Brand new diving

Brand new diving

28 September 2021 Off By Facto Edizioni

/ Not only a record breaker for the world’s deepest diving pool, the newly-opened Deep Dive Dubai is also a game-changer for how diving pools can look like /

Have you ever played table footie underwater? Now you can, at Deep Dive Dubai, the new diving pool that opened this summer in the UAE and now holds the record for the deepest swimming pool for diving in the world.

Dubai is not new to record-breaking projects, as it was already home to the world’s tallest skyscraper (Burj Khalifa, 828m) and the world’s largest shopping center (Dubai Mall, with an internal floor area of 548,127sqm). The Emirate is also dedicated to creating the most extraordinary attractions for its residents and the many tourists who visit: they boast the Ain Dubai, which is going to be the tallest Ferris’ wheel in the world when it opens next month (read the story on p. 82); they essentially invented underwater dining; and because the country had no mountains for alpine ski, they created Ski Dubai, with indoor ski slopes.

And now they’ve gone and done it again. With a depth of 60.02m and a capacity of 14 million liters of fresh water, Deep Dive Dubai became not only the record-holder for deepest diving pool, as officially recognized by Guinness on June 27th (previous record holders were Deepspot, in Poland, at 45m, and Y-40 Deep Joy, in Italy, at 42.15m); the new pool is now also the most interesting place for divers in Dubai, transforming both the experience of diving in the Emirates, and what it feels like to dive in a swimming pool.

Located in Nad Al Sheba, 15 minutes from Downtown Dubai and 25 minutes from Dubai International Airport, Deep Dive Dubai is set in a 1,500sqm building shaped like an oyster, a homage to the UAE’s pearl-diving heritage. But while the Emiratis are very proud of that heritage and offer several diving spots along the coast, the sandy coastal waters of the Arabic Gulf are not the best choice for recreational diving. Deep Dive Dubai, on the other hand, offers a controlled diving environment with perfect visibility, so much so that it is also offered as an underwater film studio, the largest of its kind in the region. The water is kept at 30°C and purified by one of the most advanced water purification systems available, that filters all the water every six hours using siliceous volcanic rock, NASA-developed technology and UV radiation. No currents or winds make it extremely safe for beginners, but the pool has plenty to entice even the most experienced divers, allowing both freediving and SCUBA diving with a range of options (courses, guided dives, mixed gas diving, and also snorkeling for non-diving members of the group are among the offers).

Of course the problem with diving in pools is that, however deep, they are still swimming pools with no marine life and, until now, nothing to look at except some white tiles. Well, Deep Dive Dubai went and changed that as well, creating a whole underwater city to explore at leisure. Scenery recreate an abandoned, sunken city filled with adventure and wonder. There are roads, lampposts, shopping carts, billboards, ATMs, garbage bins, phone booths, and so on. Divers can access apartments filled with artwork and furniture, or play pool and other games inside an arcade. The pool is also equipped with mood lighting and sound systems to create a variety of effects, while large windows and screens that show footage from 56 cameras inside the pool allow visitors to watch family and friends as they dive. There’s also a restaurant on site, as well as a dive shop and gift shop.

The cameras are also there to…

Continue reading Games & Parks Industry September 2021, page 78

Photos Courtesy: © Deep Dive Dubai

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