Diving in Oman

[Matt Wadsworth]

HI all,

I am planning on a trip to Oman in early February.

I can find a couple of dive operators in Muscat that look great but Iooking at the map, they seem miles away from any reasonably priced hotels. One is linked to a 5 star hotel that's out of my price range and the other one would mean a long taxi ride there and back each day.

Anyone have any recommendations for dive operators and reasonably priced hotels, that are relatively close by? And if there is a bar nearby that I can have a beer in, even better.....

Thanks

Matt

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

HI all,

I am planning on a trip to Oman in early February.

I can find a couple of dive operators in Muscat that look great but Iooking at the map, they seem miles away from any reasonably priced hotels. One is linked to a 5 star hotel that's out of my price range and the other one would mean a long taxi ride there and back each day.

Anyone have any recommendations for dive operators and reasonably priced hotels, that are relatively close by? And if there is a bar nearby that I can have a beer in, even better.....

Thanks

Matt

I think @Searcaigh does diving off mainland Oman and may be of help.

The only Oman diving I have done has been the Oman peninsula in Musandam so I am of zero help.

 

[Searcaigh]

Check out Oman Sail and Dive at the Millennium Hotel in Mussanam, it's about an hour's drive north of Muscat.

 

[diveUAE]

Also: consider renting a car. It’s fairly easy to drive in Oman

February it will be “cold” diving and cold sailing to/from dive sites, so bring a fleece.

 

[Valyngar]

Was diving in oman few years ago and everything went perfect. I look up the hotel where I stayed. Dive shop was in hotel are and was run by Europeans. Good dive sites and had zero problems there. In hotel as for better view if you get bad one. On good room you can see ocean and not just harbour, really beautiful in night.

Edit: Here it is. It's middle of nowhere but really nice place and 40-50mins to Muscat with car. Petrol is cheap there, get big car, so you can drive on dunes.
https://www.booking.com/hotel/om/si...och=1568735207;atlas_src=hp_iw_title#tab-main

 

[jfe]

Check out Oman Sail and Dive at the Millennium Hotel in Mussanam, it's about an hour's drive north of Muscat.

Are they still in operation? Dived with them two years ago and stayed at the hotel appartments, great outfit.

 

[MarkH]

A few months ago I stayed at the Marina Hotel in Mutrah Marina Hotel Muscat. I can't remember how much it cost, but I think it was less than $50 a night. It has a rooftop restaurant with great views of the harbour and they serve alcohol (I don't know if I'd call it a bar). For diving I went with Extra Divers Dive Center: Shangri-La Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa****/***** / Oman, located near the Shangrila resort (definitely more than $50 a night). They picked me up at my cheap hotel in the morning and drove me to the dive center. I can't remember if I had to pay extra for this transfer service or if it was included in the cost of the charter. Maybe e-mail them to be sure. Anyways, this seemed to be the most "budget" way of diving in Muscat for me. Here are my photos and video from the dive charter:
muscat2019
The footage at around 00:25 was taken from the roof-top restaurant in the Marina Hotel.

 

[OSNL]

My experience is similar to that of MarkH. I stayed in an affordable hotel in the Al Khuwair area, and dived with Extra Divers Qantab. They run a great dive operation, very well organized, and the people are friendly. They know the area and conditions very well. They arranged transfers for me. There was an additional fee for it, but it was cheaper than a taxi would have been. If you send them an e-mail, they'll send you an up to date price list as well as the cost for a transfer.

 

[scubajunky17]

How good is the diving in Oman ?

 

[Searcaigh]

How good is the diving in Oman ?

Very good.

However I have yet to go there since the Covid pandemic struck, so I'm not sure about how good the dive ops are these days.