Few questions regarding scuba diving in UAE

[Corleone]

- Are there any beach accessible to scuba divers in Abu Dhabi or Dubai?

- how do you improve your diving skills? to me its a dilemma!! every time I go to a dive center, its either a reef or wreck diving (weekend trips) which I don't mind at all, once I show up at the boat, its either a team of 2 or 3, after descending, I have to be close to my buddy and pay attention to the DM? back to the question, how can I improve my diving skills if I'm constantly following someone? its been a while since last time I deployed my SMB for example or if I buy a new equipment and need to try it out or if I want to play with my trim or compass!! any advise ?

- do we have GUE or UTD in UAE? im thinking about GUE fundementals or ESM from UTD, any experience? are they really good courses? or is it just the media?

- where would be the nearest cave system to me?

 

[Abdullah]

Diving in the gulf is normally pretty bad visibility. Shore diving here tends to be a waste of time, except for the macro-photography guys who don't need much visibility.

If you aren't getting the right experience on the cattle boats, try BSAC out of Abu Dhabi for some club diving. For tech training you might try Glen at Coastal Technical Divers in Fujairah (they have a website). There's not much for GUE or UTD to do here, so unless you're prepared to fly an instructor in, pay for his stay plus the course fees, I doubt you'll see a course in the UAE.

The sink hole in Oman is the only cave I know of that people dive. It's ugly, high sulphur water with near zero visibility... but it's a cave. This isn't cave diving country. This is reef and wreck diving country. Maybe you work up to the U-boat off Fujairah (104 meters) instead of caves.

 

[Searcaigh]

Second Glenn at CTD for tech diving, I am usually on his boat several times a month, however prepare to be critically appraised!

Of course if you want to practice skills nobody is preventing you do that during your dive, just discuss it with your buddy beforehand, I frequently use my DSMB at the end of most dives just so the boat captain knows where I am and also to signal that I am on my way up.

 

[Corleone]

regarding shore diving, it was meant for testing new equipment or making multiple adjustments to what I already have, or for those days when you are eager to diving but don't wana spend 40+ min on a boat just to get to the site or for those days when you couldn't wake up/miss the boat!!

Glen inspired me to do cave diving!! which I did last year, full cave in Mexico. never met him but saw his expedition study in Africa. unfortunately, he is not doing GUE as far as I remember he is TDI and maybe IANTD. also, once every 2 - 3 months I go to Fujairah, unfortunately, it takes 2:30 - 3 hours, oneway from Abu Dhabi, add to that preparation, diving, surface interval, second or third dive (night) and the drive back to Abu Dhabi, its one hell of a day. I'm not complaining, its just what I have to deal with.

I heard about the sink hole in Oman, not really positive reviews. what I actually meant is for a place where I can travel to, spend 2-3 days, be able to rent tanks and equipments if needed ( not an isolated cave ). so, from a distance perspective to those living in UAE or the Gulf, what would be the best cave system to go to? for example, I don't want to have to fly to mexico every now or then.

 

[Abdullah]

You're not going to get that cave experience here. If you want caves, you need to get on a plane to cave country. Disappointing for you, but the reality of the locale. Probably the closest cave diving will be an 8 hour flight to Europe (take your drysuit).

I'm in Abu Dhabi as well and understand your travel frustrations. If you're just interested in testing your kit, go to the beach on the cornice and swim out. There's nothing to see, but that's not what you're after. Watch out for boats because they won't watch out for you.

 

[Searcaigh]

Three rocks off Aqqa could be done as a shore dive, but as Abdullah mentions above, if it is just for testing your gear set up, anywhere would do, but I would avoid areas with a lot of boat traffic, a diver in the water is the last thing these guys are looking out for!

 

[decompression]

Feel free to contact Darryl Owens at darryl@unifiedteamdiving.com

He is a UTD instructor right in Dubai.

The ESM course is fantastic to really get your control in the water dialed in. Although, most of the ESM course is covered in essentials which is the prerequisite for follow on UTD courses so that might be a better way to go. Cheers!


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