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Destinations & Sites

Diving Holidays: Oman

Boat, Muscat
Boat, Muscat (Photo credit: watchsmart)

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Few people in Western countries know much about Oman and even fewer have visited there. Yet, it is a country of great natural beauty, kind and hospitable people and fabulous dive sites.

As a diver, you will probably be spending a lot of time on coastal areas where the temperature climbs quite high in the summer; even so high that you may enjoy your stay in Oman more in the autumn or spring.

Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, as the official name of the country goes, is a good place to start your visit. There are several dive operators in the Muscat and a plenty of non-diving activities available as well.

Some of the most spectacular dive sites near Muscat are around the Ad Dimaniyat Islands. There is a plenty of marine life and dive sites, Three Sisters and Police Run sites in particular are abounded with turtles and honeycomb moray eels.  Quite many species are unique to this part of the world. If you dive there during October or November you can expect water to be at cozy 30 degrees Celsius or about 86 degrees Fahrenheit and excellent visibility.

Land-side, you will find that most people speak English and that the country’s infrastructure and services are well-organized. This applies also to the dive industry even though there are some cautionary tales.

Many visitors to the country find the Omani conservative in their values and customs, yet very open-minded towards other people’s views and behaviours. Still, learning about local customs and respecting them pays off in Oman just like in any other country.

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Equipment, People and Stories

A close call due to malfunction in rental gear

English: Schematic section of unbalanced diaph...
Schematic section of unbalanced diaphragm Scuba regulator first stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sitting in a speed boat, my dive buddy and I were looking forward to the dive waiting for us at the end of the somewhat rough ride across the waters around Muscat, Oman. We were headed for Three Sisters,  a popular dive site in the Ad Dimaniyat Islands Nature Reserve.

There were five of us — a young couple, the dive guide and us — entered the water and started the dive. I was wearing dive gear that I had rented from the dive operator. It was agreed that we would follow a coral wall and then turn back based on air consumption. The young couple was consuming air much faster than us and the dive guide signaled us asking if we would like to continue on our own for the rest of the dive. The conditions being perfect and the route easy to follow, we gave an ok.

We continued a few more minutes before turning back to return to the boat. Some 10 minutes before reaching the boat I suddenly realized that I am not getting air even though I had just checked the pressure gauge, which had been reading over 80 bar. Training kicked in and I swam to my buddy to get the octopus before we ascended to the surface in a surprisingly orderly fashion.

On the surface, I had to inflate the BCD by blowing air in it. Neither the octopus nor the normal regulator worked. After a few attempts the air started to flow through the regulator; first intermittently and then in quite a normal fashion.

A few minutes later we had swam to the boat. I told the dive crew what had happened, recommended servicing the faulty regulator set and required a new set for the subsequent dive. I found it a bit unnerving that they did not acknowledge the seriousness of what had happened in any way. I can only hope that this indifference was not due to them feeling that this was business as usual.

In retrospect I have been trying to identify if I could have avoided the whole situation by doing something differently.  Selecting a reputable dive operator and checking the rented gear thoroughly before the dive were not enough this time. Any thoughts anyone?

I never found out what was the root cause of the malfunction but I suspect it was corrosion or dirt in the first stage. While researching the topic I came across of an article that describes a similar experience and a potential explanation: “Weird , Near death causing stuff in regulator!!!”.

 

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Destinations & Sites, Marine Life, People and Stories

Man proposes while scuba diving

Here is an underwater story from Playa del Carmen, Mexico full of romance and with a dash of danger.

English: Picture of a bull shark in Playa del ...
English: Picture of a bull shark in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Español: Foto de un Tiburon Toro en las costas de Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Source: dalje.com

A man who filmed his proposal to his girlfriend while diving in shark-infested waters off the coast of Mexico said the proposal took a lot of planning.

Michael Benson said he and his shark-loving girlfriend, Ana Rawls, were on a scuba diving trip in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and they were swimming with bull sharks when he handed her a diving slate board bearing his proposal, Yahoo! News reported Wednesday

Read the full article at dalje.com

 

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Marine Life, People and Stories

Islamorada volunteers protecting marine life

Thumbs up, volunteers!

Gray Angelfish: Looe Key Reef, Florida Keys Na...
Gray Angelfish: Looe Key Reef, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (Photo credit: Phil’s 1stPix)
Source: newsobserver.com
ISLAMORADA, Fla. — Back in the 1960s, University of Miami marine scientist Walter Starck recorded 517 species of fish in and around Alligator Reef off Islamorada – the greatest number recorded from any one place in the Americas at that time.

Today, following decades of human and natural impacts, this coral ledge topped by a lighthouse and fringed with rubble and sea grass still delights scientists and divers with its rich species diversity.

Islamorada underwater photographers Carlos and Allison Estape – volunteers with the nonprofit Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) – recently embarked on their own fish count at Alligator Reef, a no-take zone ever since the 1997 implementation of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary management plan. The couple is up to a little more than 100 species on a single dive, with the photographs to prove it. Lad Akins, longtime operations director for REEF, said the Upper Keys sanctuary preservation area is among only a few other known locations in the tropical Western Atlantic with a one-dive, 100-plus fish species count. Chief among them is the tiny island of Bonaire in the southern Caribbean.

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