Oman - help!!

[gfac]

From search function I see a couple folks out there familiar with Oman diving, but didn't see answers to my questions. Please chime in if you all see this.

I'll be in Muscat over a couple weekends in mid-March for other reasons,and would love to try diving (along with my DSLR rig) if its possible in the evening or at least one or both of my weekends there. I posted these questions on another board and recieved just one reply and the individual had had a difficult/bad experience. I'm still tempted but would like to hear a bit more about it than I can find on the web. Among my questions:

- I'll be there as a one-sie female (a business associate I'm traveling with doesn't dive); other than the normal respect for custom in dress etc, any special considerations I should know about?
- is the Omani Diving Center the only/best op? I've emailed them a few days ago, still awaiting reply.
- What sort of current conditions, & would my 3 mm wetsuit do March timeframe?
- Reading about nice corals around Daymanayit Islands, how long does it take to get there from Muscat area, is it worth the distance and if so, can it reasonably be done in a Fri evening - Sunday weekend? Are the corals magnitudes better than what I'd fine closer to Muscat, or will sticking around Muscat do pretty well?

Loads more I'd like to ask, but at least this is a start. Would be grateful to anyone answering.

Glo

 

[Knight1989]

Having never dived in Oman I cant answer much as far as the diving questions, but I did live in Muscat for a while so I'll try to help you out with your other question. Oman is much more liberal than many of the Arab states. As long as you dress conservitive and dont draw any unwanted negitive attention on yourself you should be fine. I would suggest not venturing out alone when your exploring the city. You said youre traveling with a buisness associate, aside from diving try to stay together as much as possable. Just be concious of your surrondings. Deffinitly stay away from any reliqeous sites such as mosques. Other than that enjoy it, its a great city with a lot to do and some great food. I loved living there and would love to go back and spend some more time there again.

 

[Narked_at_60]

From search function I see a couple folks out there familiar with Oman diving, but didn't see answers to my questions. Please chime in if you all see this.

I'll be in Muscat over a couple weekends in mid-March for other reasons,and would love to try diving (along with my DSLR rig) if its possible in the evening or at least one or both of my weekends there. I posted these questions on another board and recieved just one reply and the individual had had a difficult/bad experience. I'm still tempted but would like to hear a bit more about it than I can find on the web. Among my questions:

- I'll be there as a one-sie female (a business associate I'm traveling with doesn't dive); other than the normal respect for custom in dress etc, any special considerations I should know about?
- is the Omani Diving Center the only/best op? I've emailed them a few days ago, still awaiting reply.
- What sort of current conditions, & would my 3 mm wetsuit do March timeframe?
- Reading about nice corals around Daymanayit Islands, how long does it take to get there from Muscat area, is it worth the distance and if so, can it reasonably be done in a Fri evening - Sunday weekend? Are the corals magnitudes better than what I'd fine closer to Muscat, or will sticking around Muscat do pretty well?

Loads more I'd like to ask, but at least this is a start. Would be grateful to anyone answering.

Glo

\

Hi ive been diving in oman a couple of times. Its a great place for diving. I went diving in a place called Al Marsa diving Oman (www.musandamdiving.com), there are liveaboards as well. It gets very cold over there and i wouldn't advise using a 3mm. Usually i use an 5mm wetsuit. As for diving spots musandam is the best diving in uae, with plenty of reefs and big fish. Many divers have spotted whale sharks across the musandam peninsula. If you want to know more about diving in Oman try getting a book called Underwater Explorer (Middle east). It gives info about sites, and fishes + wrecks.

Hope this helps.

Farid

 

[Ian T]

Well, you should have asked here at SB first...(c8

Travelling as a single woman - no problem with that.
You would be perfectly safe in Muscat on your own, never heard of or seen anyone being harassed - my better half likes it a lot...
if you want to visit a Mosque, the Grand Mosque in Muscat allows tours Sat thru Wed (maybe Thurs) in the mornings...

