While Dubai’s coast offers plenty of scope for spotting colourful fish and spiky sea urchins, the chance of spying a hammerhead or reef shark moseying around the breakwater at one of its beaches is more than a little slim. And it’s a long drive to Fujairah or Musandam for an afternoon in the sea with no guarantee you’ll see anything to set your heart racing. Enter the ultimate snorkel experience now being offered at Atlantis The Palm, in the heart of the complex at the Ambassador Lagoon.
Upon arriving at the entrance to The Avenues (non-hotel guests are no longer allowed to enter the complex through the main hotel lobby), my snorkelling buddy and I pick through the scrum outside the doorway for the Lost Chambers to check in. Unfortunately, the rest of our snorkelling group is running late, but this at least affords us some time to have a look around the displays inside. Once everyone in our six-person group is assembled, we’re led to the top of the aquarium – to our surprise, this involves an almost behind-the-scenes stroll through the complex’s service corridors and lift.
Instructions are dealt out by one of the several guides to hand. She expertly handles a torrent of obnoxious questions from a particularly precocious pre-teen who happens to be part of our group, while my snorkel buddy and I exchange a look that says we would both enjoy seeing one of the sharks make an appetiser out of him.
Luckily for us, my buddy and I both find the experience is in fact highly relaxing, and we bob around in our bright yellow floatation vests pointing excitedly whenever something comes close. Though the incredible clearness of the water can lead to a little vertigo when you first jump in and put your face into the water (mask and snorkel on, mind), the closeness with which shoals of guitar fish and rays glide past is mesmerising. Though the grey reef sharks stay mainly in the half of the lagoon where we aren’t allowed to snorkel, a daring hammerhead darts beneath us some metres below at one point, before just as speedily retreating.
Throughout our 30 minutes in the water, the dive guides point out different species and share their knowledge (which is all fun and games until you hear the words ‘related to the piranha’ as a particularly large fish approaches). Despite the fact half an hour may seem like a short amount of time for such an activity, one of the most noticeable things about the experience as a whole is how unhurried and calm the atmosphere is. We’re not chivvied along once, and for any experience of the same length and calibre in Dubai, that must surely be a first.
We reach the end of the swim as satisfied customers.
Well, almost. Sadly, as it turns out (or not, for Atlantis’s public relations team) the snorkel itself goes without incident, and our chubby-cheeked foe survives a lap in the cool water unscathed. On the upside, we get
to keep the mask and snorkel (as do all guests), and are inspired to scour the city’s beaches for marine life – sharks or no sharks.
Dhs225 per person (including snorkel and mask), diving packages also available. Atlantis The Palm, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai (04 426 3000).
Snorkelling in Abu Dhabi
X-Ventures
Based in Abu Dhabi this outdoor activities company host all manner of entertaining leisure escapades. Their ‘Island’s Tour’ package is a luxurious two-hour extravanganza that includes a power boat ride. The highlight though is that you’ll be given a chance to do some snorkelling with a decent chance of spotting some wild dolphins.
www.x-ventures.net. Prices range from Dhs800-2000. Call (055 540 4500) or (055 540 0570) for details.
