Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea divers explore freedoms off the coast
off the coast of jeddah — The sky is clear, the sun is shining, and the sea is a glimmering turquoise. Nouf Alosaimi is on a discovery dive around a small, sandy island in the Red Sea that’s home to busy crabs and a few seagulls.
The 29-year-old Saudi woman is wearing a diving suit and a necklace with a silver charm in the shape of shark’s tooth, a nod to her nickname, “Sharky”.
The serene waters north of the bustling city of Jeddah are the scene of a dramatic experiment to encourage tourism in the kingdom.
It’s exciting for Alosaimi on multiple levels. It’s bringing new opportunities for women, as a corner of the country is carved out with somewhat relaxed rules. And it’s opening up miles of untouched coastline teeming with unexplored seascapes for her and other divers.
“We are here on an island in middle of the Red Sea. We want to discover this place,” Alosaimi said before her dive. “We may find this island beautiful for a picnic. We are creating a diving product here.”
Alosaimi, a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, is a pioneer in her field, holding a local record for the deepest dive by a Saudi female at 345 feet. The technical dive required five tanks and lasted more than 70 minutes.
For decades, visitors to Saudi Arabia have largely either been pilgrims heading to holy cities of Makkah and Madina or business travellers heading to the capital, Riyadh, or other major cities like Jeddah and Dammam.
Saudi Arabia’s 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to change that with the introduction of tourist visas. It’s part of a much larger plan to overhaul the economy in the face of sustained lower oil prices. Tourism is being promoted as a way to create more jobs for Saudis, attract foreign investment, boost the economy and improve the country’s image abroad.
The government’s sovereign wealth fund, which the crown prince oversees, has identified a 125-mile stretch of Red Sea coastline that it plans to transform into a global luxury travel destination with diving attractions and a nature reserve. — AP