Four dive trips are sold out of Dubai, and only two of them dive off Dubai. The other two drive you to the east coast: one to Dibba in Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman, the other across the border into Musandam, Oman. That is not a technicality — it is the difference between a morning and a whole day, and it is the first thing to settle before you compare prices.
Below: what each costs, which of them take a beginner, what the two trips out of the emirate really involve, and what the price does not cover.
How much does scuba diving in Dubai cost?
From AED 350 (about $95) per diver for a two-tank morning at Dibba, to AED 600 (about $163) per diver for the ten-hour Musandam day. Everything here is priced per person.
| Trip | Operator | Price | Duration | Where it dives | Who it takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Try dive or certified dives | Al Boom Diving | €110 per person | 4 h | Reef and wreck off Dubai | Beginners and certified |
| Try dive by speedboat | Bermuda Diving Center | AED 450 (≈$122) per person, plus VAT | 3 h | Open-water site off Dubai | Beginners, age 10+ |
| Two-dive day at Dibba | Nemo Diving Center | AED 350 (≈$95) per person | 4 h on the water | Dibba, Fujairah | Certified only |
| Three dives at Musandam | Nemo Diving Center | AED 600 (≈$163) per person | about 10 h | Musandam, Oman | Certified, Advanced advised |
Important
two currencies again, so read the lines separately rather than adding them across. And read the last two columns before the price one: the cheapest number on this table belongs to the trip that starts an hour and a half's drive away.
Diving in Dubai without a certificate: two ways in
Both of the Dubai-water trips take people who have never breathed underwater, and they are built differently.
Al Boom Diving, Al Wasl: the four-hour day that works either way
The Al Boom day is €110 per person for four hours, in a group of up to six, and the same booking covers a PADI try dive for a beginner or two guided dives for a certified diver.
The running order is fixed:
- brief and kit-up at 08:30;
- boat out at 09:00;
- first dive 09:30;
- surface interval 10:45;
- second dive 11:15;
- ashore by 12:15.
Certified divers get both dives over reef or wreck; on the try dive you make one dive in the shallows with the instructor. Instructors speak English, Russian and Arabic, and the operator holds 4.7 from 437 reviews.
Bermuda Diving Center, Jumeirah 3: three hours, and it is the sea
Dubai sells a great deal of "diving" that never leaves a swimming pool. This one does not: AED 450 (about $122) per person plus VAT, three hours in total, and the dive itself is thirty to forty-five minutes at ten to twelve metres in open water, with the instructor within arm's reach.
Half an hour of theory at the centre on Al Wasl Road comes first, then half an hour of shallow-water practice until the regulator stops feeling strange, then the speedboat out to the site. Underwater photos and video are included, and so are towels, slippers and refreshments on the way back.
The conditions are short: you must be able to swim, and the minimum age is ten. The VAT is charged on top of the AED 450 (about $122), so two people come to AED 900 (about $245) before tax.
Two of these dives are not in Dubai
This is the part that gets glossed over elsewhere, so here it is plainly. Nemo Diving Center sells two day trips from Dubai, and neither dives in Dubai's water. Dibba is in Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman side of the country. Musandam is in Oman. The diving is better — that is the whole reason the trips exist — but the travel is real and it belongs in your plan.
Dibba, Fujairah: the east coast, an early start
The Dibba trip is AED 350 (about $95) per diver for two guided boat dives with roughly forty-five minutes of bottom time each, four or five divers to a guide, four hours from the 08:00 check-in to about 12:30.
The operator puts Dibba an hour and a half or so from Dubai by road, and the water there behaves nothing like the Gulf side: deeper, cooler, rock reefs instead of sand. That is why UAE divers go.
Getting there is your decision. Drive yourself to Dibba harbour for the 08:00 check-in, or add the operator's transfer, which is booked separately and leaves the Nemo Diving Center on Palm Jumeirah at 05:30. Either way the road time sits on top of the four hours on the water, so this is a whole morning and then some.
The trip needs a card — Scuba Diver, Open Water or Junior Open Water at minimum. Beginners belong on one of the two Dubai trips above. Children can dive from ten with a Junior Open Water certification.
Musandam, Oman: a passport day
The Musandam day is AED 600 (about $163) per diver for three guided dives, and it runs about ten hours from a 07:00 start. Check-in is at Dibba port for the crossing into Oman; the crew handles the Omani entry paperwork, but you need a passport and the visa fees are yours.
Musandam is the peninsula that closes the Strait of Hormuz, with cliffs dropping straight into deep water and inlets that look like fjords, and the outbound and return legs are run as a cruise through them rather than a transfer to be endured. Lunch, snacks and soft drinks are on board.
This is not a first dive, and the operator says so: certified divers only, Advanced Open Water recommended, around thirty logged dives, because the currents around Musandam are not a formality. Guides are chosen for knowing them, and the ratio is five divers to a guide. Non-divers can come along and snorkel in the shallows while the group is down.
What is included, and what is charged on top?
The two Nemo trips include the guide, tanks and weights — and that is where inclusion stops. A full set of gear (BCD, regulator, wetsuit, mask, fins) is rented for an extra fee, nitrox is extra, underwater photography is extra, and the Dubai transfer is extra on both.
On the Dibba trip the operator's own page contradicts itself about dive insurance: the equipment list mentions insurance for the day, the exclusions list it as chargeable. Treat it as an extra and confirm the fee when you book.
The two Dubai trips are the other way round: Al Boom includes full scuba equipment, the boat and the guide, with photos and any certification upgrade extra; Bermuda includes the kit, the boat transfer, the towels and the underwater photos, with VAT and hotel pick-up extra. All four sit on the Dubai diving page.
