Diving at Dibba

So I just realized that I completely forgot to post this entry from the last time I was here. Let's pretend this post is current....

On my last full weekend in Ajman, a group of us went snorkeling/SCUBA diving at Dibba Island on the eastern side of the UAE, read: Gulf Of Oman = Arabian Sea ==> Indian Ocean.

John, Michael, Tina and I took Tina's car and met Nadia and her Italian friends at a decent looking resort with a reputable PADI shop. We paid the day rate to get in and proceeded to the dive shop. John and I were going to dive, while the remainder of the group stuck to snorkeling. Because John hadn't had any recorded dives in the past 5 years and the shop wasn't hurting for business, they wouldn't let us dive.

View of Dibba Island from shore, upon arrival.

We discovered there was another resort up the beach. The Golden Palm, or whatever generic name it was called, was Japanese owned, Indian run, and their dive shop wasn't certified by anyone, in case you couldn't tell just from looking. We were staying shallow, vis was good, and the rates were cheap, so we decided to go for it. We got outfitted in our gear and hopped aboard the dive boat. We got to the island. After John had some difficulty getting his fins to stay on, we were good to go and backrolled in. Immediately, my fins fell off and sank to the bottom, 16 feet below. The view of the fish decidedly make up for this.

Fish

Fish - With John in the background.

I got my fins back, fixed them and we began our swim.

Fish - and coral.

One fish - and coral.

Me! In a very ladylike pose.

Fish

At some point, my the frame of my mask actually shattered and the lenses slammed into my face. Ahh... so this is why this place is cheap. I kind of managed to put the whole deal back together, but had to finish the dive holding the mask in place. I spent a good deal of my air clearing the mask on nearly every breath. Regardless, I was determined to finish the dive.

John - making fun.

John thought it was funny that my mask exploded. Note his expression. Now this whole dive, I'd been very careful to keep track of my camera, clipping it to my vest. The dive was over and we prepared to get back on the boat. I checked one last time to be sure it was clipped and handed up my rig. By the time I got on the boat about 90 seconds later, the camera was missing. It wasn't on any vest. We jumped back in the water and couldn't find it on the bottom. The boat driver didn't seem to care. I had to figure the camera was gone. Just in case, I filed a notice with the office desk. We went back to the first resort to meet our friends. About three hours later, I get a call from our skeevy SCUBA place. APPARENTLY, while the boat driver was alone, in a different location, in 20 feet of water at 30 knots, he saw the camera, jumped in and got it for me. Likely story skeevy looking boatman. Anyway, I got the camera back and we headed home. Today is won.