Musandam Diving Review

There are over 25 dive sites; most of the sites are reef dives. The spots are accessible for divers of all levels, although there are drift dives more suitable for experienced divers.

There is a wide variety of soft and hard corals (raspberry corals, purple whip corals, acroporas, brain corals), a good variety of pelagics ( green turtles, marbles sting ray spotted eagle ray, king fish, king barracuda, obtuse barracuda and more) and there are regular encounters with whale sharks from 3m to 8m.

The macro life offers photographers a fascinating experience with plenty of nudibranchs, cleaner shrimps, thor shrimps, box shrimp and much more.

Sometimes due to the tides, the current can be strong and it is highly recommended to have a reef hook and an SMB when diving in the Musandam.

There are usually 2 to 3 dives planned per day and some operators offer lunch on the day trips.

Average Cost:

The average price in the region for an open water course is 1800AED if you do an e-learning course ( 1 usd= 3.68 aed).

In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Musandam.

Best time to Dive in Musandam

Diving is possible all year round:

• The best season to dive is from September til the end of January and from May til September.
• From June to the end of august the temperatures are very high but diving is still very popular among the residents as it is one of the few activities where you can experience the outdoors. Nice thermoclines cool off the water.
• The top months for diving in the region is October through to December when the temperatures outside cool down to a comfortable 28 degrees.
• Whale Shark season is between May to October.
• The weather can get windy and choppy in February and March.

Being on the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance of gulf means there is a rich water teeming with plankton, so this does affect visibility. However it also means that the location is thriving with life.

One thing that can be said is that the visibility is very unpredictable and can range between 5 meters to 20 meters visibility from one day to another or even from one dive to the other so do check the conditions. The tides also strongly affect the visibility.

Scuba Diving conditions

Current: it can be calm or fierce dependent on tides and of course the lunar cycle, however there are sites that are largely out of the way of very strong currents, so a dive trip is rarely cancelled due to current, you will simply move to a different location within the Musandam.

Average Visibility: 10-15 m

Average water temperature: 25 degrees Celcius.

Depth range: 0 - 40m (and beyond).

Snorkelling in Musandam

All dive sites are accessible to snorkellers. Snorkellers can see a wide variety of corals soft and hard (raspberry corals, purple whip corals, acraporas, brain corals) as well as several reef sharks (grey and black tips) eagle rays, green turtles. Snorkellers are welcome on the speed boat trips.

Fishes and Coral

A wide variety of life is seen in the Musandam. The area is teeming with fish and has a large variety of hard and soft corals.

About 5 years ago the area was infested by red tide, and a lot of corals and dive sites had been affected. It was a real disaster that lasted for about 6 months. Many sites were spared (luckily!) due to the currents and the tides, and the beautiful coral on several sites survived and the fish population has since recovered. There is now little difference than what could be seen prior to the red tide.

We have a species of purple whip corals than can only be seen in the Musandam as well as Omani clown fish which can be seen only in Oman.

There is very little research that has been conducted in the area and as a result there are still many species to be categorised or named.

Many thanks to the wonderful people at Discover Nomad for the amazing review and the pictures.

Travel Guide

Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Musandam Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.