The Dive MENA Expo

CO-LOCATED AT THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW

The Dive MENA Expo made it back to the Dubai International Boat Show this year on the 9-13 March 2022 after a 2 year hiatus from the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Although the dive section was much smaller this year in terms of equipment on show, there were some really interesting talks given by some of the industries guest speakers atThe Reef Dive Talks corner over a three day schedule.

The first day’s talks introduced Jarrod Jablonski, a pioneering technical diver and record setting cave diver, as well as an accomplished business owner who explained all things from designing and constructing Deep Dive Dubai – the world’s deepest pool – to the daily operation, and diving inside it. Film Maker David Diley flew over from the UK to give his talk on how to build a career as an underwater cinematographer through his own successful experiences on his films and projects, and was met with passionate listeners and their questions. There was a discussion panel to end the day on the Passions of Diving with Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, the Emirates Diving Association’s Founder and Majid Al Futtaim’s Chief Sustainability Officer, joined by Khalid Alrazooqi, the General Director of Artificial Intelligence at Dubai Police GHQ. They were interviewed by Yuriy Rakhmatullin from Freediving UAE to discuss how diving came into their lives and what the underwater world means to them.

Jarrod Jablonski

David Diley

The second day’s talks began with Ahmed Gabr, a 2014 Guinness World Record holder from Egypt for the deepest scuba dive recorded at 332.35 metres. Faisal Jawad Hashim, a young Kuwaiti followed to share his incredible life story of his tragic accident, coping with disability, discovering diving, and then becoming a 2018 Guinness World Record holder for the fastest 10km scuba dive with an amazing time of 5 hours and 24 minutes in Hurghada, Egypt.The triumph over his disability rebuilt his confidence and has made him a motivational speaker and trainer.

Ahmed Gabr

Faisal Jawad Hashim

The day’s last speaker was that of professional diver, explorer, founding member of the exploration organisation Global Underwater Explorers (GUE), accomplished photographer and cinematographer, Richard Lundgren whose remarkable story of discovering the mighty admiralship Mars the Magnificent sunk during the Nordic sevenyear war in 1564. Richard gave an insightful breakdown on the history and the thrilling discovery after many long years of searching for it by him and his team.This was definitely a highlight presentation.

Richard Lundgren

The last day’s presentations were by Mariam Fardous, the first Arabic woman to have dived in the North Pole, and Yuriy Rakhmatullin on the natural way to explore the underwater world through freediving.