If you’ve ever wanted to cheque out the Sultanate of Oman diving sites, so don’t lady friend out on this review from our fourth dimension spent diving inwards Oman!
Tucked into the south-eastern corner of the vast Arabian Peninsula, Sultanate of Oman is i of the Middle East’s untapped jewels: a terra firma of sweeping sand dunes, saw-tooth mount ranges in addition to lush canyon oases. At kickoff impression, it seems an unlikely diving destination.
But Sultanate of Oman also edges the bounding main for to a greater extent than than 3,000 kilometres, an epic coastline lapped yesteryear super-charged, nutrient-rich H2O feeding pristine coral reefs that are literally teeming amongst marine life.
As swell scuba divers, we’re ever on the sentinel for off-the-beaten rail diving destinations, in addition to it was this vibrant underwater footing that captured our imaginations when nosotros were planning a trip to Oman.
With express fourth dimension in addition to a mission to larn nether the waves on an Sultanate of Oman diving adventure, nosotros joined the crew at Extra Divers Qantab for a 24-hour interval of wreck in addition to reef diving but xxx minutes due south of the bustling capital, Muscat.
Scuba Diving In The Gulf Of Oman
The Gulf of Oman, which channels waters betwixt the Western Farsi Gulf in addition to the Arabian Sea, is a strait amongst an age-old seafaring history. Ancient boats called dhows soundless ply the waters here, spell below the surface, an abundance of bounding main life bustles, from the tiniest coral dwellers in addition to grazing bounding main turtles, to huge, shy whale sharks.
Sperm whales, humpbacks, bluish whales, fifty-fifty the occasional orca pod are but some of the cetacean species that receive got been spotted cruising the Gulf, thrilling those lucky plenty to live out on the H2O at the correct moment. Dolphins brand daily appearances.
Word is starting to exit nearly the thriving reefs in addition to marine life to live establish inwards Oman, but scuba diving is soundless a relatively novel activity inwards the country. Just a handful of dive centres run daily trips to the scuba hot spots, which dot the coast from Musandam inwards the due north to Salalah inwards the far south.
In the Gulf, Oman’s most pop dive destinations cluster off the coast of Muscat: the UNESCO-listed Daymaniyat Islands, rocky Fahal Island, in addition to the Al Munassir wreck in addition to reefs of Bandar Kharyan.
Daymaniyat Islands & Fahal Island
Many scuba divers combat that the best diving inwards Sultanate of Oman is to live establish at the Daymaniyat Islands, a 90-minute boat ride from Muscat.
The World Heritage archipelago protects turtle nesting beaches, marine plane colonies, in addition to beautiful coral gardens total of fish. Whale sharks see the waters off the islands through summertime in addition to autumn, in addition to divers stand upwards a expert lead chances of spotting the zebra shark, a smaller relative of the whale shark.
Closer to Muscat, the limestone wedge of Fahal Island, also called Shark Island, offers divers salubrious soft in addition to difficult coral gardens, wrecks, a cave swim-through, in addition to opportunities to regard diverse species of shark resting on the bounding main floor.
Both Daymaniyat in addition to Fahal were initially inwards our sights, but amongst Daymaniyat’s distance in addition to protections requiring advance planning yesteryear dive operators, minimum numbers needed for trips, in addition to daily dive conditions setting the agenda, our lastminute approach meant it wasn’t to be.
The takeout? If you’re determined to dive the Daymaniyat archipelago, mass good ahead. For both Daymaniyat in addition to Fahal, brand certain you lot receive got extra fourth dimension to bargain amongst whatever changes to your dive plans caused yesteryear atmospheric condition in addition to bounding main conditions.
The expert news, every bit nosotros went on to discover, is that Daymaniyat in addition to Fahal aren’t the solely awesome dive locations off the coast of Muscat.
Bandar Kharyan
The best of Muscat’s nearby dive sites prevarication but one-half an lx minutes eastward of the city, on the reefs in addition to wrecks of beautiful Bandar Kharyan.
