QATAR

DIVING IN THE ARABIAN DESERT

Alastair Johnson

Nestled into the endless sand dunes of the Middle east, between Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, lies the little desert kingdom of Qatar. Modern-day Qataris are the descendants of a proud bedouin (nomadic) race of dune-dwellers and pearl fishermen. They maintain close ties with the desert and sea, and whilst the older generations pursue the traditional pastimes of fishing and falconry, young Qataris like nothing better than to fill their time with excursions deep into the interior in Toyota Landcruisers, to belt up and down impossibly steep dunes on quad bikes at breakneck speed, and to dive and spearfish in the waters of the Arabian Gulf.

For the past 18 months I've been living in the capital, Doha, a dusty, sprawling city which is rapidly evolving into a modern metropolis, complete with a spaceage business centre and luxury hotels. But, although it's steadily gaining the mod-cons many of us take for granted, the weekends can get a little dull, and I soon found myself in need of some stimulation and a little adventure. And so it was, one evening, that I found myself walking through the doors of Pearl Divers, Doha's main dive shop and PADI centre...

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