Dubai: Is the rising mercury getting to you? Are you looking for new ways to cool off? How about riding a wake for a change?
As Dubai-based sea junkie Amr Ali will tell you, it’s a whole new high. When the 33-year-old investment banker is not at work, he’s out at sea, steering a growing community of thrill seekers in Dubai waters.
The Egyptian-born British national says there are many takers for water sports in the UAE, which prompted him and his friend Haithem, also an investment banker, and some of his sea-enthusiast friends to launch an outfit called Sea Riders in July last year. The main focus is on wakeboarding and wakesurfing.
“We’re basically sea enthusiasts who’ve done most water sports like wakeboarding, kitesurfing, windsurfing, surfing, scuba diving and deep sea fishing. The demand for sea sports is big, so we wanted to create a safe, friendly and professional environment for wakeboarding. It also gives people a reason to get out and enjoy the sea and share the same passion. It’s social and a lot of fun,” says Ali
But what is wakeboarding and wakesurfing? While both entail riding a wake created by a specialised boat and mimicking the look and feel of an actual ocean wave, there’s also a difference. Ali explains: “In wakeboarding, you are far behind the boat wearing a symmetrical board connected to the feet by boots. You are also connected to the boat through a rope and a handle. It’s a mix of different sports like waterskiing, snowboarding and skateboarding. Riders use the wake as a ramp to jump, flip or perform tricks.
On other hand, wakesurfing is surfing the wake created by the boat in the same way as conventional surfing. “You start holding a rope to gain momentum and then you can let go of the rope and surf by the power created by the wake. The advantage of wakesurfing is that the wake is endless, so you can surf it over a longer time. You also remain barefoot in wakesurfing.”
Either way, the sense of freedom is unmistakable. “It just makes you feel free - basically you are gliding on water behind the boat, away from the everyday world. You can do whatever you like - touch the water with your hand, jump high into the air or try out a few tricks,” says Ali.
He estimates there are 200-300 wakeboarders/wakesurfers in the Sea Riders community and the number is rising. “Every week we introduce at least 10 new people to the sport. They come from diverse backgrounds in terms of age, profession and origin. One of our riders is just seven years old. We have absolute beginners and as well as pros.”
Training sessions begin at Dh275 (per person) for half an hour and usually cover groups of four to five. For groups, the sessions can range from one to four hours. “We have two instructors: Cow from Mauritius who has been wakeboarding for 15 years and Karim from Egypt who was initiated into sea sports at a young age.”
Operating from Dubai Marina and Dubai Creek, Sea Riders also organises deep sea fishing trips and sea cruises.
To know more, go to: http://searidersuae.com/
