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OMAN 2003  
On my first morning in Oman, I awoke to brilliant sunshine having left a cold and grey UK behind. As I left the air-conditioned atmosphere of the hotel, the heat hit me, even at 8.15am in the morning. The temperature would later rise to around 75°C during the day. I was collected from the hotel and driven to the dive centre, which was located in a brand new marina just outside Muscat, the capital of Oman. As it turned out, I was the only diver booked in that day and the following day!!! The war, the out of season time of year and the general low level of divers travelling to Oman really does mean that diving is quiet in this considerably under-developed country. I dived with an Arabian guide for the first two days and had the dive boat to myself. I had taken all my kit with me (except weights and tanks, obviously) and had purchased a 5mm wet suit for the holiday, which proved to be perfect, with an average water temperature of 24°C. Vis. on the first day was disappointing, but more than compensated for by the sea life.As we finned along a reef wall at about 15m, I could make out a dark shape on the sea floor about 5m below us. Slowly and cautiously I descended until I could clearly make out the silhouette of a ray lying on the sea-bed. It was about 3-4ft across. I controlled my breathing and was able to take up a position actually lying on the seabed next to it. Slowly I stretched out my hand and still it made no movement. I then reached out and gently stroked the ray. Again, no movement. The surface of it was surprisingly rough, I had expected it to be very smooth. I would discover on further encounters later in the week, it is the underside of the rays which are very smooth, indeed even slimy. After a few minutes, I gently swam away, and as I looked back, the ray had moved off the bottom and was gracefully 'flying' through the water - this was my first close up experience of large rays - and it was amazing. Not long after that I also caught sight of a turtle. I tried to swim and catch it up, but it proved a much quicker swimmer than me and was soon gone into the distance. The other highlights of the first dive were the moray eels, and the honeycomb moray eels in particular. These would prove to absolutely fascinate me for the rest of the holiday - and are truly spectacular in appearance. They are a mottled black and yellow colour and appear both majestic and also very intimidating as they poke their heads out of their holes, slowly opening and closing their mouths and revealing some serious looking teeth and jaws. 
The second dive of the day was on a large rock island about 2 mins boat ride out of the marina. At such close proximity to the marina, I was very sceptical as to the quality of the dive - I was so wrong. It was like being in an aquarium !!! Oman generally does not have the large abundance of fish life seen in the Red Sea, but at this location it was amazing. At one point I just stopped , gently held onto a rock at about 5m and just stayed there in one position, motionless, for about 15-20 minutes, watching life as it happened on the reef. It was just a splash of colour. Perfect, unspoilt hard and soft corals and teeming with fish. It was almost hypnotic, just resting there and watching.It had been great start to the week. The vis. had been a disappointment at only 5-10m, but the life we had seen was superb. The rest of the week, things just got better and better. The vis cleared up and in the end averaged around 30-40m. We dived a site called Turtle Bay ( bit of a clue !!). This was one of the best dives. As we swam out of the cove and around the corner, there, lying amongst the soft corals was a large turtle, sunning itself in about 5m of water. I swam very slowly and cautiously towards it, hoping it would stay long enough for me to get close. The turtle dutifully obliged, and again I was able to take up a position right next to it. I reached out and it was quite happy for me to stroke it's shell for several minutes. We moved on, and during the dive encountered several more turtles basking in the sun at between 5-10m, amongst the corals. The older, larger turtles appeared unbothered by us, but the smaller younger ones moved away as soon as they sensed us. By now, I had become fascinated with the honeycomb moray eels and had spent a lot of time watching them. At one point we found an old discarded fisherman's dome net, and trapped inside were several large fish. One of these was a large moray eel, about 4-5ft long. We managed to prize the wire entrance open and release the occupants. Trying to release the moray eel without it thinking we were the reason for it's entrapment was a tad dicey, as we had to force the entrance to the net open (it was tightly sprung with strong wire) with our hands and carry on holding it open as the moray swam out. Thankfully it paid us no attention and was just glad to be out. Fishing is a major part of the economy in Oman, and we would find a few other examples of old and discarded nets