You can dive pretty much anywhere – pools, lakes, oceans, and now you can dive aquariums!
In Dubai Mall at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, Al Boom Diving allows you to plunge into one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world. The tank itself is 10-million liters and is home to more than 33,000 animals, including over 400 sharks and rays!
The experience itself is pretty amazing! After a briefing on how to dive the tank as to not disturb the sharks (no bubbles underneath them!) and gearing up in aquarium cleaned dive gear, you step into the aquarium.
Once below the “surface” the dive environment is practically the same as the ocean with fish and sharks schooling all around you, with the exception that you are waving at aquarium goers through the glass! This makes it perfect for those of us with family who don’t dive as they can watch us in our element.
One of the main elements of open water is the current, which, due to the nature of the marine life, had to be artificially added into the tank – sometimes in strange directions (from below..?). Because the direction of the current is unnatural for us divers, it can affect our buoyancy.
After getting used to the fact that you were diving in an enclosed space, the dive was natural. One of the best features of being in an enclosed space was being able to hover in one spot for an extended period of time and see the magnificently colored fish swimming all around you. Sometimes there was even so much happening, you would miss the giant shark right in front of you.
The dive came to a close too quickly, but as a dive addict I could spend forever underwater. This was definitely an experience dive, and something that should be added to your bucket list! If I ever find myself back in Dubai it will be something that I am likely to repeat!
