The deepest swimming pool in the world for diving has opened in Dubai. With a staggering depth of 196 feet (60 metres), the pool is part of the new Deep Dive Dubai tourist attraction in a city that already houses the world’s tallest building and the world’s largest mall. On its website, Deep Dive Dubai describes the pool as a “world-record breaking facility” – one which is 15 meters deeper and four times bigger than any other diving pool in the world.
On June 27, Guinness World Records certified the pool as “the deepest swimming pool for diving”. “The Pearl Diving Pool is a facility of approximately 5,000m2 gross floor area constructed for His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. It will primarily be an indoor scuba diving facility for training and recreational purposes, with facilities for education, training and recreation,” Guinness said in its statement. The facility beat out the former record-holder, Deep Spot in Poland, by nearly 50 feet. Designed to resemble a sunken city, explorers can suit up in diving gear to play underwater pool, foosball or chess, or they can just explore the depths of the expansive, multi-themed facility. According to facility owners, it takes several dives to see everything. The 14 million liters of water — an amount equivalent to nearly six Olympic-sized swimming pools — contain an abandoned city, an apartment, and an arcade. Non-divers can watch friends and loved ones dive from the facility’s built-in restaurant.
Divers go down through a landscape of a sunken city, with sound and lighting. There are two air-filled dry rooms on the way down. Visitors can practice scuba diving – with a tank of air – and freediving – where divers simply hold their breath. The pool is currently available by invitation only.
