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The United Arab Emirates, northeast of the Arabian Peninsula, is a rich country of oil and gas where scuba diving is still remote and unspoiled.
Take a look at all the pictures!
Recent diving activity from our members
3 stars at least. Sharm Rocks was a fun dive with tons of varied fish, from schooling snapper to mating puffers to clown...
- Inchcape 1: Tons of activity on the wreck the Inchcape 1, even...
Inchcape 2 wreck lies not far from Martini Rock off Khor Fakkan in the east coast of the United Arab Emirates. The maxim...
An Iraqi cargo ship that sunk in 1971. Lots of Clownfish, Oysters, Angel fish and Yellow Snapper. On both of my dives, t...
Did a dive on Inchscape 2 this weekend (1 May 2009) Vis was pretty good, for the UAE. Lots of critters; the usual Yello...
Dibba Rock is a steep protected rock formation filled with animal and invertebrate life.
- United Arab Emirates
- UAE East Coast
The United Arab Emirates or UAE is not one of the first world renowned dive destinations. Tourists probably know the emirates Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its architectonical highlights and innovative water exploration works but scuba diving is not on many tourists' list. This is a shame actually as the region's relatively stability, its unspoiled diving and the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman make it a country very suitable for diving tourism.
The UAE is the northeastern country of the Arabian Peninsula bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates was formed out of the seven oil sheiks of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Oil supplies and natural gas have made this region rich, innovative and with extreme high living standards. Between the main towns on the Arabian Gulf and Al Fujairah in the east are well maintained highways, making it easy to visit the country on day trips. Besides coastal activities such as diving, snorkeling and jet skiing; one can spend all day in water parks, skiing on top of sand dunes, walking in the desert or just reading a book enjoying the friendly people and sipping cocktails. Golf holidays to Dubai and the other Emirates are very popular in winter. June and July are considered to be low season because of its high temperatures often exceeding forty degrees. Water temperatures hover between twenty and thirty degrees Celsius making it suitable for scuba diving with a very thin wetsuit or with shorts.
Arabian Gulf diving used to be excellent but recent dredge works for example the offshore world's islands creations have had severe impact on the visibilities just out of shore. There still are excellent wrecks to dive at but one should keep in mind that underwater sight doesn't extend up to twenty meters as is the case when diving at the east coast of the UAE, near Fujairah. Near Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah visibilities range between almost zero close to shore up to ten meters a bit further offshore. One of the good things is that you can dive here year-round. Sights might be closed because of the weather but seasons tend to be such that diving on the other coast is at its best then. The Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman supposedly have more than a third of the world's whale and dolphin species, several kinds of turtles and more than 700 kinds of tropical fish. Enjoy this unspoiled secluded dive destination on a visit to Dubai.