Extra Divers’ Muscat dive centre is located inwards the hamlet of Qantab, closed to the Shangri-La Resort, in addition to tucked away inwards a sheltered bay surrounded yesteryear mustard-coloured limestone cliffs that drib away to a turquoise sea.
On arrival, nosotros were greeted yesteryear Barbara in addition to Damiano, the dive centre’s enthusiastic managers, earlier beingness whisked off to reach total out the requisite dive forms, regard the squad – a multilingual band of Omani, Italian, High German in addition to Argentinian divers in addition to crew – in addition to larn kitted out for our 24-hour interval nether the waves of Bandar Kharyan.
More than a dozen regular dive sites pepper the coast here, along amongst the country’s showcase wreck dive, the Al Munassir, in addition to the crew at Extra Divers Qantab know each of the area’s dive sites intimately.
Geared upwards inwards the centre’s character dive kit in addition to ready for adventure, we were before long cruising out of the harbour aboard a dive boat amongst 10 others, en road to the kickoff of our 3 dives along this ancient coastline.
Dive 1 – Al Munassir Wreck
Our kickoff dive of the 24-hour interval was Al Munassir, Oman’s premier wreck dive: a 3,000-tonne navy landing vessel deliberately scuppered yesteryear the Royal Sultanate of Oman Navy inwards 2003 to operate an artificial reef.
Onboard the boat, divemasters Faisal in addition to Ari walked us through a detailed whiteboard briefing of the site.
It’s possible to dive without a guide at whatever of the sites inwards Bandar Kharyan, in addition to the comprehensive site, security in addition to navigation briefing provided ahead of each dive yesteryear the squad at Extra Divers ensures divers receive got all the data they require to safely explore each site amongst their buddy.
We opted for a guide anyway to max our opportunities for searching out the local marine characters in addition to dive site highlights.
From the surface, nosotros followed a chain into the greenish depths until the sudden bow of the Al Munassir emerged below us.
The wreck rests on the seabed consummate in addition to upright, 84 metres long in addition to 30 metres deep at the keel. Ahead, nosotros could regard the ship’s watchtower standing tall inwards a shaft of sunlight, less than 10 metres from the surface.
Dense schools of snapper eddied around us every bit nosotros floated piece of cake over the bow. Within moments, Faisal was pointing out a long, honeycomb moray eel threading its way through the rusted, coral-covered equipment on the deck.
Up close, nosotros establish the shipping covered inwards a thick coat of sponges in addition to corals, attracting grazing boxfish, angel fish, fragile nudibranches, in addition to plenty of toothy morays hiding inwards nighttime corners.
Passing through a chilly thermocline to the ship’s keel, nosotros searched out the twitching eyes in addition to circular depressions of stingrays buried inwards the sand, spell higher upwards us, tight schools of silvery fish dodged in addition to weaved inwards the greenish light.
Before nosotros knew it, we’d circumnavigated the entire wreck in addition to our fourth dimension was up. Back on deck nosotros were buzzing, the sheer mass of fish life on in addition to around the shipping was a thrill, in addition to an awesome introduction to the Sultanate of Oman diving experience.
Dive 2 – Mermaid Cove
A piddling over an lx minutes later, nosotros dropped into our 2nd dive inwards the rocky bay of Mermaid Cove. The H2O hither was crystal clear in addition to 27 degrees.
On this lovely, piece of cake dive, nosotros explored a salubrious reef of difficult in addition to soft corals bustling amongst fish life. Juvenile barracuda zipped yesteryear spell territorial clown fish defended their pink-tipped anemone homes. Closer inspections of the reef revealed lobsters, fragile pipefish, tiny anemone shrimp, nudibranches, in addition to eels inwards almost every nook.
Towards the halt of the dive, nosotros came across a grazing light-green bounding main turtle. Encounters amongst these shy creatures are ever exciting, in addition to amongst Sultanate of Oman beingness i of the world’s turtle nesting epicentres, the prospects of seeing i on a dive are high.
