Dubai Diving Center and Fujairah Diving Review

When my trip to Dubai was still in its planning stages, I started looking into the possibility of scuba diving Dubai packages.  I naturally wondered the scuba diving in Dubai cost, but I was also really concerned about quality! I did some reading, and apparently, the diving in Dubai isn’t as good as Fujairah diving. Scuba Diving Fujairah would be great except I was in Dubai!  Luckily there is a Dubai Diving Center that offers a shuttle from Dubai to Fujairah, and here’s my review with them–Al Boom Diving.

Fujairah Dive Sites

I have to start my review with the main reason we dive!  To see things!! The first dive site was Dibba Island, which wasn’t too far from the dive shop.  Once we got to the massive rock, it was just a backwards roll into the water and down we went!

I love how bright the coral was!

The water was a bit murkier than I was hoping for, but wildlife was still visible.  There was some coral so vibrantly pink and red that it stood out even from afar! There were lots of eels that weren’t quite as large as the ones in Hurghada, Egypt, but they certainly still had a lot of attitude!

Sassy eel!

The second dive site of the day was closer to the center, and that’s where we saw some fun wildlife!  I love watching turtles fly through the water, and this one was no exception. This fella (or fellete?) seemed to really be posing!  

Perhaps this is Crush?

I was also really excited to see my first wild cuttlefish!  My guide did a great job of always alerting us when there was something interesting to see. Honestly, sometimes I have no idea how he even saw some!  But I heard that “tap tap” in the water and followed my guide’s finger.

Cuttlefish are so hard to spot!

A few times I saw stuff even my guide didn’t see!  It was either a scorpion fish or a lion fish (I sadly don’t know the difference), a fiesty crab, and a clown fish!

Diving Equipment Dubai/Fujairah

I don’t travel with my dive gear, although I do have a wetsuit, fins, mask and snorkel. (If you’re looking to invest in your own scuba gear , this has the best BCDS and  scuba masks for all budgets)  Al Boom provided me with a nice wet bag to house all of my gear! I didn’t bring anything from Dubai because all of the gear was at their Fujairah diving center. It was all in good condition.  In fact, this was the least amount my mask ever fogged up! I wonder what they put in their masks!

What an odd pattern for fish to be in!

Snorkeling in Dubai/Fujairah

I didn’t snorkel, but we did have two snorkelers on our boat.  They saw the same turtle we did, and actually saw more! In some cases, I feel like snorkeling is on par with diving, but in this case because of the viz, I’m glad I was able to go down with the gear because I think we saw more than those floating at the top.

Scuba Diving in Dubai Cost

Now keep in mind that prices change based on how much equipment you need and how many dives, so for a full cost list, check out their website.

Optional Extras:

Shuttle: If you need the shuttle from Dubai to Fujairah (and back with snack/bathroom stop!), that’s 200 AED or about $55.  Considering that it took me about $20 to get from my Dubai hotel to the Dubai Marina in the same CITY, $55 for the 3 hour round trip drive seems very reasonable.

Food! I had no idea that there was a boxed sandwich option, and much to the amusement of the crew, I brought a whole pizza on board as my lunch and snack!   But if you don’t feel like toting around a giant embarrassing box of pizza, you can ask for a boxed lunch which is 36.75 AED which is about $10.

Dubai Diving Center

Al Boom has a Dubai diving center and a Fujairah Diving center.  I met them at the Dubai one to be shuttled to the Fujairah one. It was very easy to find which is good since I had to be there soo early!  I wasn’t at the Dubai diving center long since I was being transferred to Fujairah.  However, there was a cute cat 🙂

Fujairah Diving Center

This one was gorgeous! It is at a beach resort!  There’s a bar and restaurant there, where you get a discount for being a diver.  There’s about an hour lag time at the resort before it’s time to go back to Dubai.  During that time, I was able to lounge on the beach recliners, have an alcoholic drink, and find some beautiful wooden wings because #ForTheGram lol.

I believe that Fujairah is actually pretty close to Oman, because my guide pointed to Oman on the boat, so if you’re interested in diving in Oman too, they aren’t too far apart!

Pics or it didn’t happen, challenge accepted!

In Summary

Basically, I had a really great day!  Everything went very smoothly, I saw some great creatures, had a little relaxation time, and a shuttle to get me there and back again!  I highly recommend Al Boom Diving 🙂  All in all, I suggest diving as a great activity, and it’s just one of the many interesting things to do in Dubai.

Pin to Save for Later or If You Found This Helpful!

Disclosure:

I did receive this diving adventure complimentary in exchange for this post. However, as I said, I did reach out to them because of their positive reviews, and I wanted some firsthand experience.  I genuinely believe this is a great Dubai Diving Center and well worth your time and money.