A list of the best rated scuba dive sites in Oman.
Al Munasir
A mere half an hour away from Oman Dive Center, Al Munasir was sunk by the Royal Navy of Oman in 2003 and is slowly developing into a beautiful dive site. This 3000 ton vessel -originally built in England- is 84 meters long and 14.5 meters wide. Still in one piece, the ship sits upright on the sandy bottom rising up from 26 / 30 meters to 6 meters below the surface. The site is a favorite for large schools of snapper and schooling goat fish. You do need to have an Advanced Open Water certificati...
Plug Point
Along the coastline opposite the Al Munasir wreck, Plug Point is notorious for the shallow soft coral island in its center. This luscious carpet of pastel corals is home to many marine creatures including the yellow mouth eel, the lion fish and the green turtle....
Ras Abu Dawood
Ras Abu Dawood is a small remote island chain offering some excellent steep wall diving. Ras Abu Dawood is great for novice and advanced divers alike. It consists of a small group of Islands, located approximately one hour from Muscat, with steep walls on the east and shallow reefs on the western side. Dives start from 3m – 40m. Here you can expect to see reef sharks, turtles and sting rays. A wreck dive of a freighter in 16m of water can also be included. ...
Fahal Island
Fahal Island or Shark Island is a large island 4 km offshore from Muscat's popular tourist beach. It is a 20 minute boat ride from the dive center. Smaller in area than Bander Khairan it boasts equally excellent diving, with bays containing many varieties of hard and soft corals. For the more adventurous there is a cave swim-through, a wreck at 30m and deep reefs down to 40m, where schools of barracuda can be found. Sharks can be often be seen basking on the sand banks, giant eagle rays glid...
Octopus Rock
Octopus Rock lies just north of Lima Rock and is named after the many ridges that radiate out of its center when looking from underwater. Many divers think it should be named jellyfish Rock as there are more than eight ridges. Anyway, the fifty meter long rock is almost perfectly round offering many plateau-like gullies filled with sand and rocks. Diving Octopus Rock is popular because of its numerous marine life and because it is possible to dive near the rock in almost all weather types....
Cave Site
The Cave Site is a 20 minutes boat ride from Muscat near two rocks in the cliff facing towards the open sea. The boat's anchor point is at a mooring buoy back inland near a small rock. The dive is towards the two rocks and back. Dive at the lowest point of the rocks towards the big rock. This area is covered in large boulders and steeply drops to a sandy bottom. Fin seaward around the corner while passing the big rock to find more abundant corals. Then ascend up to 16 meters and dive back to...
Khor Mala Caves
Khor Mala Caves or shortly the Caves are a selection of large undercuts in the shoreline. About five hundred meters south of the steep rock you will find a few caverns at only ten meters deep. The largest chamber is cut into the limestone rock face for more than ten meters, creating an atmosphere for crustaceans and schools of cardinal fish. ...
Lima Rock
Lima Rock is probably the best known dive site in the Musandam Peninsula, reached after a fifty minutes boat trip from Dibba al Biya fishing port. It is a pinnacle limestone island approximately 800 meter long and 200 meter wide with steep vertical drops to more than sixty meters deep. Its shallow north side (still up to 30 meter) is famous because of its many caves, crevices, overhangs and healthy coral formations. The east side is deep and offers some great wall diving. This is also the place ...
Musandam
The Musandam Peninsula is a sparsely populated and mountainous area officially belonging to Oman, but geographically located just north of Dubai and Fujairah. The Strait of Hormuz in between Musandam and Iran is only 56 kilometers wide and known for its extreme fishing grounds, coral reefs and huge amounts of pearl oysters. Musandam has a rugged fjord-like coastline which offers ample opportunities for different kind of tours. The Hajar Mountain Range ends with Ru'us al Jabal (Heads of the ...
Daymaniyat Islands
Daymaniat Islands (Dimaniyat Islands), often referred to as the 'jewels of the crown', are a string of nine uninhabited islands, located 18km off the Batinah Coast. They are Oman's only Marine Nature Reserve and special permits have to be acquired. Reefs start from 5m to 30m with plenty of life below and above the water. The islands are renowned for its extensive coral varieties. Here you can expect to see plenty of colorful reef fish, turtles and rays. ...