Dived Musandam Lately?

[FDW]

In some isolated spots yes. Especially close to Dibba harbour.

[Aeromech]

Had a trip but stayed South of Dubai nearer Jebel Ali and found Al Boom did a day trip to Musandam on the weekends of Friday also Saturday, if enough (six) divers; down side is the 6am start from their shop, two hour by road to cross the UAE boarder post to Dibba dock (UAE) and then 2 hr Dhow to the sights; they are enthausiastic and I would have gone but my Buddy could not make it and all that travel time in one day with strangers did not appeal though they can use a speed boat if smaller groups. Could have stayed a night South of Dibba in a hotel but not a reasonable extra cost.

[FairyBasset]

Red tide is coming back again!?

HI
What is this red tide I keep reading about, please?

[Jonny boy]

red tide is an algae bloom that normally occurs around dec/jan. Unfortunatly this year it has been with us for a large chunk of the year to date. It keeps popping up in patches and basically kills the any sea life and corals beneath it. The 'red tide' occupies the first 1-2metres of the water column so once you get underneath it the water is fairly clear (although very dark and pretty much dead).........oh yeah - the stuff stinks!!
it only really affects the east cosat so diving off dubai has been nice and clear even though the east coast can sometimes be un-diveable in places.

[FairyBasset]

thanks johnny!
am coming to dubai tomorrow and am going diving off dubai with pavillion on fri, then with al boom to musandam on sat and fujeirah on sun. REALLY looking forward to it - and hoping there will be no red tide to spoil the views!

[Jonny boy]

if your with pavillion you will probably doing the Zainab wreck on at least one of the dives, its a great wreck that is about 30m to the sand, penetration is possible if you want!!
Word of advice, Pavillion is a real tourist trap for diving and they charge silly money for their diving, if your in town for a while then it might be worth getting in touch with the local BSAC group, you can find them at www.desertsportdivingclub.net

[danclem]

Just returned to Seattle after two weeks of diving in Musandam from Khasab. From my perspective the best sites are closer to Khasab than Dibba: I think Extra Divers in Khasab is the only regular operator to hit sites on Musandam Island, Kahyl Island, Abu Sir, Pipi Beach, and Beecham's Bay. The Dibba operators we encountered were further south in areas like Habalayan Island. It is really worth the extra hour drive to Khasab to dive the northern sites.

We spent one of the weeks doing reef surveys with Biosphere and Emirates Diving Association. There were no signs of red tide in any of the areas we dove. While most of the coral was in great shape, there were signs of damage from the typhoon that hit a couple of years back and the subsequent extended red tide event.

What a great area to dive and visit: excellent fish, invertebrates and coral. Really outstanding geology. We found the Omanies to be most gracious hosts and guides.

Dan