Name: Othmans Reef
Rating: 3.5

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Natural coral reef. Bleached by the 1996 hot spell. Coral killed by the 1998 El Nino. Just re-populating.

At the mouth of the Khor Al-Udaid,Bash the dunes with the sun on your left for the morning trip out
and the evening trip back. Basically SW out and NE back.

Othmans Reef

3 natural coral reefs. Named for Olivier, the club member who found the reef. Zeitoune is Arabic for olive.
Often rays on sandy crossing. The southernmost reef often has large hamour  Fish at the bottom of the reef wall.

As you swim the gap, the depth will decrease as you approach the reef. If it starts getting quite deep, it means you have passed it. Turn back to shallow area, then turn either North or South

Head for Othmans Reef, then at the final dune, turn right along the beach. Cross the sabkha till you get to the first dune at the sea edge. Not accessible at some states of the tide.

Zeitoune Bank is also known as Olivier Bank reef.

Zeitoune Bank

The wreck was intentionally sunk and was originally planned to be much closer to the New Club Reef. But it drifted off while sinking and it actually disappeared completely. Apparently it was not found until about 9 months after it had been sunk. The wreck can be penetrated, but it is very little of interest to see and the openings are quite small. There is very few fishes around the wreck, so not much to see apart from the wreck itself.

Around the first dune after the Sealine resort, passed New Club Reef, along the beach to approximately the first natural water drainage outlet. The barge is about 300 meters from the beach at a heading of about 120 degrees from the given coordinates. There is a rope running from the New Club Reef to the barge, so one way to make sure you find it is to go out at a heading of slightly less then 120 (e.g. 110) and then go south (turn right) when you hit the rope. If you go down at the drop off it is a swim of about 7 to 10 minutes to the rope.

The Barge is also known as Pete's Paradise Barge.

The Barge

Man made artificial reef 



New Club Reef is also known as New Club Reef.

New Club Reef



Take the road towards Sealine Beach Resort.  Turn left onto a small paved access road just after the trash skip on the left hand side of the road.  Access to the dive site will be on the left hand where the road ends at the beach about 100m South from the rock jetty/fenceline.

Old Club Reef

Dalma Island Hotel Reef

Pericles Wreck



M.O. Wreck is located approx. 100 kilometres from Doha, out of the drilling platforms.

M.O. Wreck

Fifi is a submerged tugboat shipwreck. This vessel, owned by Khalifa Khalafan, caught fire and sank in the early 1980s. Currently the wreck site is one of the most popular diving sites in Bahrain. Source: Wikipedia



Fifi Wreck

Follow the chain on the buoy to the bottom and then take a heading of 165 degrees.

The wreck is in multiple sections. The first one will be small and slightly scattered and eventually you will reach the main wreck.

History (from Wrecksite.eu): At 9.35pm on the evening of February 19th 1958 the 7,440 ton British cargo vessel "Seistan" blew up in a shattering explosion in the Bahrain Explosives anchorage at Sitra. The explosion killed 57 people consisting of ships crew, stevedores and a tug crew alongside.The vessel had been carrying a mixed cargo which included cases of Toe Puff, a substance described in the "Dangerous Cargoes aboard Shi ps" listing as; Several layers of fabric impregnated with cellulose nitrate solvent, rosin and dye.

Liable to spontaneous combustion. To be packed in hermetically sealed tins and packed in wooden cases and to be stowed away from inflammable cargo and not in the same hold as explosives. Two cases of this material had been stowed in No. 5 hold which also contained 156 tons of commercial explosive consisting of Geophex and gelatine together with cases of safety fuses and detonators.On 17th February 1958 as the vessel was entering the Arabian Gulf, via the Mediterranean and Red Sea, smoke was seen issuing from a deck ventilator in the vicinity of No. 5 hold. The hold was immediately filled with steam to smother any flames. The steam smothering continued until 5.30 am on 18th February when the vessel anchored at Sitra where it was decided to discharge the explosives.

Some 75 tons were subsequently discharged and steam smothering resumed.During the day the vessel was moved closer to the port. That evening, February 19th 1958, a glow was observed in the vicinity of No. 5 hold. Minutes later, at 9.35pm, a vast explosion blew the vessel in two - leaving a huge pall of smoke rising into the night sky. The shock wave from the explosion was felt in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In Awali, the cinema screen shook like jelly. The ship's stern was completely shattered, the after part of the main deck being wrapped over the superstructure as if it were the top of a sardine can'. What remained of the vessel caught fire and sank by the stern in 4 0 feet of water leaving the bow and foredeck above the surface.The explosion killed Captain Chappel, almost the entire Indian crew in the after part of the vessel and five crew members of a tug alongside.

There were 18 survivors. Three victims of the Seistan disaster remain in the cemetery.

Once you reach the spot, you will find a marker buoy with marking the location and it will read "Seistan WK".

Seistan Wreck

Pearl diving, great drift. Only if you want to get some pearls (and you will get some), nothing else really.

Near Manama. By boat only, local dive shop, English speaking.

Othmans Reef

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Othmans Reef