Bahrain 2025 – Amwaj Marina- Sea Addicts Diving Center
As I decide to extend my stay in Bahrain and dive in that part of the world, I start doing some research to find about the offers and the options. I’m aiming for shark dives, but not sure they do any there. So, while searching internet for « sharks », « Bahrain » and « diving », I stumble on the name of Dr Reem AlMeaalla. A number of details catches my attention: she qualified as a diver in South Africa in Sodwana Bay, where I was twice in the last two years. Her name is mentioned on the Save our seas foundation, that focuses on sea conservation, oriented mainly on rays and sharks. The foundation is registered in Geneva, where I used to leave a few years ago. In this year, it’s the third time in 2025 that I come across a woman engaged in shark conservation: the Italian Cristina Zenato, the Hawaiian Ocean Ramsey and now Reem AlMeaalla. Just a coincidence? So I write her, she does not do any diving with random tourists, thought she appreciates my interest in marine biology, and she redirects me to Sea Addicts Diving Center. I contact them and we arrange my dive trip. Sea Addicts organizes group dives during the week-end, but I’m working on Friday and Saturday, so it is not doable for me. The only other option is that I go alone and rent the boat for one day. I rearrange quickly my budget, cut or delay some expenses and accept. I do want to dive in Bahrain. On Monday I arrive at the meeting point and the crew takes me in charge. I’ve plenty of space on the boat, I’m all by myself and underwater it’s going to be me and the DM. A real luxury. We are going offshore, the navigation takes about 45 minutes and it is quite windy, so after a while, I’m invited to sit in the dry zone. We are going to have two dives, maybe three, depending on timing and conditions. The first one is on Alboom shipwreck at 20 mt depth.
« Will we see sharks? »
« I’m not sure, it’s very difficult to see sharks ».
« Maybe I’m lucky today and we’ll see some ».
As soon as the boat stops, I start wearing the gear, but at the same time, the roll of the boat triggers a wave of nausea.
« Damn, I did’t take the Stugeron with me » I curse in my mind. So I struggle with the wetsuit and with the nausea at the same time. It’s the first dive, the wetsuit is dry and it is does not slide easily on my body and in the end I decide to get dressed in the water, thought the current is strong, and I only can use one arm at a time to wear my wetsuit and then the boots. Finally I’m ready, they help me to wear the rest of the gear and it is only when I jump into the water that my stomach calms down. Haitham and I go down holding the rope and I’m allowed to release it only when we reach the bottom. The visibility is not the best one, but the amount of fishes there is really impressive. There are big schools of different kind of fishes all over the wreck and we slowly swim across the wreck several times. During the briefing Haitham recommended: « Do not swim away from the wreck. If you lose me it’s not important. Don’t lose the wreck because the anchor is on the wreck and that’s how you can go back ». I have no intention to lose my DM and I’m well trained to stick to the guide. At a certain point, Haitham shows me something in the sand and from the eyes coming out from the bottom I realise we are very close to a big stingray. So we sit next to it for a good time. I can’t get tired of watching it, so we basically spend the rest of the dive next to it, till it gets annoyed, shakes off the sand and flies away. After 50 minutes we go up and I realise that I have 3 minutes deco. Oops!!!
As I put my feet on the deck the nausea hits again, so the only option I have – after vomiting – is to lay down till the next stop, without drinking or eating.
The second diving spot is another wreck, named – for to facilitate foreign divers – Turtle wreck for self-explanatory reasons, « 90% of the time we see turtles, when we dive there ». However, the local name is Tek Adhemo: Tek indicates the kind of boat and Adhemo is the name of the owner of the boat that sank. Again we go down on the rope and as soon as we reach the bottom – 9 mt, the turtles are there waiting for us. First one, then two, then three…all of different sizes. We swim alongside the wreck and when we turn left… What!!! Unbelievable.
That’s not luck, people, that’s more than that. A real blessing.
A GUITAR SHARK crosses our path, we almost stumble on it, he’s literally floating under our nose and I observe hypnotized how its dorsal fins sway, till it disappears. I have approx 250 dives around the globe and this is the second time I see a guitar shark. But that’s not the only surprise. Large barracudas are also there and a few minutes later an eagle ray passes over our heads.
These are the moments that for me are really rewarding, that’s why I don’t care about sea sickness, a dive will be always worth the trouble. I felt it was my lucky day!!!
When we go back on the boat, and we share what we have seen, the captain explains me that it’s the first time in this season that they are diving on that spot and that there are marine biologists carrying out monitoring projects in that area. So I tell them that I was redirected to them by a marine biologist and they figure out I’m talking about Reem.
I’m asked if I want to have a third quiet dive. My body is hesitating, because between the currents and the vomiting I feel exhausted, but my brain convinces me to jump once again into the sea. « Come on, Elena, it’s your only day of diving, you are already here, you will rest tonight ». So I agree. We are close to the city, we are at Dilmunia wall, 9 mt depth, no current, no waves, it looks relaxing. However my body strongly disagrees and after 15 minutes underwater my stomach signals me it’s time to go back. The only thing I have in it is a glass of water, but there is no way I manage to keep it there, so as soon as we resurface, after 25 minutes, I throw up again for the umpteenth time.
Mental reminder to myself: « Never ever again without Stugeron. Just put it in the bag as part of the equipment ».
I did not take with me my GoPro, so I don’t have pictures to show you, but if you go to Bahrain to dive, I had a great experience with Sea Addicts and I warmly recommend them.
