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

 

[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