Bahrain: No tickets needed to board this plane!

A global push for sustainable and eco-friendly tourism is changing the way people plan their outings, with more opting for hotels and destinations that provide eco-friendly ideas. Bahrain was the first in the region to answer that call by opening Dive Bahrain – the world’s largest underwater theme park near Bahrain International Airport in September 2019.

HE Zayed R. Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, HE Dr Mohammed Mubarak Bin Daina, the Chief Executive of the Supreme Council for Environment and a number of experts took part in the inaugural dive. Ever since the park has attracted a steady stream of visitors.

The park marks a lot of firsts – apart from the submerged 747 Boeing being the largest aircraft ever to be used as an artificial reef, it is also the first aircraft to be used as a reef which will have been processed in a truly eco-friendly and pollutant-free manner.


HE Zayed R. Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism during the inaugural dive.

Covering an area of 100,000 square meters, the 70-meter long decommissioned Boeing 747 is the park’s centrepiece, also featuring a replica of a traditional Bahraini pearl merchant’s house, artificial coral reefs and other sculptures that will be fabricated and submerged to provide a safe haven for coral reef growth and to ensure a sustainable habitat for marine life.

Visiting the park is easy – all you need to do is:

  1. Choose a registered dive centre to organize trips to the park
  2. Contact the selected dive centre in order to organise your trip and pay the amount specified by the centre

For more details on registered dive centres, visit https://divebahrain.com/

The park is also part of a wider trend for underwater tourist attractions. From the Maldives’ underwater hotel — where you can enjoy the marine view without getting wet — to America’s underwater museum, located off the coast of Florida, where divers can explore striking statues and sculptures, avenues for exploring the underworld are many.

This isn’t the first time an aircraft has been submerged, either. In Canada, divers can explore a decommissioned Boeing 737 in the Stuart Channel near Chemainus, British Columbia. While in Turkey, a modified Airbus jet was sunk off the Gallipoli Peninsula in an effort to attract thrill-seeking divers from around the world.

Source: Gulf Insider

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