North of the Kingdom of Bahrain, close to Bahrain International Airport, lies a 100,000-square-metre stretch of seabed that has become one of the Gulf’s more unusual tourism attractions: Dive Bahrain, billed as the world’s largest underwater theme park.
The site opened to divers in September 2019, developed jointly by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority and the Supreme Council for Environment as part of a wider strategy to expand tourism by making greater use of the country’s natural and man-made assets. Its centrepiece is a 70-metre decommissioned Boeing 747, submerged between 20 and 24 metres below the surface, making it the largest aircraft ever intentionally sunk for diving purposes. The aircraft was inspected by professional divers from registered dive centres before opening, to confirm it met safety requirements for public access.
Beyond the jumbo jet, the park includes a replica of a traditional Bahraini pearl merchant’s house, overseen by the developers of the artificial island group Diyar Al Muharraq, alongside artificial coral reefs and marine-inspired sculptures designed to give coral and sea life a stable structure to colonise. A later expansion phase added sunken ships and sail structures to the site.
Access is restricted to certified divers through licensed dive centres, with visits typically organised in small groups of around eight people and guided dives lasting approximately 45 minutes. Since opening, professional divers from more than 50 countries have explored the site, according to dive operator PADI.
The project has not been without setbacks. In 2021, parts of Dive Bahrain were damaged after illegal shrimp trawlers breached the boundaries of the protected site. At the time, Bahrain’s Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Alzayani said the damage would not derail plans to keep expanding the park, describing it as both a diving attraction and a habitat for local marine species.
Positioned as a flagship project within Bahrain’s eco-tourism ambitions, Dive Bahrain continues to be promoted as a way for the country to stand out within a competitive Gulf tourism market, offering an experience built around marine conservation rather than conventional theme park attractions.