in later dives - luckily nothing too drastic or damaging to the marine environment. During the week I did two night dives. The highlights of these were the cuttlefish and trumpet fish. Both of these look amazing in the dark, when picked out in isolation in the beam of a strong torch. We also saw many of the morays free swimming, a real treat as during the day they tend to stay largely hidden in their various holes and crevices. By now I had done some research on the honeycomb moray eels, and had found out that they have very poor eye sight and are not actually aggressive. I was also told that it is quite possible to touch them (with a very careful approach) and that they are quite docile if handled correctly. There are warning signs (if they start to back into their hole, or speed up the rate of opening/closing their mouths), but otherwise it is possible to get very close to them. The way to do it was to take up a position 2-3ft away from them and lie there very quietly and motionless, facing the moray. Whilst controlling your breathing, gradually outstretch your arm. Clench your fist tight (if they do then strike, it is harder for them to get their jaws around the clenched fingers!!) and hold your fist just a few inches from their mouth. Gently unfold your fingers and stroke the eel just below the jaw and to the rear of the open mouth. I got as far as the fist just in front of the jaws on several occasions, but could not quite bring myself to execute the last part of the movement - my heart was pounding, my hand somewhat shaking and my air consumption was considerable. I had visions of surfacing with a wonderful souvenir wrapped tightly around my arm, and many teeth deeply embedded in my hand!!!Next time for sure, I am determined to complete the exercise. I did not escape the whole week without incident. I dived all week not wearing gloves, and the more observant of you will have noticed that I have an (unhealthy ??) fascination with touching things. On the 5th dive, I saw a small, brown coloured ray lying on the seabed. Having stroked several much larger rays, I saw no issue here. I swam to it, and began to run my hand across it's top. I must have startled it, because it suddenly shot up off the bottom and touched hard against my hand. As it did, something happened and it bloody hurt !! This was an electric ray - and now I know why they are called electric rays. It may only have been small, 12-18 inches wide, but it sent a strong shock up my arm and through my shoulder!! The shock was only instantaneous, there were no lasting effects and I was able to finish the dive quite happily. However, strangely enough, I didn't bother touching anymore of these during the week. Thursday and Friday is the weekend in Arab countries and some of the expats came down to the centre to dive. Even then, the most we had on the hard boat was six people. The crew and instructors were excellent - really friendly and sorted all the kit out, both before, during and after the diving. 
I spent a week diving in Oman and thoroughly enjoyed it. I managed to get 13 dives in 5 days, with a day off on the Saturday before flying back on the Sunday. The vis was good, the marine life excellent, including wonderful reefs of unspoilt hard and soft corals. I didn't see one other dive boat all week. My only real disappointment was no sharks. We tried to get to a set of Islands on my last day of diving where I was told we would find sharks, but the wind bought up a swell and we had to turn back. The deepest we went was 26m, and all the best dives with the prolific life were around 5-10m, which meant dives lasting up to 75 mins - great !!!The people in Oman were very friendly, hospitable and genuine. Eating out was cheap and the cuisine is very varied. I spent many hours in the evenings walking through the wonderful 'souks' ( markets) or just sitting outside drinking coffee and watching the world go by - I felt totally safe at all times, even given what was going on a few hundred miles North with our friend Saddam. Oman is like a land that time has forgotten and passed by. It is very traditional, but also conscious that the oil which has made it wealthy will not last forever. The new Sultan is keen to open the country up for tourism, but at present only 1% of their revenue comes from tourists. As a result of this, it is both very quiet and very clean. The diving is excellent and very unspoilt - but for how long ?? Costs Return flight Heathrow to Muscat on british Airways was £297. Diving package for 10 boat dives, including tanks, weights and local permit, was £145. I did not look for bargain accomodation and was happy with the 5* Raddisson Hotel at £377 for six nights B&B, including transport to and from hotel. Accomodation and food are generally not expensive in Oman and one can eat out for £7-8 per meal, including non-alcoholic drinks. Further Information Muscat Diving & Adventure Centre PO Box 552 Sultanate of Oman Al Azaiba 130 www.holiday-in-oman.com Return to OMAN | ||||
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