Diving in Oman

[Sea Squirt]

If you are considering making the effort to come out to the Middle East, look a little further and maybe consider a trip to Oman

Last month on 4 consecutive days' diving, I saw a small pod of Bryde's whales with calves, a plethora of black tips in water 3m deep, several massive schools of common, spinner and Risso's dolphins, and a couple of pairs of Bryde's whales bubble netting and feeding off two bait balls whilst surrounded by a ballet of 5 mantas and some frantic tuna.

Considering the land is almost void of any wildlife, the waters are teeming with marine life of all kinds - geography and topography gives OMan's waters a wider variety of reef fish than say Dubai, or others in the Arabian Gulf (although of course it doesn't compete with GBR). And the nicest part is that it hasn't been ruined by millions of tourists and divers.

[BlueGirlGoes]

I've heard good things about Oman and it is definitely on my list.

[AbuK]

I too have heard that Oman is all about large game as opposed to small, not much in the way of coral but unrivalled for the bigger stuff and they enjoy excellent protection from the authorities, some thing they could do with here in Saudi....

[coliseum]

If you like big stuff, try diving Mussandam... You will possibly run into Whale Sharks as well as Huge Mantas.... Dolphins are normal over there...

[monkeyfish]

Hey Sea Squirt,

Where did you see all that stuff? Dhofar? I have been to the Mussandam a few times and was in Al Sawadi diving the Daymaniyat Islands about two weeks ago. Great weather!! Easily 6 or 7 degrees cooler than Abu Dhabi. Have you tried the new wreck in Muscat? Just wondering how it is. I want to try to make it down there in a few weeks. TIA MF

[Sea Squirt]

Monkeyfish

Sorry - really late reply - not ignoring you, I just didn't look at this thread for ages


I saw the sharks and whale pods off Fahal Island; dolphin schools on the way from Oman Dive Centre to Fahal Island; and bait balls with mantas a bit off shore during a survey.

Yep- dived the new wreck several months ago. It had only been down a couple of months but was already covered with new growth and a huge "plague" of persistent leatherjackets. Have you been now?

[one-ocean]

I spent 3 weeks diving off the Coast of UAE and during this time took a boat up into the Musandam. Here the diving was truly fabulous and I must concede that one of the dives I did there is without a doubt the dive of my life.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Diving in the Musandam.

Check out the review on our site....
Lima Rock (http://www.one-ocean.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41)

:)

[Sea Squirt]

It's really good to hear good things about diving in Oman from people who don't live here, as I think we tend to get a bit biased.

I learnt to dive in Thailand in various places - most were totally off the beaten track where there were no other divers for 100s of miles so I was bit spoilt, and have continued being so in Oman.

Two days ago I was diving off Fahal Island (which is right offshore from the Shell refinery and where all the oil tankers are queuing up to get filled up). The coral on the east side of the island is prolific and extremely healthy a good indication of the low to zero pollution levels - it rolls down from the shallows like a carpet and is stuffed full of tiny shrimps and crabs, cuttlefish, and we always see eagle rays, devil rays and black tips there. This trip we saw about 9 torpedo rays and several nudibranchs which I have not seen there before.

There is also a turtle beach next to the refinery so you are almost guaranteed at least one turtle per dive.

[WebFoot]

Sorry to dredge up/hijack an old thread, but where are you in Oman Sea Squirt? I live in Thumrait, and have recently started diving in the Mirbat area NE of Salalah.

Just curious

[monkeyfish]

Sea Squirt,

Still have not made it to the wreck. Since my last post I have been to Fahal and to Daymaniyat Islands. Also did a Dhow trip in Khasab. Great time in Khasab. I think I saw every species of moray in the AS around Fahal. Great diving.

I want to make a trip to Salalah. Do you know of any dive operators that operate in the area?

Thanks

[WebFoot]

Hello monkeyfish,

I don't think any of the dive operators are still going in Salalah. I've been diving pretty regularly in the area recently, and I think the last one closed when the Holiday Inn converted into the Crown Plaza. I'm hoping that they'll open back up soon since the kharif season is now over.