Five of the world’s 7 bounding main turtle species tin give the axe live establish inwards the waters off Oman, in addition to 4 of the species render each twelvemonth to their beaches of nativity along this stretch of coast to lay their ain eggs.
Only a fraction of the hatchlings live the arduous journeying from egg to 4dukthood though, in addition to – amongst other pressures also threatening marine turtle populations globally – these docile animals are today at jeopardy of disappearing, making a lead chances sighting similar this i fifty-fifty to a greater extent than special.
Dive 3 – Seahorse Bay
Oman’s vibrant underwater footing owes much to the sea’s nutrient-rich plankton soup, which attracts creatures correct upwards the nutrient chain. For Sultanate of Oman diving, that agency an abundance of bounding main life to larn excited about, but it tin give the axe also hateful highly changeable visibility.
With 2 awesome dives nether our weight belt, our tertiary dive of the 24-hour interval was a illustration inwards point.
Under a scorching afternoon sun, nosotros back-rolled off the boat into the clear, warm H2O of Seahorse Bay. As nosotros finned away along the rocky reef, the H2O started to cloud in addition to inside seconds nosotros were swimming through a thick haze, amongst visibility but a duet of metres.
While low-vis diving tin give the axe live disorienting in addition to sometimes disconcerting, it tin give the axe also live a revelation, the sort of diving that forces you lot to narrow your focus in addition to concentrate on the activity on the reef correct inwards front end of you.
It was in that place inwards Seahorse Bay too, yesteryear the bucketload.
Keeping each other closed in addition to our guide Damiano inwards sight, nosotros spent the adjacent lx minutes peering nether rocks at countless moray eels, spying tiny anemone shrimp, colourful nudibranches in addition to flighty blennies, all the spell facing off against belligerent clown fish.
Throughout the entire dive, clouds of schooling fish billowed around our modest group, spell the loud crackling soundtrack of the reef accompanied us.
In the rocky shallows towards the halt of the dive, amongst the visibility clearing, Damiano tapped his tank. Within moments, a dozen lightning fast shots of gray darted past: babe black-tip reef sharks, sleek in addition to beautiful amongst nighttime racing stripes downwardly their flanks. With a flick of their tails, they disappeared into the depths, a thrilling finale to our lastly dive of the day.
A Sea Of Surprises
Back on shore, amongst the oestrus finally dipping, nosotros swapped excited sightings amongst other divers every bit nosotros washed our gear. Our 24-hour interval of diving at Bandar Kharyan had offered us a tantalising glimpse into an exciting, emerging dive finish inwards an incredible province soundless flying largely nether the tourist radar.
The sense was made fifty-fifty ameliorate yesteryear the fun in addition to lively squad at Extra Divers Qantab, amongst their professional, good organised, safety-first approach.
For us, diving inwards Sultanate of Oman was both unexpected in addition to unpredictable; chilled i dive in addition to challenging the next. It’s a identify where no dive is ever the same, no 2 underwater experiences alike. Damiano captured it perfectly every bit nosotros said our farewells: “it’s a bounding main of surprises.”
Best Season For Sultanate of Oman Diving
Diving is possible year-round along the Gulf of Oman. In the due south however, a monsoon flavor – locally called the ‘khareef’ – affects the portion from around June to September, amongst no diving off Salalah during this period.
Taking diverse factors into account, similar the scorching summertime oestrus in addition to cool wintertime H2O temps, Apr to May in addition to September to Oct are said to offering the best combination of surface in addition to bounding main temperatures for diving inwards the north, amongst May ameliorate for visibility, in addition to September to Nov the best months for whale shark encounters. This is Sultanate of Oman diving though, expression the unexpected.
We discovered Oman’s underwater footing inwards collaboration amongst Extra Divers Qantab. All thoughts, opinions in addition to clown fish stand-offs are our own.
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