UAE West Coast Temperatures

[Searcaigh]

Wel with BDC closed this weekend because a staff member tested positive for Covid-19 and they are busy doing a super sanitising of the boats and dive shop we decided to do a shore dive off Family Beach on the east coast but this ended up as a shore dive off Sunset Mall Beach.

Air temps 48C and water temp at 8m was 34C .... diving in soup.

Loads of algae in the shallows, disgusting, it's covering everything for a good bit out until you get to around 7m. We did find two nudis (H. infucata)

and a small cuttlefish over the 125 min dive.

Loads of this shell wandering around

Vis was around 1m

Further to cleaning my gear I've found small smears of oil on my gear

Edited to add pics

 

[hedonist222]

Strange days!

We dived off of alaqah Friday and Saturday.

Strange because it was proper chilly at the bottom and even on the boat ride back.

Highlight was a Thornback Skate.

(photograph from the internet)

 

[hedonist222]

3 pm Friday
I remembered aljazeera had two night dives scheduled that day
Great. Could make it on time.
Asked a friend in Dubai if he could make it too.
He said yeah if I could pick him up. He lives a minute away from Dubai mall!

We made it on time.

First dive at artificial reef.
Visibility was good for RAK. About two meters.
Nothing interesting at all.
Except for a barracuda species I'd never seen before. About 40-50 cm long with a black strike across its torso. Someone on the boat said king barracuda.
A present 75 minute dive at 9 meters.

Second dive at turtle reef.
Way too much trash.
I did see a fish I'd never seen before. Looking down at it, bulbous head from the sides. Flat head if looking from cross section.
Its body tapers down into a V.
Swam along the seabed.
Camouflage pattern.


And here's a nudibranch I've never seen in the uae.
Flabellina exopta according to Kirsten.

 

[Searcaigh]

Al Jazeera are promoting two night dives for 150 chips including air for their Friday night dives, I was almost tempted except that the vis is 99% rubbish at these sites normally, plus the location so close to Musandam means strong currents during spring tides means it's a fight to try and photograph anything in the macro world in that pyramid environment.

Flabellina exopta according to Kirsten.

I'm sure we spotted them on one of the wrecks that we dived on that side, can't remember the wreck but it was the one where we were rescued by the Iranian Dhow when Al Jazeera's boat broke down.

 

[hedonist222]

Turns out it was a three spined frog fish

 

[BoltSnap]

Gents, are all of these pictures and videos from diving in the West coast or East coast of UAE?

 

[Searcaigh]

I did a shore dive yesterday at Sunset Mall Beach, 8m max and found lots of Hypselodoris infucata nudis in the blue and grey sponge. Very common on the west coast.

Gents, are all of these pictures and videos from diving in the West coast or East coast of UAE?

Well mine are all from the west coast as this is the West Coast thread.

No idea where @hedonist222 is sourcing his images apart from You Tube

 

[Searcaigh]

Turns out it was a three spined frog fish

No it's not, it's a TOADFISH

 

[hedonist222]

Gents, are all of these pictures and videos from diving in the West coast or East coast of UAE?

Post #32 was supposed to be in the east coast thread

 

[hedonist222]

I did a shore dive yesterday at Sunset Mall Beach, 8m max and found lots of Hypselodoris infucata nudis in the blue and grey sponge. Very common on the west coast.


Well mine are all from the west coast as this is the West Coast thread.

No idea where @hedonist222 is sourcing his images apart from You Tube

YouTube and nudibranch were taken by fellow diver that eve