The Dubai Aquarium, set right in the middle of the mind-blowingly big Dubai Mall, is a must-see if visiting Dubai. We went a step further and not only visited the aquarium but went scuba diving within it!

At 51mx20mx11m, the Dubai Aquarium, is one of the largest in the world.

 It’s home to, amongst many other species, over 300 sharks and rays.

My particular favourite being the one wearing leopard print…

For mermaid wannabes like me, watching all the fish swimming along and rays gliding around is totally mesmerising. I could spend hours just fish-watching!

As it is set within the mall, anyone can wander past and look in, but I would really recommend paying that little bit extra to go walk through the tunnel where you can see fish swimming on either side of you and overhead.

It almost feels as if you are in the tank with them.

And, if you’re so inclined, you can go one better than the walk-through tunnel and actually head into the tank with the sharks, rays and fishes!

Al Boom offers a scuba diving experience within the tank (both for beginners and experienced divers).  I’ve done a lot of scuba diving over the years but diving in an indoor aquarium was a first for me.

Unlike diving out in the ocean you are guaranteed to see A LOT of big fish…and you arguably get quite a lot closer to them.

I’m not totally sold on the indoor diving experience – I did miss the freedom of the ocean and the element of surprise in what you see during the course of your dive (and it is pretty odd having a lot of people watching you and taking pictures as you swim around the tank!) but that said it was an amazing experience and definitely one I’d recommend as a one off (especially if the big fish are you favourite part of diving).