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Diving in Saudi ArabiaWomen Divers • Travel Operators • Flights and Accomodation • Recompression Chambers • Dive Operators • Books to Take
Private resorts all along the northern coast offer the best access to the sea for shore diving. Some expatriates visiting Jeddah book a weekend diving package with a hotel in the city and nearly all Jeddah's hotels offer some kind of access to northern beaches by bus. The most popular are Al Nakeel Beach, Blue Beach, Sheraton Beach and the Al Bilad Beach. Durrant Al Arus, the only PADI Gold Palm Resort in the Kingdom, offers a five star hotel situated on a Red Sea lagoon and villas that front the Kingdom's only 18 hole golf course with green grass. There is one half mile of beach diving available, or boats can be arranged to the outer reefs through the dive shop at Durrah Marina. The top hotels in Jeddah have contacts with the dive shops and can arrange instruction for beginners and recreational dives for qualified divers. Many offer private beaches from which to shore dive. You can also book space on one of the excursion boats that go out further to more colourful and secluded sections of the reef. You need to bring along a passport, Igama or Saudi ID and your Saudi Dive Permit.
Women Divers in Saudi ArabiaA Saudi muslim female must have her legal escort (brother, husband etc). Travel Operators Offering Dive Tours to Saudi ArabiaAn effort to start dive tourism was made in 1990, by Saudi Airlines Station Manager for Germany, Harry Schiller. Saudia teamed up with the Al Bilad Hotel and the Al Saif, the first purpose built dive boat to operate in the kingdom - jointly owned by Dr Talal Bakr and Capt. Victor Organ - to provide dive packages. Brochures were printed but the Gulf War put the program on hold and it wasn't until early 1999 that Mr Schiller arrived with travel agents from across Europe for a familiarisation trip to Jeddah and Yanbu. The first dive group from Germany arrived in October that year at Durrant Al Arus and since then there have been other familiarisation trips and tour groups.
Flights and AccomodationFor cheap flights to Saudi Arabia see our flights page. For hotels see Agoda's site. Recompression ChambersFor any diving emegencies in Saudi Arabia there two recompression chambers for the treatment of decompression sickness. One at Jubail Armed forces hospital KANB and the other in Jeddah. Both units have diving doctors who are on call 24 hours a day to deal with any diving emergencies. Dive Operators in Saudi ArabiaThere are numerous dive shops in Saudi Arabia. Most have certified diving instructors recognised by the American training agencies under RSTC (PADI, PDIC, NAUI, etc) or the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), so options for diving courses are plentiful. Equipment can also be rented in the dive shops by the day, weekend or for the two week dive classes.
PO Box 122247
P.O. Box 50817
"I enjoyed diving with Desert Sea Divers on the Coral Garden. A combination of the late afternoon lighting and the spectacular size of the coral heads made the site particularly memorable. Visibility excellent and though fish species were diverse most were small and harmless...wonderful day."
Mr. Eric Mason (Executive Manager)
"Having dived with a company called Dream Divers i will never again think "what has Saudi Arabia to offer?" Without question some of the most exiting diving I have ever done, and we have some good diving in Oman. Thanks to the Crew and Alex the Dive Master: I always felt safe even though the weather was rough."
"I dive with compagnia Dream diver to Farasan Bank: wonderful. Gratsi mille - many thanks - Eric, Capitano Levi and Alex."
"Have started diving with Dream Divers they are the most truthfull dive club in the area. They tell you what to expect and don't build it up to be what it is not. The only other thing I can say about them that if it is safe, if you are up to it, they will go for it. Too many of these clubs tell you where is good for them. And they do protect the reef. "
"I take training of SCUBA Diving from Dream Divers. They have good instructor one of them his name is Nelson Suan he is really great and now I am padi diver. I am planning to go on Dream Voyager, the only live aboard in Saudi Arabia."
"Jeddah, although overdived and overfished still has some beautiful corral reefs and not many boats. Dream Divers are offering the only two liveaboard Dive Boats in Saudi Arabia, number three arriving in May of 2006. We are working the Farasan Banks on the Southern Cruise and Yanbu, Ummludjje on the Northern cruise these areas are a gift from God with no other dive boats to be seen virgin reefs and numerous species of reef and pelagic fish to be seen the trips are weekend long weekend 7 or 14 days."
Sameria Commercial Center
Obhor South
Thalatheen Street
Olaya Street Our thanks to Capt. Victor Organ, Eric Mason and Dr Hasan Ibrahim (Diving Medical Officer at Jubail Armed forces hospital ) for the information they supplied. Other Areas of the Red Sea
We have several pages on dive operators elsewhere in the Red Sea, and other practicalities of diving in the region. This site is regularly updated and more operators in other parts of the Red Sea will be added soon. Meanwhile, these books provide more information.
Note: If you buy any book through one of these links, the SCUBA Travel site earns a commission (at no extra cost to yourself). Thank you for making your purchases from here. Your CommentsPlease add your comments on diving in the Red Sea. Have a question? Why not ask it at the Diving Message Board. Do you want to recommend a dive operator? Let us know. Rest of the Red Sea
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