Dive Op review: Freestyle Divers, Dibba UAE

[Dan]

Hey @Dan_T

Glad you had a good time. You wouldn't' have like the Musandam. We had 3 Whale sharks (cos' we're greedy) and I have the privilege of scootering for 30 mins with a squadron of 40-40 moblas (devil rays) Plus the usual or Giant Trevalli, Huge Black fin barracuda etc etc.

Have a sporty down current, with teh scooter vertical on max, me fining and inflating I was still going down. Stopped at 35m and wiggled my way out of it.

Temps were 27 at surface, 24-21 below the layer (16-20m) but it warmed up at 45 - 50m when we briefly snooted around.

Next time you come, give me advance notice. I'm up the musandam every month and know it very well. We're always the only boat that far north.

Sound like South Komodo.

I’ll certainly do that. I’ll bring some of my Texas buddies with me next time. We’ll try to do both places Dibba / Fujairah & Musandam.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Sound like South Komodo.

Kinda, except in Komodo the operators (sensibly) protect you from the more extreme currents by choosing carefully which sites to dive and when - here, we're in charge (because we run our own trips as opposed to the majority who are on organised boats) and tend to jump into these maelstroms in full knowledge of the conditions and what's needed. I would certainly no do so with just an Ali 80 on my back.

I had two friends on board this trip. Both instructors both having close to or above 1000 dives, in all places inc Indonesia We dived one site twice - they chose to sit out the second dive on the site as the first was outside their comfort zone.

So yes the Musandam is fantastic and you should certainly visit, I could take you to some cool diving and I can scare the crap out of you too

 

[Dan]

It's been a nice long weekend trip. Freestyle Divers did their best to let me dive as much as I can handle. Made 14 dives in 4 days.

Hole In The Wall has some interesting resident:

Odd couple

Car Cemetery was a pleasant surprise:

An Electric Ray posting right below my fins

This shrimp goby has 2 bulldozer mates for keeping their home tidy

Sadly, I'm now on my way back to the salt mine

 

[Diving Dubai]

Great pictures @Dan_T I dive these sites and ignore what you'e captured because it's "so common", so it's nice to see the life on these sites captured through the eyes of someone else.

 

[Seefa]

Kinda, except in Komodo the operators (sensibly) protect you from the more extreme currents by choosing carefully which sites to dive and when - here, we're in charge (because we run our own trips as opposed to the majority who are on organised boats) and tend to jump into these maelstroms in full knowledge of the conditions and what's needed. I would certainly no do so with just an Ali 80 on my back.

I had two friends on board this trip. Both instructors both having close to or above 1000 dives, in all places inc Indonesia We dived one site twice - they chose to sit out the second dive on the site as the first was outside their comfort zone.

So yes the Musandam is fantastic and you should certainly visit, I could take you to some cool diving and I can scare the crap out of you too

This sounds awesome! What sorts of qualifications and experience would you require of me if I wanted to dive far north in Musandam with your group?

 

[Diving Dubai]

Ooh.. Good question.

The obvious qual is Aow because you will be below 18m most of the dive, Deep is another because we often potter below 30m. We all in the main prefer to dive Nitrox. Other skills, you should have your own dsmb and spool and know how to use it, a it and have decent buoyancy, because our stops are generally off the reef in the blue. A reef hook and or pointer for stabilising yourself in currents are highly recommended.

Other than than be a thinking diver. Being a decent buddy, but also knowing your limitations and telling people, before hand. There are man experienced divers who look out for each other but its' nice to know what to expect in advance.

The worst offence anyone can make is to make out they're really experienced then blow through their tank in 15mins - yes it happened once. PM me if interested and I'll link you in and give you more details

 

[Searcaigh]

Dived at Freestyle yesterday with RainPilot and Turk.

Visibility was a horrible murky 2-3m and I lost RainPilot and Turk several times during the first dive.

On the second dive we all managed to stick together but had to surface early as Turk was getting chilly in a 3mm suit, RainPilot was in a semi dry and I was diving dry

Nice facilities at Freestyle although I didn't get a good look around, but simple easy diving with Dibba Rock on the doorstep, and in fact Cauliflower Garden (40m) is not so far either. The next nearest dive sites are Inchcape 1 and Snoopy Rock.

 

[RainPilot]

It was me getting cold in the 5mm, @PunkabillyTurk was fine in the 3mm.
Loved nudibranch hunting with you.

 

[Searcaigh]

Couple of the nudis you spotted

From the first dive

Phyllidia picta

And from the second dive, one of the three pairs of Risbecia pulchella

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Even with the bad vis, I had a wonderful day with @RainPilot and @Searcaigh . I did my 11th and 12 dive, learned some valuable lessons on hovering, worked on different kicks and did an SMB deployment at depth for the first time. Plus saw nudis, a pipe fish and more.