Visitors heading to Saturday’s (March 2nd) final day of the 2019 Dubai International Boat Show are being urged to get there early to avoid the UAE Tour road cycling that will temporarily restrict entry to the venue mid-afternoon.
The Jumeirah Beach Road running along the front of the Boat Show will be closed between 3.15pm and 4.30pm, limiting access for that one hour and 15 minutes.
Once passed, access will reopen fully for the rest of the day, with a thrilling schedule of all-family fun – amidst 450 yachts and boats – running until 9pm.
To make a last-day visit to the Dubai Canal-based show even easier, organisers will open the doors three-hours earlier than usual, allowing guests in from 12pm (instead of 3pm).
Full entry information and advice can be found in the map attached.
With a variety of lifestyle and family-friendly events, this year’s 27th edition of the hugely popular Dubai International Boat Show has already welcomed tens of thousands of marine enthusiasts. They have been wowed by the 450, Dh 1.5billion worth of boats and yachts on show, plus the show’s many have-a-go sessions and sea-toys.
However, the show has been a hub for all watersports this week, with its new look DIVE MENA Expo delving deep into the world of diving. Events have ranged from underwater photography lessons, to diving tutorials and interactive discussions about varying underwater activities.
The Dubai Voluntary Dive Club (DVDC) – participating at the Dubai International Boat Show in partnership with Suzuki Motors and the Emirates Diving Association – is a club dedicated to cleaning up the sea from any illegal wastage or misusage of fishing material. It was founded by local fishermen who noticed the misbalance in the marine ecosystem and undertook the mission to clean-up the sea waters off the coast of Dubai from waste. In 2018 alone, DVDC completed 100 dives and visited over 50 sites across more than 2,000km, collecting 10 tonnes of marine waste.
“Suzuki is helping clean up the world”, said Merheb Abou Kosh, sales manager at Suzuki Autosport. “Our global campaign to clean-up the world is a vision shared with Dubai Voluntary Dive Club in the UAE and that is why we wanted to sponsor the club to help clean up this part of the world.”
Diving deeper into the show, world-renowned underwater photographer Imran Ahmad offered a new depth of insights when he featured as one of the headline speakers at the event’s Dive Tracks. Ahmad – who has been capturing the magnificence of life both, below and above the water’s surface for over 20 years – showcased some of his work and shared tips on best photography practices.
He explained: “Underwater photography is all about working with nature, working with the sea and going with the flow. Understand the sea, the fish and marine life in there with you and don’t be afraid. One of the most important elements of photography is lighting. Bring a torch, use natural sunlight and you’ll see that the most dynamic shots you get work with lighting and where all the colours of marine life stand out! And for all those aspiring marine photographers, get on social media! Promote your work through Instagram, it’s the strongest platform out there and it’ll help you get recognised and out there.”
Riju George, Show Director of Dubai International Boat Show, said: “It has been absolutely fantastic to see how visitors and those interested in exploring the seas have interacted and engaged in this year’s dive-led programming. Our aim is to open up wider dialogue on how to approach the water through all means of enjoyment, passion and creativity, be it on a boat, through diving, or taking beautiful marine photography. Dubai International Boat Show is a platform for everyone to learn more about how to get their feet wet in the seas and relish the experience.”
In an event first, the Boat Show hosted the Middle East’s debut VriThink Night Out seminar session on Wednesday night. It featured a dozen yachting, business and design industry experts – including Dan Pool of Ortega, Ken Hickling of Sherpa 63 and Jeroen Droogsma of Solar Sport One – who shared their innovation, knowledge and understanding with visitors and industry-specialists, all working to further enhance yachting and boating. Covering new design, perspective-altering trend discovery, and dream concepts, the talks – each limited to 20 slides lasting only 20 seconds each – inspired visitors with a fresh look about venturing into the seas.
On Thursday, the 2019 Dubai to Muscat Offshore Sailing Race got off to a flying start, with no less than 14 boats taking part across three different divisions, all setting sail from the Boat Show’s beach starting-point, situated beside the Dubai Ladies Club. For the first time in the race’s 27 year history, all competing boats have a live tracker on-board, enabling progress to be tracked through an online link found here: http://yb.tl/d2m2019
Tickets to enter the show cost Dh65, and can be bought at the entrance. The show has vast parking, and can be also be reached via free shuttle buses from Dubai Mall and by water-taxi, departing from Al Habtoor City Station.
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