Dubai Tourist Trap Tips by Ali&Steve

Not exactly a trap - just a warning.
Lots of people like to learn scuba diving on holiday, and experienced divers can't pass up the opportunity to get in the water, but because of all the offshore construction work (Palm Island, and now "the World" islands), the dive sites have been trashed by the dredgers and fleets of supply boats. There aren't any coral reefs - its all wreck dives off the Dubai coast. Sadly, most of these are unaccessible now.
Its great to do a PADI course in 5* luxury surroundings, but if you're new to diving, your open water dives are not going to be that great, and experienced divers will probably be disappointed.

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At Least Do This: The dive centres (Pavilion at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Al Boom Marine) obviously know the local sites aren't up to standard, although they are still using a couple of them, but they are now offering excursions to the east coast (about an hour and a half drive) and Musandam (around two hours drive to Dibba then a long boat ride to the dive sites).
We would never discourage anyone from learning to scuba dive, but you do need to be aware that the visibility is pretty awful now (it was never that reliable anyway!).
Alternative: Diving off the east coast (Khor Fakkan / Fujeirah) and Musandam (Oman) is marvellous. Clear, calm, warm blue sea (most of the time), good visibility and a wonderful variety of marine life. If you really want to dive in the UAE, make the effort to get up early and go on a trip to the Indian Ocean on the east coast. We’ve had dives that rival the Maldives here!