My main buddy for my past trips to Indonesia since 2022 @outofofficebrb (OOO) decided last year to come to visit me in the UAE and I managed to get a cancelation on one of the dhow trips to Musandam in mid February with Sheesa Dhows
Unlike other land border crossings to Oman from UAE, no visa is required, but a passport has to be shown. If you are a UAE resident then a UAE ID card is required and for a visitor to the UAE then an entry stamp in the passport is required (avoid the electronic entry gates). This border is controlled by UAE only and not yet by Oman police (ROP).
After a couple of dives in Fujairah, OOO and I drove up to the border at Dibba and duly crossed over after meeting the Sheesa official who had our respective paperwork and headed to the port, which is still under re-construction since at least two years. It's not as much of a mess as it was since August 2022, but it's still confusing to find the entrance, and signposting leaves a lot to be desired.
The Sheesa crew at the port are very helpful and once we unloaded the car, OOO supervised the loading of our gear to our assigned dhow while I drove out of the port to park the car and walk back.
After checking out our assigned cabin (it was one of the two at the very front), which had an ensuite shower but no head, we then proceeded to sort out our gear and analyse and label our tanks for the five dives, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. In summer there is usually a night dive too, but not in winter months.
We were first on the boat, and slowly other divers arrived, all of whom had driven over from Dubai after work, and there were a couple of familiar faces, notably Stevie from Al Boom and Diane.
The boat departed around 20:30 and we gathered for out evening meal. I feel that the dining could have been done earlier for those who arrived earlier, OOO and I were starving.
We slept well that night although I awoke at some point when we dropped anchor in one of the khors.
Diving is done from a small boat, which is towed behind the dhow. On this trip we had two small boats as three divers had their own agenda leaving 13 of us on the other boat. We were accompanied by two Sheesa staff as guides, although OOO and myself tended to fall behind the others as we were taking photos.
I had opted to shoot wide angle on Day 1, something I regretted given the number of nudis we spotted, especially on the last dive, but sunshine we did not have to light up the stunning corals of Musandam.
This is the best wide angle shot I managed.
I was also very grateful to OOO for bring over my SurfFur that I had ordered and sent to her address in the US, these coats are fantastic for keeping the wind chill from shrivelling parts of the male anatomy.
Ceratosoma trilabatum
We returned on the Sunday afternoon after five dives with all meals included for AED1,400 (USD381) and Nitrox AED75 (USD20) per tank. I could have saved some money if I brought my own tanks, but the hassle of loading and unloading doesn't really make it worth while to be honest. All fills were 31%
A strong possibility I will do at least one more trip to Musandam this year.
Unlike other land border crossings to Oman from UAE, no visa is required, but a passport has to be shown. If you are a UAE resident then a UAE ID card is required and for a visitor to the UAE then an entry stamp in the passport is required (avoid the electronic entry gates). This border is controlled by UAE only and not yet by Oman police (ROP).
After a couple of dives in Fujairah, OOO and I drove up to the border at Dibba and duly crossed over after meeting the Sheesa official who had our respective paperwork and headed to the port, which is still under re-construction since at least two years. It's not as much of a mess as it was since August 2022, but it's still confusing to find the entrance, and signposting leaves a lot to be desired.
The Sheesa crew at the port are very helpful and once we unloaded the car, OOO supervised the loading of our gear to our assigned dhow while I drove out of the port to park the car and walk back.
After checking out our assigned cabin (it was one of the two at the very front), which had an ensuite shower but no head, we then proceeded to sort out our gear and analyse and label our tanks for the five dives, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. In summer there is usually a night dive too, but not in winter months.
We were first on the boat, and slowly other divers arrived, all of whom had driven over from Dubai after work, and there were a couple of familiar faces, notably Stevie from Al Boom and Diane.
The boat departed around 20:30 and we gathered for out evening meal. I feel that the dining could have been done earlier for those who arrived earlier, OOO and I were starving.
We slept well that night although I awoke at some point when we dropped anchor in one of the khors.
Diving is done from a small boat, which is towed behind the dhow. On this trip we had two small boats as three divers had their own agenda leaving 13 of us on the other boat. We were accompanied by two Sheesa staff as guides, although OOO and myself tended to fall behind the others as we were taking photos.
I had opted to shoot wide angle on Day 1, something I regretted given the number of nudis we spotted, especially on the last dive, but sunshine we did not have to light up the stunning corals of Musandam.
This is the best wide angle shot I managed.
I was also very grateful to OOO for bring over my SurfFur that I had ordered and sent to her address in the US, these coats are fantastic for keeping the wind chill from shrivelling parts of the male anatomy.
Ceratosoma trilabatum
We returned on the Sunday afternoon after five dives with all meals included for AED1,400 (USD381) and Nitrox AED75 (USD20) per tank. I could have saved some money if I brought my own tanks, but the hassle of loading and unloading doesn't really make it worth while to be honest. All fills were 31%
A strong possibility I will do at least one more trip to Musandam this year.
