Full Day Boat to the Saudi Border

Eight in the morning at the marina, back on the pontoon by five. We run south past Tala Bay to the reefs that sit within sight of the Saudi border, where the boat traffic thins out and the coral gets noticeably healthier. Three dives if you are certified, or the whole day in a mask and fins if you would rather stay shallow - we take both on the same trip and nobody waits around. Gorgonian fans, batfish stacked in the shade under the hull, eagle rays in spring, and if you are patient and the guide is having a good day, a seahorse. Lunch is maqluba cooked on the stern by the skipper's brother and eaten at anchor after the second dive, which is quietly the best hour of the day. The friction is the boat. It is a working dive boat: one marine toilet, a canvas canopy over about half the deck, no cabin. When the northerly gets up after two the ride home is bumpy and the deck is wet. If you know you get seasick, take something an hour before we leave, not when you start feeling it. Nine hours is also a long day for under-tens.