Red Tide in Oman...the long term effects...

[TomFlaherty]

Hi to all

We're about to book a week next February on Brown Dhow on the Musandam peninsula. I have been reading with interest (and growing alarm) about the red tides that have affected this part of the world. I know that the effects of these red tides have not been limited to the diving fraternity and that they have caused a lot of problems. Going anywhere on a liveaboard is a "risk" in that weather and other variables can cause problems with a trip but the more I read about these red tides the more I worry. Have the recent problems caused long term damage to the area and would any locals like to comment on the frequency and timings of these events in recent years? Any help and advice would be really appreciated - we would love to visit Oman but it's a lot of money for us and I don't want to take too much of a risk with the diving.

Cheers.

 

[rudybier]

Hi,
The red tide was a major issue last year and started to dissappear in May, now it has pretty much all gone, I dive there regularly and was there last weekend teaching, I saw no signs of the red tide.

A lot of the fish life has grown back, there are loads of schools of fish, I have spotted whale sharks and mantas in the area, last weekend we spotted a white tip reef shark. Vizibility is very up and down, from a few metres to 20 meters.

I wouldn't worry about the red tide at the moment as the waters are cooling off and it is something that arises when water temperatures are high.

Hope this helps