Activity

Dive with sharks at Dubai Mall

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the shops… The latest adventure activity to be launched in Dubai is diving with a difference – inside the giant, shark-packed aquarium at The Dubai Mall.

That giant tank contains 33,000 fish ranging from 10cm sergeant majors to mighty giant groupers, which weigh 200kg and can grow to 2.7m. But the undoubted stars of the show are the sand tiger sharks, all 32 of them – each with a mouthful of sharp pointy teeth.

Emirates Business donned its wetsuit and took the plunge to discover what it's like to swim next to these mean-looking critters.

How it works

First you're shown a training video that explains the dos and don'ts of diving with sharks. You then change into your wetsuit (gear rental is included in the price), go to the entry point, put on your aqualung, fins and mask and step into the water. You descend to a point 5m deep and stay put for a minute or two before moving down to the floor of the 11m deep tank.

At the start of any dive you're always a bit preoccupied as you adjust your equipment and get used to the conditions. But as that feeling faded and I looked around and saw sand tiger sharks more than 2m long just a short distance away I thought: "This is mental."

Two things surprised me. First, the sharks paid no attention to me whatsoever – they're so accustomed to divers that they didn't give me a second glance. And second, before the dive I thought I'd instinctively feel a shudder of fear when a shark came close, that I'd have some sort of primordial response based on ancestral memory, that sort of thing. But in fact nothing of the sort happened.

The sand tigers looked so serene and unthreatening as they moved through the water that I felt fascinated and amazed, not scared.

After 10 minutes I headed off around the edge of the tank, encountering thousands of fish, including grey reef sharks, zebra sharks and tawny nurse sharks. Then there were the rays – stingrays, blotched fantail rays, cownose rays and spotted eagle rays – and the bowmouth guitarfish.

You can't beat seeing marine life in its natural habitat, but nevertheless the aquarium dive is a fantastic experience. Sightings of sharks and rays by divers are very rare and I saw more extraordinary marine life in the half hour I was in the tank than I have in many years of diving.

More information

The dives are operated by Al Boom Diving – call 04 342 2993. They cost Dh625 for certified divers and Dh825 for non-certified divers.

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