Dive feature on Oman,

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Musandam

The Land and People : The Diving

Oman

The Gulf

Asia

 The Land and People
We have dived the Musandam Peninsular for three weeks over two years. It is at the northernmost tip of Oman in the entrance to the Straits of Hormuz. We arrived via Dubai airport, then drive over the UAE/Oman border. Our diving has always been with Scuba International and they made all the local travel arrangements, visas etc and we've had no problems. 

They also arranged our accommodation in Khasab, twice in large rented houses and once in the Qada (Tourist) Hotel (built in 2001). This hotel is clean and near the harbour. Each room has its own fridge, satellite TV and excellent air conditioning (Big Col loves the cold but even he said he had to turn it down or he could be hit by falling stalactites in the morning!). The beds are very firm.

Regarding food at the Qada - it is well presented and on time. If you say you want breakfast at 8.00 am it will be there (whether all your party are there or not). Unfortunately, the chef doesn't fully understand Western tastes - there is no menu (in April 2001), toast is merely warmed bread and some of the combinations are surprising - we don't normally have beef burgers or cheese/onion/tomato sandwiches for breakfast ~ there isn't a choice, these are two breakfasts and the variety adds to the novelty of traveling abroad.

The other nearby hotel is the Khasab Hotel with a swimming pool and bar with alcoholic drinks. We have not stayed there but we have eaten there, from the menu. Again the food is good, but the very low number of tourists mean they don't have everything on the menu. They also, understandably,  give booking priority to their residents rather than 'passing trade'. Another hotel is planned.

The land of the Musandam is very dry except in March. You will need to drink a lot of water. It is mountainous in places. Ospreys nest on local cliffs.

Culture note: - NEVER use your left hand for anything in public, like shaking hands - it's an insult, nor show anyone the soles of your feet. Be careful if you kneel down, sit on your feet! 

They hold onto your passport at the UAE border and give you a receipt. It is illegal to import alcoholic drinks and they will search at least one bag. 

If you need cash remember to take the PIN number. Otherwise you will have to go in to the bank, with ID and it takes time. Visa costs at the border vary according to what nationality you are.

Diving in Oman is still fairly new and the authorities are cautious, so be a good ambassador. The people are very friendly and you will shake a lot of hands. There is very little for the non diver to do. Your evening entertainment is what you bring with you.
Feb 1999 - air 37C, water 23C at 30m/100ft.
Oct 1999 - air 36C, water 30C at 30m/100ft.
April 2001 - air 37C, water 25C  (sometimes only 23C) at all depths up to 40m/130ft. 

If you hire a car in Dubai, make sure the insurance covers you for crossing the Oman border. You can arrange it  at the Dibba crossing in the south, you cannot arrange it at the Musandam border in the north as the only building there is the customs/border post. It is also useful to have two named drivers - a mosquito bit our drivers eyelid overnight and it swelled up so much he couldn't see. We have used 'Fast Rent a Car' based in Dubai airport. You will normally need to arrange insurance 24 hours before you need it.

The people are very friendly and want to practice their English. They are honest and there is no theft.

The Diving

The majority of dives require some experience - a minimum of PADI Advanced wpe1.gif (305467 bytes)with 50 recent dives. They can be very deep, if your training allows, and the currents are very strong as when the tide turns the whole of the Gulf tries to exit past you. There are also fast down currents to avoid. All dives are guided,  there is no unaccompanied or night diving at present. Don't let this put you off for they take you to the best sites your skills allow.

You will likely see: thousands of reef fish, (sometimes on one large rock!), basking sharks, hammerhead sharks, (both are seasonal) other sharks, barracuda, lion fish, puffer and box fishes, flying fish. batfish, hump back dolphins, bottleneck dolphins, vase coral, finger coral, gorgonians. morays and turtles. Perhaps a sunfish. There were very few mosquitoes in Oct 99, lots in Feb 99, and a few in April 2001.
No caverns or caves as it's all sandstone mountains. Minimum PADI Advanced and 50 recent dives.
 

So what about the diving?

We never had visibility below 15m/48feet. The water was warm so we didn't even were a wet suit. There are thousands of fish of many varieties as we were between two continents. Some of the fish were much larger than we are used to seeing such as a Parrot fish of around 30 inches. 

The sight of a Whale shark just two metres above your head is amazing, and we briefly followed another for a while. There are enough turtles to be sure of a few sightings in a week and hammerheads and sunfish are seasonal visitors.

There is a reasonable variety of invertebrates and some of the rocks appear to be painted red with growth.   

We pulled in to a bay for lunch...

Oman_Lunch.jpg (127000 bytes)

 This is a typical scene, all year round. I actually wondered what the people in the office at home were having for their lunch! We must return to Musandam.

Martin (on right, instructor/guide) and Mohammed (boat captain).