for real.

 

[Goose75]

Not to be insensitive but, it seems kind of odd to me that you would be asking mostly non Saudis how to dive in Saudi...

Mark,
I think the intent of her post was to find female divers in her region that can help her and her friend.

Nada,
I think several people have listed some good local options and outfits. Let us know how things work out. Dive safe and be careful.

 

[Ian T]

Hank,
not really odd at all. The overwhelming majority of divers in Saudi are not Saudis but ex-pats.
No need at all to be fearful of reprisals as long as everything is done correctly, respectfully and approved of, all of it discussed in advance.

 

[Otter]

Not to be insensitive but, it seems kind of odd to me that you would be asking mostly non Saudis how to dive in Saudi. And especially since you are having a hard time not because of training or a diving technical issue, but because of the cultural barriers within your country. If I were in Saudi and assisting you in this endeavor, I would be fearful of reprisals from your male family members or even of getting thrown in jail. This is the oddest question I've ever seen on SB. But, good luck, if you're for real.

Given that her IP is in KSA, I'd say there is a reasonable chance its real.

 

[SubMariner]

People, this thread was started back in Nov 04. It was briefly resurrected in March 05, but I doubt any of the original participants have looked at it in a long time.

 

[Hank49]

I saw the date before posting. But thanks.

 

[red sea]

hi nada
I hope that you got a soultion for this problem and if not I think the only soultion for this problem in saudi arabia is to have reef dive from private beaches
there are some private beaches here in jeddah:
1-al-nakhil beach is very good place to dive in but as saudi guy i need to enter the beach with an instractor
there is no body could enter this beach except the foreign and saudi guys with saudi or non saudi instractors.(50SR)

2-al bedaya beach is not bad to dive there and u dont need any instractor to enter the beach.(40SR)

so i hope that this information could help u
and for boat these no soultion easier than get a cool saudi diver for married if not yet