Musandam, North Oman

[Diving Dubai]

I see your point now, this is what happened when I did the day trips. If I ever go back to that area, I'd consider the longer trips.

Is there an airport or any other way to go to Musandam direct via a flight without having to go to the UAE first (from Oman)?

Not really.

Also the Musandam is no an easy place to dive. The currents open charters have to cater for the majority so for the most part hit the safe benign sites

Also the knowledge of the area isn't widespread. Currently there's less than 5 people in the region who have the depth of knowledge and experience of the sites, currents and conditions to be able to guide or run the diving. Only 2 of these work full time in the industry. Only 3 of use know Ennerdale which is the Jewel in the Musandam but requires exactly the right conditions and very experienced & competent divers

We'd be very choosy on who we'd take since if yoru paying $500 for 2 nights you don't want to be limited by divers who can't deal with currents and diving as a independent buddy pair. I used to joke that the only reason I jotted down a dive plan was to give me something to throw away at 5am on a Friday morning when it was clear the currents and or weather were nothing like predicted and we'd be hunting sites (balancing currents, sunlight on the site, shelter for the dhow and ability to pick up divers)

I'm currently in the UK undergoing cancer treatment, I hope to get well enough to get back to the Musandam, but the pool of divers with enough experience has shrunk meaning charter costs are getting expensive.

Maybe with my down time I'll write a "visit report" thread detailing everything about the Musandam so that others may be able to continue to dive the area, because it's a very special place albeit very expensive to do so if not in the region

 

[scubajunky17]

It's my favourite dive area ever, but I haven't been to all that many of the "big sites". My friend from Poseidon, who has dived pretty much every one of the big sites over the last 20 years, surfaced from our first dive and declared it to be probably the best dive he has ever done, at least top 5.

250 USD for a weekend 3 day LOB, unlimited diving, 60-70m walls, huge morays, rays, massive schools of pelagics, regular schools of hundreds of greater hammerheads, whale sharks, mola mola cleaning stations and a frankly astounding variety of soft corals, turtles etc etc.

All that for a (for me) 2 hour drive, and a PCR test hand over at the checkpoint? Worth it, every day. For me at least.
@RayfromTX may also have a thought or two

Schools of Hammerheads ? in Oman ? seriously?

 

[RainPilot]

Schools of Hammerheads ? in Oman ? seriously?

They come through the Strait of Hormuz so technically Oman but it’s really far northern UAE. Not an everyday occurrence but regular enough that folks talk about it. Same as the whale shark migration and the Mola Mola that pop into cleaning stations.

 

[Searcaigh]

Did a fast boat trip yesterday with seven other friends including my regular dive buddy.

Despite the moon phase being mid between new and full, we had some fairly strong current on the first dive site, Octopus Rock, which was Red Tooth Triggerfish soup. However I had packed my Mares excel+ fins and thankfully my Waterproof 5mm W7 as the water temperatures were 24C.

Visibility deteriorated markedly from the first dive to the third when we hit the water at slack high tide.

Dive sites were in order;

Octopus Rock
Lima Rock
Ras Lima

I shot macro on the first two dives using my Nikon with 60mm lens.

Best shot on Octopus Rock



Best shot on Lima Rock (north side)



And Murphy's Law applied - Whale Shark at Lima Rock, one of our group managed to get some video

On the third dive I brought the TG6 with wide angle, just in case, but it proved to be the best site for macro of all three with loads of nudis

Dibba port in Oman is under re-construction and barely recognisable from three years ago. Most of the buildings have gone and there is a lot of dodgy navigation of heavy plant to reach the boats. Parking is now a good 15 min walk away from the loading / unloading area.

I'll be working on some video for YouTube this week - watch this space

 

[hedonist222]

Nice
How long is the boat ride to the furthest dive site.

 

[Searcaigh]

How long is the boat ride to the furthest dive site.

It was around 40 mins, bit choppy and the boat driver was trying to destroy a few spines as we bounced along and over the waves.

 

[BoltSnap]

Did a fast boat trip yesterday with seven other friends including my regular dive buddy.

Despite the moon phase being mid between new and full, we had some fairly strong current on the first dive site, Octopus Rock, which was Red Tooth Triggerfish soup. However I had packed my Mares excel+ fins and thankfully my Waterproof 5mm W7 as the water temperatures were 24C.

Visibility deteriorated markedly from the first dive to the third when we hit the water at slack high tide.

Dive sites were in order;

Octopus Rock
Lima Rock
Ras Lima

I shot macro on the first two dives using my Nikon with 60mm lens.

Best shot on Octopus Rock



Best shot on Lima Rock (north side)



And Murphy's Law applied - Whale Shark at Lima Rock, one of our group managed to get some video

On the third dive I brought the TG6 with wide angle, just in case, but it proved to be the best site for macro of all three with loads of nudis

Dibba port in Oman is under re-construction and barely recognisable from three years ago. Most of the buildings have gone and there is a lot of dodgy navigation of heavy plant to reach the boats. Parking is now a good 15 min walk away from the loading / unloading area.

I'll be working on some video for YouTube this week - watch this space

Best photos for you so far, awesome

 

[Searcaigh]

A combination of video clips of last Saturday's trip

 

[Diving Dubai]

Nice
How long is the boat ride to the furthest dive site.

Octopus and Lima are the Gateway. The "proper" Northern sites are another hour or so past Lima

 

[Searcaigh]

Octopus and Lima are the Gateway. The "proper" Northern sites are another hour or so past Lima

Need to do an overnighter on a Dhow to access further north, perhaps in late October or November.