Travel Guide

Pearl diving

Since ancient times, Bahrain has been famous for pearl diving and for the finest natural pearls in the Gulf area and in the world. Pearl diving reached its climax during the 19th century, before its fall in the early 20th century following the discovery of oil and the introduction of the cultured pearl. It has been documented that 35,000 tons of oysters were harvested annually during the 19th century which produced 80-90% of the natural pearls in the world.

In the old days, Pearl diving season, which lasted from June to September, was officially opened and closed by the rulers of Bahrain at the time. The most productive oyster beds were located north and east of Bahrain, and beliefs go that the purest and the whitest of pearls came from deep waters. This threatened the lives of divers as no artificial diving apparatus were used.

A typical crew of diving ships consisted of about sixty men from the divers, pullers, a couple of ship boys, a cook, to the captain’s mate and the captain himself.

The captain, who would find his way in the sea without any compass, took the ship to the location of oyster beds. The captain’s mate would naturally assist the captain. Divers then dived to the bottom of the sea to harvest the pearl bearing oysters. They were pulled up by the pullers, who also worked at the oars. After ten dives the divers would come on board for a rest and fresh divers replaced them. This process would continue throughout the day. Of course, at the end of a hard-worked day, men would need a nice meal, which was prepared by the cook assisted by the ship boys.

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