Dubai

United Arab Emirates

The visibility is between 2-7 meter on good days (can reach 15m on exceptional days). The wreck isn't very interesting (its just a square barge brocken in two).
There is usually a big school of barracuda around it, just wait for them.


Without GPS it seems impossible to find it. There is a buoy marking the place though.
By speedboat, it takes around 30 minutes from the Palm Jumeira.

Sheikh Mohammed's Barge is also known as SMB.

Sheikh Mohammed's Barge

Real safe diving for Children.  Lots of small wild life to explore.  Watch out for the Sea Urchins, they group together in packs of 10 to 50.  Looks like a pin cushion.  Small jellies spend the morning in the pool.  By 10 they have all moved out to sea.  Some viability issues, as they are dredging up the coast.

Access From Beach (2A Street). Close to Dubai Zoo. 

Jumeirah Beach

an easy beach dive ideal for training and beach discover Scuba Dives.

Beach Dive accessed by The Pavilion Dive Centre at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The Outer Wall is also known as Ring of Naboodah.

The Outer Wall

The MV Dara was a passenger liner which sunk in 1961. The vessel caught fire following an explosion in the middle of the ship and although the fire was extinguished, the ship sank whilst under tow. 

The Dara sailed between the ports of Dubai and Muscat, and during the early hours of 8th April 1961 a bomb planted by an Omani rebel exploded. It is believed that the bomb had been timed to explode when the Dara arrived at Muscat, however due to a storm the departure and been delayed and whilst the ship was weathering the storm, the bomb exploded. The disaster has been well documented as the loss of life was so considerable the final figure was 238 deaths, the greatest number of fatalities during peacetime after the Titanic. The wreck now lies in three main sections, although the mid section is smashed beyond recognition.

During July the sea is near its hottest and there is an algae bloom which affects the visibility. However visibility has been affected all year round off the west coat, due to the levels of dredging for the Three Palm and World Island developments. Although this is not a problem for exploring a wreck dive with your buddy, to be guided around a site like this is very frustrating. We were in a small enough group but the whole dive was spent following a pair of fins rather than exploring around wherever took you fancy. Marine life was reasonable with turtles, batfish, snapper, but not in large quantities.

Words By: Jenny Pickles, BSAC Dive Leader



MV Dara



Departure from the Hilton Hotel resort, located at Dibba, Ras-Al-Khaimah. Dive site is along a dike.

Mira Saghir

Snoopy Island



Access site by boat. Three very big rocks undersea, when low tide top of rocks can be visible on surface. Depth is around 12-14 meters.
Lots of fish and coral. Usually good visibility

Three Rocks

Dibba Rock is a great training site – but that does not limit it to new divers. Experienced divers can practice buoyancy in water 3 or 4 metres deep. It is a great way to keep your skills sharp.

Possible to see Arabian Angelfish, Sea Turtel, Butterflyfishn and many different kinds of fish as well as the odd black tip reef shark that cruise the reefs.

Turtles often sleep in the area, but don't try to wake them. It is dangerous for the turtle. Look out for "jawfish" (goby) with their big eyes, heads and mouths – they are not exactly pretty. And the clownfish are fun to watch, but very protective and like to bash your mask as a warning to stay away.

It's a shallow dive site & a Marine reserve.



Dibba Rock is also known as Dibba Island.

Dibba Rock

Shark Island

Beautiful dive with lovely rich orange soft coral everywhere and some deep purple and bright yellow soft coral as well. Every other metre you see something interesting, starting with cuttlefish on the sand, nudibranchs, lionfish, scorpionfish, puffer and burrfish, snappers, broomtail wrasse, and geometric and yellow-margined morays. You can dive round the rock, which is supposed to be like a martini glass on its side, starting off at about 12 metres, moving to 20 and then going back to shallower again. On the first dive we saw a turtle as well. Wonderful for photography, even though visibility isn't brilliant. Water was 26 degrees in early April when we were there. We dived with Al Boom diving based at the Meridien Al Aqah Hotel.

words by: Anna Wright, PADI Advanced Open Water Diver



Martini Rock

Ras Qidfa is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in UAE, East Coast which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Sheikh Mohammed's Barge

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Sheikh Mohammed's Barge