Bahrain , a state we quickly identify with oil, wants to exploit tourism in the same way that Dubai is doing. In the middle of the Persian Gulf and constituted as an archipelago located between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it has become one of the most popular destinations for those who love diving, since it is very easy to see many species in its waters.
What we will also be able to see in the coming months (they say it will be finished before the summer of 2019) is an underwater theme park that will have the privilege of being the largest in the world. It will, from what they say, like a kind of live laboratory that students from schools and universities can attend.
An eco-friendly initiative
They talk about a project that respects the environment. Environmentalists will not be able to protest, or at least that is what emerges from the statement released by the Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA) :
The project diversifies tourism in the country and aims to attract a greater variety of tourists interested in diving and underwater experiences, as well as marine ecologists, university students and researchers.
The biggest plane to ever submerge
The park in question will be submerged 20 meters deep in the north of the country. It will have an area of 100,000 square meters and its main attraction will be a Boeing 747 , which at 70 meters in length will become the largest submerged plane in history. This plane will be thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated before being submerged, something that the BTEA explains:
The surface of the aircraft will be subjected to a high pressure wash with environmentally friendly detergents to ensure that all post production coatings, oil and dirt are removed before being submerged.
What else can we see diving there? Artificial coral reefs, sculptures made from environmentally friendly materials, and a house similar to that of the old Bahraini pearl merchants. The truth is that it looks very good and you give it even more value when they tell you that they are doing everything possible to reduce the ecological footprint and make it a benchmark for those who love marine life. In fact, they say the park will promote the growth of invertebrates like oysters.
It must be said that other countries were also encouraged to create a water theme park in which we can see submerged planes. Turkey, in 2016, sank an Airbus A300 in the Aegean Sea, while Canada did the same in 2006 when a Boeing 737 sank a few kilometers off the coast of British Columbia.
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