There are a couple of dive centers in Muscat OmanDiveCenter (ODC), BlueZone..they are both south of Muscat proper. What hotel are you staying at?

Dimaniyat Islands is where I go diving - the Muscat dive centers offer trips there but if I remember correctly the boat trip is roughly 2.5hrs (to the easternmost islands), there is only one dive center heading out to the Dims on a daily (and only) basis; Dimaniyat Divers located in Suwaidi Beach Resort. Depending on which boat they put you (c8 - it takes about 40 minutes to get there. Suwaid Beach Resort is northwest of the Muscat area. Takes about 45 to get there from Muscat.

conditions: well, currents are fickle... around Muscat, there can be currents, around the Dims - almost never...
Water temps are usually lower in Muscat than in the Dims (cold water from along the African coast) ...
A 3mm suit is probably a bit chilly - but then we see people diving in 2.5mm shorties and I'm in a 5mm full.... how much do you dive, how cold do you get? water temp right now is 23-24C (yeah yeah, i know, i'm a whuz...)

If you want to see corals, then go to the Dims, no comparison in my mind...

Night diving... well the police says this and they say that...in short, we don't know if it's allowed in March or even next week...it was illegal for a long time - don't even know if it's legal now...hmmm.. You can only dive with dive centers, not on your own...

Narked at 60 talks about Musandam and yes, the diving there is good - darn good.. deeper, colder, more current, bigger things to see etc..
But getting there from Muscat is a bit of a project... driving takes about 7 hours, excluding passing a "quaint" border post where ...errr... getting a passport stamp can be a chore... getting insurance for two countries add to the cost (you will not be let through unless you have it), etc....

psst Narked...Musandam isn't part of the UAE..it's Oman...

Any other questions? Either post them here or send me a PM....

 

[gfac]

Knight, Farid, Bubble OG - thanks I much appreciate the experiences and recommendations cited which I will pursue. Its great hearing the diving is likely to be worth it.

Glo

 

[baragon]

Well, you should have asked here at SB first...(c8

Travelling as a single woman - no problem with that.
You would be perfectly safe in Muscat on your own, never heard of or seen anyone being harassed - my better half likes it a lot...
if you want to visit a Mosque, the Grand Mosque in Muscat allows tours Sat thru Wed (maybe Thurs) in the mornings...

There are a couple of dive centers in Muscat OmanDiveCenter (ODC), BlueZone..they are both south of Muscat proper. What hotel are you staying at?

Dimaniyat Islands is where I go diving - the Muscat dive centers offer trips there but if I remember correctly the boat trip is roughly 2.5hrs (to the easternmost islands), there is only one dive center heading out to the Dims on a daily (and only) basis; Dimaniyat Divers located in Suwaidi Beach Resort. Depending on which boat they put you (c8 - it takes about 40 minutes to get there. Suwaid Beach Resort is northwest of the Muscat area. Takes about 45 to get there from Muscat.

conditions: well, currents are fickle... around Muscat, there can be currents, around the Dims - almost never...
Water temps are usually lower in Muscat than in the Dims (cold water from along the African coast) ...
A 3mm suit is probably a bit chilly - but then we see people diving in 2.5mm shorties and I'm in a 5mm full.... how much do you dive, how cold do you get? water temp right now is 23-24C (yeah yeah, i know, i'm a whuz...)

If you want to see corals, then go to the Dims, no comparison in my mind...

Night diving... well the police says this and they say that...in short, we don't know if it's allowed in March or even next week...it was illegal for a long time - don't even know if it's legal now...hmmm.. You can only dive with dive centers, not on your own...

Narked at 60 talks about Musandam and yes, the diving there is good - darn good.. deeper, colder, more current, bigger things to see etc..
But getting there from Muscat is a bit of a project... driving takes about 7 hours, excluding passing a "quaint" border post where ...errr... getting a passport stamp can be a chore... getting insurance for two countries add to the cost (you will not be let through unless you have it), etc....

psst Narked...Musandam isn't part of the UAE..it's Oman...

Any other questions? Either post them here or send me a PM....

