News
Diving in the UAE: Who would have thought?!
An advert pops up for a diving instructor job in the UAE. I’m not sure if I’m just being naive but my first thought was ‘must be in Dubai’ and my second response was ‘really?’ If either of these was your reaction too, think again.
What’s in the UAE?
Firstly, to my surprise, the UAE does in fact extend past Dubai. A big proportion of the UAE is covered by desert yes, but I have seen that even this varies from rocky plains to huge seas of surf-able sand dunes (still on my to do list). The best thing about the desert is the wildlife, driving around the UAE and spotting random camels, donkeys and goats never gets old. To my surprise I found out that Abu Dhabi is home to voluminous ranges of mangrove systems, which are sanctuaries for a huge range of marine juveniles. A little birdy also told me it’s a great place to see Bamboo Sharks and dugongs. On the borders of Musandam and the east coast of UAE (where I live), here you have stunning mountain ranges that tower over the landscape for miles creating breathtaking coastlines.
The secret gems of the UAE
The east coast of UAE is still relatively sparsely built up, so the coastline has miles of amazing and mostly untouched reefs. This is where I get to work every day. On my first day working at Freestyle Divers, as soon as my eyes touched the water, I was greeted by multiple resident Hawksbill Turtles that now grace me with their presence every morning. The local house Reef “Dibba Rock” (a marine protected area) is booming with life, providing homes and shelters to a range of marine life: Blacktip Reef Sharks, cuttlefish, Hawksbill and Green sea turtles, rays and shoals of damselfish, fusiliers and snappers. The shallow side of Dibba provides a playground for underwater photographers who can capture perfect shots of shrimps and nudibranchs. With this much diversity and quality of corals, the reefs here are doing pretty well.
Close by there is an artificial reef, set up over 10 years ago, by strategically placing massive concrete triangle building blocks. The site is now flourishing with shoals of snappers, fusiliers, trigger fish, families of porcupine-fish and forming a hideout for rays.
A short 20-minute boat ride and further down the coastline you will find many similar dives such as Sharm Rocks, Martini Rock and Shark Island. For wreck divers there is Inchcape 1, 2 and 10 ranging from 18 to 35 metres. These oil rig tenders are coated in soft coral and a huge diversity of little critters taking shelter, just keep an eye out for the lionfish when you enter the wreck!
Tech Diver? UAE has you covered
One of the biggest draws to the region is the tech diving. I started here as a recreational diver but have finally given in to the ‘Tec side’ and just completed my PADI Tec 40. One of the main reasons for doing so is to dive UAE’s deep reefs like Cauliflowers (as the name suggests, the soft coral takes the form of cauliflower heads) at 40m. Going slightly deeper there are stunning wrecks such as the Ines which bottoms out at 72 metres, or a German U-Boat at a serious 115 meters. Obviously, my Tech 40 won’t get me there yet but watch this space!
Musandam
Just North of UAE there is Musandam, a region of Oman that has some of the bests diving spots I have come across. Caverns, walls, and drop offs from 10 to 100 metres plus, covered in endless masses of soft coral. On your dive the sun rays will suddenly disappear, you look up and realise the mass shoals of triggers, banners, barracuda and mackerel overhead have engulfed the sun with their spectacular parade. Giant Leopard Moray Eels guard the reefs while Eagle Rays gracefully swim by. You may even get to see whale sharks or a pod of dolphins whilst they migrate through. I could write pages and pages of reasons why you should dive in the UAE but why spoil the surprise. So, the next time you are booking a trip and want somewhere new and exciting, give UAE a try!
Diving Conditions
Visibility can vary, like most places around the world, but on the average, there is a good 5-10m. Temperature fluctuates through the seasons, with summer rising to 31 or 32°C and the winter months dropping to 20-22°C. This wide range of temperatures can bring plankton which is why there is such a variation of life in these waters and it attracts migrating species such as whale sharks, rays and turtles.
Find out more about Kayleigh at www.followthewhitefin.com.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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