Al Dabb’iyya

Al Dabb’iyya Reef is a large area of coral reef along the northern shore of Al Dabb’iyya Island, approximately 30nm west of Abu Dhabi City. Sadly, the warming sea temperatures caused severe bleaching here and much of the vibrant colors from a few years ago are gone. There are still large sections of healthy reef and lots of fish here. The visibility can be good, especially at slack water and after a period of no northerly winds.

We regularly find large schools of fish including large grouper (locally known as hamour), turtles, and rays in this area. There is a lot of reef to explore but take your time and make sure to look in and under all the corals for surprises like Arabian carpet sharks, ghost shrimps or nudibranch.

Northerly winds make the site very uncomfortable to reach by boat as the sea state can get rough quickly.