Day trip to Dibba

Marilyn Hillyard from Ibn Khaldoon Boys' School - 3rd from right in back row - kindly organised a day trip to Dibba, an outpost of Oman in the north-east of the UAE.

Our convoy set off from Al Ain at a fairly civilised hour, yours truly piloted by the very able Sharon Heywood. We had to show our passports at the UAE/Oman border. The customs official had a brief look in the back of the motor then waved us through.

We had a dhow to ourselves and a flat calm sea as we made our way northwards. We caught a couple of tuna on the way up and these formed part of our plentiful, tasty buffet lunch.

The dhow anchored a few hundred yards off-shore near a reef and we had hours of snorkelling. The first thing I saw was a large barracuda. The only ones I have seen since were in the fish market in Sharjah.

More swimming and snorkelling after lunch, then we set sail into the sunset, catching a few more tuna on the way.