All the seaweed that flourished during the kharif is dying off right now, so the vis isn't the best, but the sunny day guarantee is in full effect;)

James

[Ian T]

I live up in Sohar (northern part of Oman) so I do diving from al Suwaidi. The few times I''ve been there, the vis was down and we had some horrible currents, but I'll go back there.. The diving off the Dimaniyat's (Arb='string of jewellery/pearls') is IMO among the best in the Middle-East. Visibility, conditions, marine life (like AbuK said, it's protected - unless you have an uncle in the Coast Guard), etc. DivEco at the hotel also organizes clean-ups. Get in touch with the manager, Abdullah, and he will tell you when the next one will be.
If you're in the area and need a buddy, I'm usually available.

[Ian T]

well, that message was full of errors...is it my cpr or my fingers - all 4 of 'em..
what I did want to say was: Dimaniyat is great!

[WebFoot]

Hey bubble, I'll be up in Muscat for my AOW in Feb. Maybe if you're not busy you can show me some of the sites up there. I'll be up during the Eid holiday, but I'm not sure what dates I'll be doing the AOW dives.

James

[Ian T]

Webfoot - I'd be more than happy to do that, though for me, Muscat is a long early morning drive... I have only done a few dives down there, so the centers there would probably do a better guiding job than I.
If you want to dive the Dim's, no problemo. The dive center at Al Suwaidi Beach Resort can help you with the AOW. If they are better or worse than the Muscat DC's, I don't know, they are good enough for me. I'm doing my DM course for them right now so chances are that if you go there, I'll probably be on one of the boats.
Send an e-mail to me and we can discuss it, I might be off diving for Eid. The Maldives, insh'allah.....

[WebFoot]

Thanks Bubble,

Insh'allah... lol... I know what u mean ;-P

I'll look into Al Suwaidi. I'll probably stick with Bluzone though since they took good care of me on my last trip up there. They got me a good discount on a hotel, and the instructor (Andrew) actually picked me up everyday in the morning.

What kind of transportation would I need from the airport to get to Al Suwadi? I'll do some searching online, but any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
James

[WebFoot]

"27C?? Geeesh - that's cold!!"

25 in Salalah today.... Where's all this cold water coming from??? hehe

[Ian T]

howdy James...
http://www.alsawadibeach.com
Tel: 895545
I'm sure they have a transfer bus, otherwise a taxi would be about 3-4 riyals unless you're a better haggler than I am...(c8
just came back from the Dim's today and the vis was terrible, good dives though, lots of turtles and different schools..but yup - cold

I think we should boycott Antarctica just to get even...

/ian

[WebFoot]

Thanks for the info man,
They're gonna get back with me about the availability. I guess they're already pretty booked for Eid, but they're going to try to get me in.

I'm with you on the boycott of Antarctica. I just gotta figure out how to keep all that water out of the area... hmmm.... science project???

James

[BoobooFish]

Hello, everybody...hope you don't mind my butting in on your thread (old though it may be...you may never even read this...). I've been looking for Oman diving info with little joy and thought maybe y'all could help. We may be moving to the Shalalah/Thumrait area in the next few months, and knowing about all the great diving there may help me to adjust to the idea! James, you mentioned that there are no dive centers in Shalalah any more...how far away is the nearest centre? The photos of the area I have managed to find on the net look stunning, and it's always nice to hear about amazing diving...please tell me more! :)

Cheers,
Kathy

[amrou]

Hi divers,
I am glad to see lots of you have been to Musandam it is agreat place , If you have questions about Musandam do not hesitate to contact me at Email dive@musandamdiving.com or send me a private massage. I will be more than happy to assist you.
Amrou

[oman diver]

thnx sea squirt for all of these and i am glad to read this about my country oman.
i dive in fahal island and its very nice place and this true in ur way from oman dive centre u can see the dophine mix with the tuna fish and some time u can see the whole and many kind of shark and the gropper and about the Daymaniyat Islands its one of the best place for diving with nice coral and there u can see the spinny lubster . ..