Dive and discover life underwater

So you think there isn't enough to do in Dubai. Think again. There are myriad sports and activities ranging from the weird to the wonderful, ones that get the adrenalin pumping, the heart racing and others that keep the mind calm and the chakras in tune. Each one has its own followers, hangout and events. Every fortnight Joanna Longworth will be checking out a leisure/adventure sport. Stuck for something to do? Look no further...

If the thought fascinates you, then why not give scuba diving a try? But make sure you undergo proper training


Since the dawn of conscious man a fascination with the big blue has existed. It has taken centuries of madcap scientists and technically-minded adventurers to satisfy our underwater curiosity. Today our seas are more accessible. With the help of compressed air tanks people all over the world are swimming with the fish and discovering their extraordinary world.

The basic principle of scuba diving is to breathe compressed air from a metal tank — with a special "demand" valve, which allows air to flow only when you breathe in. Modern scuba equipment also includes weights and an inflatable jacket.

Surrounded by so much sea in this region, scuba diving is an obvious and popular pursuit. Padi courses are readily available. The sometime murky waters and lack of coral reef means the UAE can't rival places like the Australian Great Barrier Reef.

But in its own way the UAE is a world-class dive location. There are some very interesting wreck sites, around 30 in total, and an impressive range of marine life.

The Sheikh Mohammed barge lies 24 metres under and 30 nautical miles out to sea. It's a huge wreck site complete with two pick up trucks. The barge was a supply vessel to oil rigs and was deliberately sunk to create an artificial reef. There is also the Zainab at 30 metres deep.

Most of the good diving in this area requires an advanced Padi course. This trains divers to go to depths of 40 metres. An open water course, the first diving course, only qualifies to 18 metres. An advanced Padi course sounds complicated. In fact it is fairly easy and can be completed in two days.

"Nearly all the good wreck dives here are 24–30 metres, so it is advisable to do an advanced course to access them safely." says Phil O'Shea from the Pavilion Dive Centre in Dubai.

As far as marine life in this region goes, there are some pretty big fish. There are lots of rays, turtles, sharks, moray eels and dolphins. There are also some very rare species like the sun fish. The Musandam is a particularly good place to see them.

Sadly poor visibility often prevents divers from being able to see the beauty underwater. Storms and dredging from building sites do have an adverse effect and can take a long time to clear. Dredging churns up the sea and chokes the corals, sponges and micro-organisms.

Proper scuba training is essential, without which diving becomes extremely dangerous. Diving specialists have spent years working out what is and is not safe. It is within these parameters that diving courses like Padi are taught.

A third of all diving accidents are caused by people who exceed their diving limits. "People who die diving are mostly not beginners. It's often people who have been doing it for years and think they are invincible." says O'Shea.

"All the nasty accidents don't happen on the way down, it's on the way up. That is why people have to know the dangers before they get into the water."

These days diving is very safe, provided the rules, worked out by a complex process of trial and error, are observed. It has taken hundreds of years to get to this stage. In 1535 Guglielmo de Loreno developed a crude form of the diving bell. It took another 400 years of experimentation before the aqua lung (a tank of compressed air) was invented by Jacque Yves Cousteau. It finally gave man the freedom to stay underwater for long periods. Initially it was used by the military but slowly a small number of pioneers began the risky business of diving for fun.

Thanks to their work and the research that followed, scuba diving is today enjoyed by millions around the world. It appeals to different people for different reasons. For some, it's the idea of breathing underwater, for some it's the marine life, for others it's the virtual weightlessness. But if you need another reason to try scuba diving, here's one. The moon has been mapped in detail, but two thirds of this planet's surface is still unexplored. All of that unmapped territory is underwater.