The past decade has seen Saudi women starting to work in a variety of sectors from government jobs to sports, but now they have really taken the plunge - so to speak - by becoming professional divers. Previously forbidden to enter the field, they are now allowed to both train and practice as divers, and this year saw them develop from the beginner to the expert level and start training other women as well. Ghada Al-Fadli is one such trainer-diver, and she explained that the number of women that want to learn diving has increased tremendously in the past six years. “We started out long before (diving for women was allowed) and used to train women secretly, and now I have completed training almost a hundred women,” she said in an interview with Saudi Gazette. “I have found that women are often more eager to learn, compared to men.” Such encouraging news, however, does not mean that all previous obstacles have been overcome. Women still cannot dive without the approval of a “sponsor”. “Women are allowed to dive under certain rules. For instance, we must receive a written approval from our guardian, as well as a medical report stating that we don't suffer from asthma,” she explained. One young Saudi woman, Ebtsaam Mahdi, also spoke to Saudi Gazette and she said that women largely face rejection when it comes to this sport to prevent them from facing any possible risk they may face during a dive. “Diving in the middle of the sea, and not near the shore, is a great experience that many (female) Saudi divers can't have because their mahram (guardian) is not with them,” she said. “Some women still experience it though, by disguising themselves under some family member's ID card.” The Saudi coastal guard office in Jeddah's Obhur area also shared their perspective on this issue, stating that female divers are allowed to dive in the open sea if they bring along a guardian and a certified trainer. Another issue is raising awareness about the sport in general, and both male and female divers are calling for more diving activity along the entire Saudi coastline, an expansion of the coastline itself, and an easing of restrictions with more coastguard cooperation. Mahdi chipped in with her own recommendation: “More schools need to provide diving lessons to give women the opportunity to participate in this kind of sport,” she said. According to Al-Fadli, her training course offers different kinds of certificates. “We offer the double make-up certificate (eight years) - completed in a swimming pool; an open water certificate (10 years) - completed in a shallow area of the sea and a scuba diving certificate,” she explained. Diving is obviously an expensive sport and most training courses start at 1,200 Saudi riyals. Mahdi added that many divers also have the chance to take a boat trip to deeper waters, costing much less at 500 Saudi riyals, but the boat trip itself takes up to a day.