Bubble OG : What's the marine life like in Oman and its diversity?

 

[vjongene]

Knight, Farid, Bubble OG - thanks I much appreciate the experiences and recommendations cited which I will pursue. Its great hearing the diving is likely to be worth it.

Getting in here a bit late, but since I got certified in Oman I figured I'd chime in. I was diving at the Al Sawadi dive center (Suwaidi in Bubble-og's post), and from there it is only about 30 min to the Daimanyat islands. Visibility is not as good as, say, the Red Sea, but marine life is varied and plentiful. No big walls or really large reefs. If I remember correctly the max depth was about 15 m around the Daimanyats. Al Sawadi is about 100 km from downtown Muscat (about 70 from the airport), so it is a bit of a drive, even though the roads are excellent. The Musandam is wonderful, but a LONG ways away from Muscat (you actually have to cross the Emirates to get there...)

There is also quite decent diving closer to Muscat, e.g. in the Bandar Jissah and Bandar Khayran areas. From what I remember there is a dive club at the Al Bustan Palace hotel (Intercontinental), which is just outside Muscat. I have a book at home called "Snorkelling and diving in Oman" by Rod Salm and Robert Baldwin - it should still be possible to get your hands on a copy for more detailed info.

Have a good trip!

 

[Ian T]

Baragon..
Marine life here is very plentiful...diversity and quantity..
We have all the "typical" reef fish, triggers, surgeons, damsel...what have you... also the slightly larger ones, pompanoes, groupers, trevallies, zebra sharks and stingrays are common..etc (swimming in among and around hundreds of red-tooth triggers during breeding season is ...errr... exciting...
there is an abundance of turtles (greens and hawksbills) and we see at least 2-3 on every day and they are curious critters...
occasional visits by whale sharks, dolphins, blacktips, mantas and eagle rays..how lucky are you?

As a comparison, I did 14 dives off Aqaba and I think I see more fish in one dive here than I did in all of those...i could be wrong (no, i didn't do a fincount..)
Ah..you live in Thailand...well did a few dives around the Simians etc...long time ago, but from what I remember, not as much marine life as here...

Vjongene is almost spot on, describing the Dim's, except we've done a bit of exploring around there and more is planned. We've found a couple of sites where the depth goes down to at least 30m+..... news at eleven...

 

[baragon]

Baragon..
Marine life here is very plentiful...diversity and quantity..
We have all the "typical" reef fish, triggers, surgeons, damsel...what have you... also the slightly larger ones, pompanoes, groupers, trevallies, zebra sharks and stingrays are common..etc (swimming in among and around hundreds of red-tooth triggers during breeding season is ...errr... exciting...
there is an abundance of turtles (greens and hawksbills) and we see at least 2-3 on every day and they are curious critters...
occasional visits by whale sharks, dolphins, blacktips, mantas and eagle rays..how lucky are you?

As a comparison, I did 14 dives off Aqaba and I think I see more fish in one dive here than I did in all of those...i could be wrong (no, i didn't do a fincount..)
Ah..you live in Thailand...well did a few dives around the Simians etc...long time ago, but from what I remember, not as much marine life as here...

Vjongene is almost spot on, describing the Dim's, except we've done a bit of exploring around there and more is planned. We've found a couple of sites where the depth goes down to at least 30m+..... news at eleven...

very interesting! I'm ashamed to say I once worked in Oman for 4 years and only managed one dive in which I remember looking at dolphins for as far as the eye could see. Hopefully I can make it back in the near future.
I hear visas are easier to obtain now, can you shed any light on that?

 

[Ian T]

Baragon
Yeah or rather at least some...
Your profile didn't state your nationality so it will just be general (not that I know all the regulations for all nationalities anyway...)
Many nationalities (mostly European, US, Aus and a few others) have no problems obtaining visas upon arrival, for some countries there is a fee (usually a small one but it differs from country to country) - you can check online or with an embassy in your country....

dolphins in abundance...i reckon that was off Muscat then...