Dive for your own Pearls!

Pearl oysters occur naturally on relatively shallow banks in the Gulf. But it is not clear when the people of the Emirates first began to harvest this valuable resource.Individual pearls have been found in excavations on archaeological sites that date back to at least 7,000 years ago.

Pearls were traded extensively in Roman times and the Arab writer Al Idrisi mentions that in 1154 Julfar, in Ra’s al-Khaimah, was already a major pearling center. Other historical accounts indicate that Julfar’s fame had spread far and wide. The Portuguese writer Duarte Barbosa, recorded in 1517: ‘Here (Julfar) is a very great fishery as well, of seed pearls as of large pearls; and the Moors of Hormuz come hither to buy them and carry them to India and many other lands.’

The Portuguese traveler Pedro Teixeira mentions that a fleet of 50 terradas sailed from Julfar every year to the pearl beds. There was even a kind of pearl found near Julfar named after the latter, and it was the growing interest of the Europeans in Gulf pearls that led the Venetian state jeweler, GasparoBalbi, to the Emirates in 1580.

To the people of the Emirates, pearling offered a major, however seasonal, form of employment. While many of those engaged in the pearling industry would return home to tend date gardens in inland oases and herd camels between seasons, there were others for whom it was a full-time occupation. British historical records from the late nineteenth century, for example, refer to divers from the Emirates travelling to Sri Lanka to work on the pearl beds there once the season in the Gulf was over.

Over time, many families moved to live permanently in one of the coastal settlements, increasing, in particular, the size and importance of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Sharjah, Ra's al-Khaimah and the intervening coastal villages were also long-established as ports of the tribal Arabs and them, too, participated in this industry.

By the beginning of the twentieth century there were, according to one calculation, over 1200 pearling boats operating out of the Trucial States, each carrying an average crew of 18 men. This meant that during the summer most able-bodied men, numbering more than 22,000, were absent on the pearl banks.

Emeco Tourism in the Emirates will organize a great activity where clients will learn the merits of fetching oysters from the bottom of sea in search of naturally-grown pearls.

This activity can take around 2-3 hours excluding lunch that could also be catered on the Dhow.

Please contact Mr. Karim Aly for further details at emirates@euromic.com