Last week I did 5 dives in the Gulf of Oman. I can't rate this compared to the Red Sea as I've never been there, but if solitude and relaxed diving is what you're after then Oman could be an alternative.
Although it is the height of summer now, with air temps soaring to 42C/ 104F++, there was an upwelling bringing the water temp down to a chilly 21C/ 65F. Also our trip coincided with the full moon and coral spawning, so it was love on the reef. The coral spawn did bring the viz down a bit for the first few metres, and combined with the thermoclines, all dives were mixed from 1m-20m viz...
The waters were teeming with life at some sites we literally had to shoulder our way through massive schools of fusiliers and triggerfish- turtles everywhere you looked, oodles of morays (honeycomb, giant, yellow mouths, grey, yellow margins, snowflake, and the Oman moray), a zillion boxfish and butterflyfish, even a few juvenile emperor angelfish. The first two days I was in Oman, people were out watching 2 schools of dolphin and a pod of whales just off the beach. The coral is healthy and abundant. There are several dive operators, but at each site we went to, we were the only divers there.
All the dives were easy and extremely enjoyable. maximum depth was 30m where we went, although they can go deeper. There are several wrecks around, although we didn't dive them.
The Sultan takes a keen interest in the marine environment (even commissioned a book by John E Randall, "Coastal Fishes of Oman").
Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know there's more out there than Sharm, and a lot less divers!
Although it is the height of summer now, with air temps soaring to 42C/ 104F++, there was an upwelling bringing the water temp down to a chilly 21C/ 65F. Also our trip coincided with the full moon and coral spawning, so it was love on the reef. The coral spawn did bring the viz down a bit for the first few metres, and combined with the thermoclines, all dives were mixed from 1m-20m viz...
The waters were teeming with life at some sites we literally had to shoulder our way through massive schools of fusiliers and triggerfish- turtles everywhere you looked, oodles of morays (honeycomb, giant, yellow mouths, grey, yellow margins, snowflake, and the Oman moray), a zillion boxfish and butterflyfish, even a few juvenile emperor angelfish. The first two days I was in Oman, people were out watching 2 schools of dolphin and a pod of whales just off the beach. The coral is healthy and abundant. There are several dive operators, but at each site we went to, we were the only divers there.
All the dives were easy and extremely enjoyable. maximum depth was 30m where we went, although they can go deeper. There are several wrecks around, although we didn't dive them.
The Sultan takes a keen interest in the marine environment (even commissioned a book by John E Randall, "Coastal Fishes of Oman").
Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know there's more out there than Sharm, and a lot less divers!
