This is still the only popular shore dive in the UAE. Last time I was here, the coastline was mostly empty except for the Sandy Beach Hotel opposite Snoopy Island. Now the beach is lined with resorts or construction sites of soon-to-be resorts. Also last time I was here, the dive center in the Sandy Beach Hotel rented me a tank and let me dive on my own. This time I put up with the hours-long trip from Dubai hoping for the peaceful freedom of a long solo dive. Unfortunately, they now have a new, professional dive center at the hotel. PADI's lawyers have got to them and they now recoil in terror at the idea of someone entering the water by themselves. They require that you hire a guide from the dive center to dive. I slunk off behind some bushes, pulled out my mask and fins and waited for an unguarded moment. Finally no one seemed to be looking, so I darted down the beach into the water and swam the short distance to Snoopy Island while PADI snipers circled overhead in helicopters. I ended up having a nice 2-hour-long snorkel surrounded by several kinds of fish darting around in the surge near the rocky island. Visibility was around 15 feet and the water temperature was in the low 30's. On my swim back to shore I could see several lawyers waiting on the beach, no doubt waiting to confiscate my Open Water card. Fortunately, their black 3-piece suits were too much for the heat and they melted away by the time I stepped ashore. I still wanted to take some close-up photos here, which is hard to do in the surge while snorkeling, so I gave in and hired a guide to allow me to dive the island on scuba. On my last trip here, I managed a 2-hour dive (with air to spare) since the water is so warm and shallow. This time, they limited me to 45 minutes and I had to stick close to the guide. Visibility seemed to be worse down near the bottom (max depth was around 25 feet), probably from stirred-up sand. I managed to get a few pictures, including clown fish and their anemones, but the particles in the water seemed to congregate in front of my lens which would have been fine if I liked taking pictures of sand particles. To be fair, this is still a great way to spend a day and thumb your nose at the heat. Despite the authoritarian overtones inherent in a professional dive outfit that caters to mostly new divers, the staff were friendly and competent. Although you can do this as a day trip from Dubai, I think it would be much better to stay for a few days in the hotel to improve your commute/relaxation ratio. When you're tired of swimming around, you can relax on their new shaded bar patio with a pint or two waiting for the cooling seawater to evaporate from your skin before you remember how hot it is and have to stagger back to your air-conditioned room.
