Weekend diving is always on the cards for Tareq Husseini

The Life: Tareq Husseini talks about unwinding from his day job at a tech firm by diving underwater to explore wreckages of boats and planes.

Tareq Husseini is the regional sales director for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa at SanDisk. Pawel Dwulit / The National

Tareq Husseini is the regional sales director for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa at SanDisk, one of the world's largest suppliers of flash memory cards. Out of the office, he can often be found diving among the wreckage of boats and, most recently, a downed plane just off The Palm.

There are only three of you in SanDisk's Dubai office. Do you guys ever get together after work to blow off steam?

Yes, we do from time to time with our partners. We go to dinners, go-karting and try to do some kind of social activity.

How did your peers help you discover scuba diving last year?

One of my colleagues wanted to do it and needed a buddy. Seemed like a nice idea to be outdoors, and I went and got trained outdoors.

Do you always dive with someone from work?

Normally one of the guys is one of my diving buddies. It's always nicer and safer to dive with someone. We try to make it at least twice a month, every other weekend.

Where are your favourite places to dive?

We go to the eastern part of Fujairah. Recently, I went just off Atlantis's shore on the Palm. There was a plane crash. I always dive through boat wrecks but had never done a plane wreck. It was the first time the government allowed individuals to do that. It's not too deep - 12 or 13 metres. The fuselage is still there, cockpit, wing, tail - all on a Pakistani aircraft. I think it's a cargo plane.

What kind of creatures did you swim up against down there?

Lots of kinds of fish but also turtles. You have the occasional shark and dolphin sighting. Last time, I saw lobsters.

Was it hard learning how to dive at first?

It's just getting the timing of your breathing. It's like riding a bicycle for the first time: the moment you get the hang of it, it's a very nice sport. You get addicted.

Given that you work for a tech company, do you ever take any gadgets under water?

Yeah. I don't own a [underwater] camera but my buddy does. He's using his camera with, of course, a SanDisk card in it. You accumulate a lot of other gadgets: noise makers, safety equipment.

Is it a social activity?

You're talking with your buddy for 45 minutes and relaxing. We communicate with some sign language, or do tapping where we can understand each other. But when you're down there you're really on your own and sometimes that's a nice feeling.

Do you guys ever talk about work?

We hardly talk about work. We get so consumed with what adventure we're going to see.

Do your spouses ever join?

They let us go. It's guy time.