Seeking Jeddah Jedis.... you're my only hope

[BoundForElsewhere]

For weekday diving you will mostly be limited to shore dives. Tourism hasn't picked up enough that boats are going out during the week yet. The place I use (la plage) is 150SAR entry then 30SAR per tank. There is also equipment you can rent. Desert sea divers have a shore diving place as well so might be your best bet that you email them and see whats available. No harm in asking about the boats at the same time. The boats from desert usually visit 1 wreck and 1 reef dive and cost 315SAR for two dives including food and soft drinks.

The other major operator to try is dream divers. They have a lot of boats but usually groups will charter the whole boat and its not cheap as you need a Saudi captain to go out of the creek. Around 1600SAR for 8 hours. Plus you will need your own tanks.

Also don't think of the entry fee as a entry fee to a place to dive. Its a full resort and private club.

Dave B

Thank you, Dave. I think I am going to stick to various shore dives as I am only there Tuesday through Friday. I have arranged for some sunrise dives at the Sheraton and will play it by ear for the rest.

 

[Dave Bevan]

Thank you, Dave. I think I am going to stick to various shore dives as I am only there Tuesday through Friday. I have arranged for some sunrise dives at the Sheraton and will play it by ear for the rest.

Sheraton is nice. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[Sunn]

Any infos about liveaboards there ?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Not that I've come across. They are only 1 month into their effectively first ever tourist visa program so not a whole lot of options. Give it time and I'm sure they will get up to the scale of Sharm Al Sheik.

 

[NothingClever]

www.dreamdiver.net

One departure marine is from Al Lith, 2.5 hours south of Jeddah.

Another departure marina is in Yanbu, 3.5 hours north of Jeddah.

Always good people on board, mostly Westerners.

Diving is good. Even if there’s not a lot of sealife, you’ll get some really nice expansive wall vistas.

I’ve seen Pilot whales, whale sharks, most toothy sharks, big green turtles, bull rays, eagle rays, humphead wrasses and plenty of eels.

7-8 dives for the weekend. Board Thursday night, ropes off at 06:00am on Friday, 4 dives that day (one night dive), sleep near a reef, early Saturday morning dive for the motivated, 2-3 dives that day and back to the marina by 5:30pm.

Pretty decent crew. Will is typically the DM unless somebody qualified organizes the dive and takes charge.

Flat bottom boat so no swell is wasted....boat wallows when there are swells.

Good food. Air conditioned salon.

Can bring “tea” (term for alcohol in Saudi Arabia) on board for a nip on Friday night if you’re clever about it. If Saudis on board, definitely not a good idea. Lebanese, Egyptians, Jordanians...no big deal.

 

[NothingClever]

Sheraton is nice from the water up. Dive scenery is OK. Crowd is very pleasant, much better parking, restaurant is nice, prep area is very spacious, lots of shade, nice entry dock, dive shop doesn’t have many DIN tanks.

La Plage is nice from the water down. Much, much better dive scenery. Huge training platform. Nice drop off for depths past 40m. Can get very crowded on the weekends, less consideration for personal space and gear, dive shop has lots of Pro valve tanks, restaurant not as nice, limited bathrooms, parking sucks.

 

[Searcaigh]

Give it time and I'm sure they will get up to the scale of Sharm Al Sheik

I bloody well hope not, that would be the end of some nice reefs.