You hear mixed reports about the quality of the diving in Dubai. It's a building site, the Viz is terrible, there's nothing to see. All these are common gripes.
To be honest the diving in Dubai is not what it used to be, but the challenges mentioned above are far from accurate.
Dubai is a wreck divers paradise. The Arabian Gulf is peppered with wrecks lying at varying depths and most within a hour or so from the dive centres, so not too far. There is some coastal construction going on which has knocked out the only natural reef in dubai and several shallow sites, it's fair to say that the vizibility at present can be poor or good taken on a day to day basis depending on construction. As for the offshore sites, diving is still good with favourable vizibility.
So what can you see? As the wrecks are the only dive sites, coral and marine life diversity is stunted, but what you do see, you see plenty of. The waters are nutritious and therefore the dive sites appear to bussle.
The summer months are very hot and the waters are lovely and warm. Due to this, any pelagics have migrated for the summer and larger species of local marine life head for deeper waters further offshore and out of range for divers.
The winter months bring much colder water and therefore plenty of marine life. Lot's of stingrays, thousands of barracuda and even busier sites busting with reef fish.
You can get a decent dive all thru the year but you need to be really diving offshore in 18m plus of water to stand a chance of a good dive.
Good sites to choose are Dahra, Zeinab, Neptune, Hopper, Lion City and the Jasim.
Two dives with full equipment rental will cost you between $80 and $ 135 depending on where you dive.
That said, The East Coast of the UAE is in the Indian Ocean and further North is the Musandam. The East East is a natural Reef environment and the Musandam can rival the Red Sea and the Maldives when it is at it's best. There is a PADI Dive Centre in Jumeirah that runs charters to all these places. Very professional, very clean, very safe and they have a great atmosphere and they are organised.
I had a great time with them and would definately recommend them to anyone.
If you get to choose, get yourself on a Musandam day charter or liveaboard. Failing that it's an east coast day trip or a deep wreck. In that order!
There are not many Dive Centre's in Dubai, only one or two that you would want to dive with.
What's Dubai Like?
Clean, very safe, friendly, great restaurants, quite a few great bars and nightclubs. The place is not open 24 hours but not far off. The Buildings are something else, very very imaginative. Dubai might be in the middle east and nestled among what you think is trouble, but honestly, Dubai is inside a bubble and is not politically affected by anything.
It is very hot in the summer and humid and I actually liked that, but it's not for everyone, so be warned. I think the best time of the year is April/May or Oct/Nov for the best climate and diving conditions.
Duibai is growing very fast and has a huge expat community. As a result there are plenty of other activities to take part in. Kite surfing, jet skiing, Wadi Bashing and Dune safaris, skydiving, waterparks, hot airballooning, wind surfing, sunset Yacht cruises etc etc etc.
This place is fast becoming the resort for all pro football players form Europe and there is a good chance of being sat next to them in a hotel resort or bumoing into them in a bar.
What a wonderfull world. Glad I found it and would defo go back again and again.
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