North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

So tell us about Dubai Andy. Have you wet a line yet? (Should I start a Dubai fishing forum?) What are the people like?

Hi Matt and fellow fishos,

Yeah its been hard to leave the home town and lush green tropics for the concreate dust and sand of Dubai and the Arabian gulf but its not all bad.

From September to April the warm, shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf teem with blooms of plankton. Swarms of sardines descend upon this food source, themselves falling prey to pods of patrolling sailfish Fish of well over 120lbs are not uncommon and are tremendously exciting to
take on light, stand-up tackle. Together with the phenomenal numbers of sailfish you can also catch king (spaniards) mackerel, queenfish, cobia and dorado (dophin fish) Long tail and Bonito, trevally plus the reef fish and I have seen in the supermarkets some big Snapper, Coral trouts, Cod (hammour) and other smaller reef fish.

The local fishermen I have talked to say the sailfish fishing is amazing but it has changed a lot since they started building the islands of the coast of Dubai. The boys at one of the charter shops are keen to see me catch a 120lb saily with my Barra gear just wait till I show them how its done.

Have a look at this link for more info on the islands and Dubai. It is amazing what they have done and the fishing will be great once the silt settles and the coral gets set. http://www.luxurytravel.com/cityguides/ ... ndex.shtml

Yeah thats about it here, other than that you can get swallowed up in the pace of life here. Its work 6 days a week. Its hot at the moment averaging 40' up to 51' the hottest day I had so far in my short 3 months. But its like Darwin everything is AC and its not as Humid, imagine, and at least I can go Snow skiing if it gets too hot Last night it only got down to 34'c! the sea water is about 31'c as its shallow average 30mtrs as far off shore as 30-40nm.

Life is a little different. You need a licence to buy alcohol and the bottle shops are not like in OZ. You can buy anything from anywhere in the world and it is cheaper than where it originally comes from. I can get Vegemite, Weetbix, Big M Iced Coffee (no I dont drink it), and you can even get VB (dont drink that either). You can drive really fast if you want to die. I see in my 25 min drive to and from work at least 2 accidents a day! Your drivers licence is valid for 10 years but your visa only 3?. I saw a camel in the tray of a dual cab hilux on the 8 lane highway, no Iam not kidding. I have seen a goat in the front seat of a Mercedes SLR! too much money!. There are 25% of the worlds cranes in Dubai. They are building the worlds tallest building so far its going to be 168 stories. It is a Musilm state so you have to go the special area in the supermarket to get ham and bacon. You cant argue in public you will get put in jail. Its illegle to be drunk in public, you get deported. You cannot argue with an Arab as they are always right even if they caused the car accident! You cannot show affection in public. You can buy a Ferrari even if you only earn 50k AUD a year Porche Cayanne's are like Ford Falcons here. My neighbours drive a Aston Martin DB9 and BMW 7 series. It costs me only 20 bucks to fill my 65 lrt tank everyone in Dubai smokes, a pack of 20's costs 3 dollars. and thats not the best thing. No the best thing is that Fishing Tackle is cheap check this site out :):):)

http://barracudadubai.com/services/general/gallery.php

This is my local tackle shop. If you want to convert the price one Dirham or Dhs (local currency) is worth 35cents. Or one Aussie dollar is 2.85 Dhs so you might want to save up for a trip just to buy some tackle boys. Hey G the wifey would love the retail therepy here! as they have some of the worlds largest shopping malls they make Casuarina look like the Mitchell center on steroids.

Anyway must go, keep posting those meter long pics I love em. Pray for a good wet for next year as my 5 weeks paid holidays are in April so you know where I will be.

Matt keep up the great work wish I could have beer with you at the boat show.

Best thing to do in the in the heat is keep up the fluids.


Andrew in Dubai

Andy
you might be able to side line with a mail order fishing tackle gig mate.

You can also send us some fo that fuel at the cheap prices to if you want - fuel prices are crazy at the moment and i dont reckon they will get better anytime!!
Shane

I reckon I could go a bit of retail therapy at that tackle store Andy ...

Andy,

I assume "AED" on the prices is Dirham? so just divide by 2.85 to get aus dollars?

chanos

That was a great read. What's a secondhand Porsche sell for? Are they right hand drive over there?

I reckon we forum members should get some cash together and buy em, import em - clean the goat poo out - and then sell em to Sydney hobnobs at greatly inflated prices.

Next trip I do to the Pacific Islands I am going to look at buying an outboard motor and bringing it back........... lots cheaper eh.... warranty might be an issue but if the price is right who cares.

chanos.

Andy,
You forgot to tell them how good Wild Wadi is, Cruising up the river in the Abras and plenty of bargins in the souks.

And road rules are optional

Hi Guys,

Yeah so much more to tell but dont want to bore you all too much. Yeah Chanos AED is Arab Emirate Dirhams and you are right I just dived by three (near enough, great wall, great fence!) Wild Wadi is a huge water theme park with slides, pools, wave pools you name it with water its there, I havnt been yet (Too Hot). They need something just like it it Darwin maybe near berry springs, blackmore river white water rafting etc.

http://www.wildwadi.com/

Matt the cars are all left hand drive but hey when you are sideways all the time what does it matter . have a look at this site for mad second hand car shop!! Click on the glaaery section for the new and used cars. The thing is you actually see these cars driving in the sand and dust not like in Oz where they would just be at the motor show. For something different look at the downloads section for some wicked concept cars.

http://www.alainclass.com/main.php

Yeah the tackle is really cheap and I will be investing some of my tax free salary into it for sure. Mail order is a bit of a problem as ther is actually no real postal delivery service here, you dont have al etter box but can get a post box or your mail delivered to work instead. I would look at freighting boxes with the courier company or DHL but if the goods are new then you are going to run into duty payments when it lands in OZ which means it would be no cheaper.

Plasma and LCD T.V s are really cheap also. You can get a 56 inch samsung plasma for 12000 AED! not 12 AUD as in OZ or a 32 inch LCD for 3000 DHS. All electronics are insane prices it makes you realise how much you are being ripped off in OZ.

Anyway will leet you all know when I book my first fishing adventure over this way and will be sure to post some pics.

Small world will be meeting with 'Gold Can' this week in Dubai!!!

Cheers from Dubai
keep those lines wet.
Andy

Great read Andy, keep us posted on your adventures.

pete

Andy,
What day do you have off ?, Also Whilst I am here I am going to look at a charter in September/ October, Do you have any contacts or advice.
Currently I have got a few prices and for 2500drh for six people for 8hrs, Sounds pretty good to me.

Hey Gold Can, I get Saturdays off but are flexible. See what I can find out for you re prices but I think you have got a pretty good deal already by the sounds of it. Would be keen to join your charter if there is room, who did you get that price from? have you got your gear here? I wish I had my Barra gear I might have to get it sent ASAP I think.

Dubai Creek Golf and yacht club have an 8hr charter for 2850 Dhs
Dubai Voyager 2500 Dhs
thats a start any way.
A few of the boys are going out tomorrow so I will see how they go and let you know. When I do finally organise something I will save you a seat, so concider yourself booked in.

Great look forward to the report. I am excited as big kev would say