Looking for Divers in Amman, Jordan

[NDonahue]

Looking for Amman-based divers interested in weekend dives in Aqaba. Share the driving and fuel costs. I typically depart Amman (Abdoun) early Friday (6am; in Aqaba around 9am), and return Saturday afternoon via Dead Sea road to allow for a morning Saturday dive. 1-2x/month.

PM to discuss.

 

[BoltSnap]

Salam,

Is diving in Jordan's Aqaba worth it and is it equivalent to what you see in Sharm?

 

[NDonahue]

I haven’t dived Sharm, but i’d guess there are more pelagics in Sharm. Aqaba is great for reef diving and a few nice wrecks. Almost everything in Aqaba is reachable from the beach so easy shore doves or launches.

For tec diving, its a pleasure to do deco coming up the reef instead of just killing time on a line.

 

[JBFG]

I agree 100%
Diving in Aqaba is amazing!
The Cedar Pride is an amazing wreck and I miss it often.

 

[NDonahue]

I agree 100%
Diving in Aqaba is amazing!
The Cedar Pride is an amazing wreck and I miss it often.

I dove the Cedar Pride, Al Sharouk, and Taiyong wrecks this weekend. Pretty amazing. If it weren’t for the 3 hour drive each way I’d be there every weekend.

 

[Searcaigh]

Is diving in Jordan's Aqaba worth it and is it equivalent to what you see in Sharm?

Aqaba has more wrecks and both are in the Gulf of Aqaba.

The three hour drive is fine if you stay overnight I guess. When I've traveled there I stayed for a week and just hired a car for a day each way.

My only issue really is all the hassle transiting Amman airport with camera gear, that really put me off, and the last time I dived there was in 2011 when I did two trips I had to get the Emirates station manager involved each time regarding taking my rechargeable batteries as hand baggage.

 

[JBFG]

I dove the Cedar Pride, Al Sharouk, and Taiyong wrecks this weekend. Pretty amazing. If it weren’t for the 3 hour drive each way I’d be there every weekend.

I hear you. When I lived in Amman I used to leave at 0500, do the 3 dives on Friday with Arab Divers, sleep there, 3 dives on Saturday and drive back to Amman in the evening.
It was amazing but I was tired after lol.

 

[NDonahue]

You

I hear you. When I lived in Amman I used to leave at 0500, do the 3 dives on Friday with Arab Divers, sleep there, 3 dives on Saturday and drive back to Amman in the evening.
It was amazing but I was tired after lol.

3 dives on the day you returned to Amman. Wow. I’ve been limiting my day 2 dives to one shallow dive in the morning so as to not have any issues climbing up to 2800 ft.

It’s hard to find good advice on driving to altitude after diving.

Definitely agree on the tiring part — hence the search for other divers to share the driving.

 

[GRC]

If you take the Highway along the Dead Sea then you won’t face the elevation changes. Going up through the main highway you will pass through higher elevations that will restrict your dive planning.

 

[NDonahue]

If you take the Highway along the Dead Sea then you won’t face the elevation changes. Going up through the main highway you will pass through higher elevations that will restrict your dive planning.

Thanks. I typically go down via highway and return via dead sea. Less elevation, as you said, and the added bonus of an hour at 1100 feet below sea level.