The global pandemic has created a scuba-diving boom in the UAE. As a result of travel restrictions put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, many people have found themselves staying put over summer, and have used this as an opportunity to discover the region's waters.
According to the Professional Association Diving Instructors, the GCC experienced its best July in 10 years in terms of student diver numbers. Updated regulations and new safety rules were quickly implemented by Padi to help dive centres safely maximise on this captive audience.
And while many of the travel restrictions that led to that boom are now easing, overseas trips are still filled with uncertainty as the world struggles to contain the virus. This means many newly qualified scuba divers are now looking to join those who already explore the UAE's oceans, to discover the underwater world in their own back yard.
And while it's not quite the Maldives, the UAE has a number of sites that offer a variety of diving experiences – from shallow to drift, wreck and wall. On the east coast, colourful marine life awaits, while interesting wrecks are to be found below the surface of the waters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Whether you're newly qualified or an underwater old-timer, here are six of the best diving sites across the country, recommended by those in-the-know.
1. Inchcape 1, Fujairah
For advanced divers looking to go deep below the waves, Inchcape 1 on the east coast of the country is definitely one to put on your list. Donated to the UAE's underwater landscape by Inchcape Shipping Services in 2001, the wreck is about 20 metres long and rests upright on its keel. The waters surrounding it flow into the Indian Ocean, which means the underwater life here is quite different to what you'll find on the country's other coasts.
"This wreck offers an amazing variety of beautiful coral and marine life," says Dave Griffiths from Divers Down in Dubai and Fujairah. "It is a huge ball of marine life, so much so that you often have to move marine life out of the way to see the wreck properly."
2. Sharm Rock, Fujairah
Another spot on the east coast, suitable for novice divers, Sharm Rock (also known as Three Rocks) is located near a small fishing village in Fujairah. Here, divers will find plenty of marine life at very manageable depths. At high tide, the tips of the three rocks protrude from the surface of the water. If you look closer when the tide is lower, you may spot a small fourth peak.
“This is the perfect site for entry-level divers with a depth of five to 13 metres. The site is made of three large pinnacles close together, with a crack running along the top,” explains Griffiths.
"It is full of shoaling fish and even has shoals of bannerfish, parrotfish and puffers."
Divers can also expect to find cuttlefish, turtles and perhaps some friendly jawfish.
3. Zainab, Dubai
The waters off Dubai are home to several wrecks and one of the most impressive is Zainab, a site that's ideal for advanced and experienced divers. When the 1969-built vessel sank off the coast of the UAE in 2001, many were worried that the oil spilling from it might reach the desalination plants responsible for the country's fresh water supply.
Now, settled at a depth of 30 metres on a flat sandy bottom about 40 minutes by boat from the Dubai coastline, the wreck is well worth exploring.
For Mohamed Helmy from Al Boom Diving Centre in Dubai, this is one of the best places to wreck dive in the UAE. "It's a shipwreck lying at a depth of 30 metres and has a lot of aquatic species to see," he says.
Countless marine creatures have made the wreck their home and divers can expect to see oysters and juvenile fish on its surface. There's also a good chance of spotting large rays, yellowtail barracuda, snappers and batfish.
4. Red Buoy, Abu Dhabi
Don't forget the capital when it comes to diving sites. For an expedition that guarantees lots of marine life, Abu Dhabi's Red Buoy is a good pick. It is a long-time haunt of Ocean Diving Centre at Emirates Palace marina.
"The visibility here is always good and there's lots of fish," says Teresa Danuco from Ocean Diving Centre. "The last time I went, I saw a whale shark, and that's the first time I've ever seen this since I've been diving in Abu Dhabi."
The site goes down to about 11 metres, so it’s good for novice or advanced divers and it lies about 19 kilometres off the coast of the emirate.
5. Dibba Rock, Dibba
The marine-protected site of Dibba Rock is suitable for new divers or those who feel less confident in deeper water. It goes down to about 14 metres so you can also have fun if you're more experienced, but it has a sloping rock that allows divers to easily stay in shallower depths if they prefer.
“Under the surface of Dibba Rocks lies a pinnacle stretching for 200 metres. The first part of the pinnacle is a steep wall and on top of that you’ll see tropical marine life and maybe a shoal of devil rays," says Griffiths from Divers Down.
"The second part of the dive around the island is a gentler sloping wall ending into a wall of mountain corals. Here you're likely to find blacktips, turtles and many tropical fish species."
There have also been reports of the occasional whale shark at this site.
6. Small shipwrecks, Abu Dhabi
Located about 30 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi from Emirates Palace, the small shipwrecks offer underwater treasures well worth a visit. "The small shipwrecks is one of our favourite dive sites," says Danuco from Ocean Diving Centre.
Depending on the tide levels, divers can go down to about 12 metres. Below the waves, the wrecks crawl with marine life. It's possible to swim right inside the shipwrecks, where you'll get up close and personal with the hundreds of colourful fish that have made these sunken vessels in the Arabian Gulf their home.
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
F1 line ups in 2018
Mercedes-GP Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez; Renault Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr; Williams Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa / Robert Kubica / Paul di Resta; McLaren Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Toro Rosso TBA; Haas F1 Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; Sauber TBA
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
If%20you%20go
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
