{"id":7138,"date":"2018-10-12T10:05:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T10:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/?p=7138"},"modified":"2018-10-12T10:06:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T10:06:15","slug":"10-things-you-didnt-know-about-diving-oman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-diving-oman\/","title":{"rendered":"10 things you didn’t know about diving Oman"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

With a coastline extending for 1,700 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz in the north to Yemen in the south, Oman<\/a> has become something of a go-to destination for divers looking
\nfor undiscovered waters. It borders three seas \u2013 the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea \u2013 making it the premier diving destination in the Arabian Peninsula. But even if you have heard about Oman\u2019s growing reputation as a top destination for a luxury dive holiday, there are a few things you might not know.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our list of the top ten little-known facts about a luxury dive holiday in Oman:<\/h4>\n

1. There are almost guaranteed whale shark sightings at the Daymaniyat Island from September through to November. Which means Oman gives you a great opportunity to see one of the most elusive animals in the world\u2019s waters.<\/p>\n

\"oman-whale-shark\"<\/p>\n

2. Oman was almost completely closed to outside visitors until the 1970s, which means that they didn\u2019t begin to dive Oman until the 1980s. <\/p>\n

3. What this means is an unspoiled coastline without the masses of tourists found in some of the world’s other great dive destinations. The diving sites kept pristine, even near the capital at Muscat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Oman-musandam\"<\/p>\n

4. The UK trains all of the Oman navy, meaning their coastal waters are patrolled by one of the best equipped and qualified militaries in the world. So, you can dive Oman waters safe in the knowledge you\u2019re being well looked after.<\/p>\n

5. The rugged coastline in the northern area, the Musandam<\/a> peninsula, has very nutrient-rich waters. This means it can support a huge amount of diversity and abundant marine life.<\/p>\n

\"diving-in-oman\"<\/p>\n

6. To the south around Salalah<\/a>, there is a beautiful coastline of endless bays and beaches. In the summer months, vast kelp forests appear made possible by the cool upwelling following the monsoon. The kelp slowly dies back again in September but for a short time, it is possible to dive in kelp forests and coral reefs at the same sites.<\/p>\n

7. The Sultan of Oman, a close friend of the Queen, is very concerned about the environment. A succession of green policies coming from the Sultan\u2019s office means that marine life is improving year on year along Oman\u2019s coastline. Numerous species, including whitetip reef sharks, green and hawksbill turtles, and dolphins are all growing in numbers.<\/p>\n

\"diving-oman-turtle\"<\/p>\n

8. The best time for a luxury dive Oman break is between October and May when the seas are at their calmest, the water at its warmest. This also means you can avoid the scorching summer temperatures that occur between June and August.<\/p>\n

9. As well as great diving, Oman is a great multi-activity holiday destination. On land, you can pay a visit toWadi Shab around 90 miles inland from Muscat. Turquoise water collects in pools, with vast palm-lined canyons on either side. You can also visit the stunning mountain and desert landscapes that surround the capital of Muscat or spend some time at the Muttrah Souk. It\u2019s a bustling marketplace where you can pick up anything from jewellery to exotic spices.<\/p>\n

\"Anantara_Al_Jabal_Al_Akhdar_Mountain_Yoga\"<\/p>\n

10. Non-stop flights to Oman from the UK are just seven and a half hours, making it one of the most convenient medium haul luxury dive holiday destinations for UK divers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a coastline extending for 1,700 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz in the north to Yemen in the south, Oman has become something of a go-to destination for divers looking\nfor undiscovered waters. Here\u2019s our list of the top ten little-known facts about a luxury dive holiday in Oman.","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[576,159],"class_list":{"0":"post-7138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oman","8":"tag-dive-oman","9":"tag-oman","10":"cs-entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7138"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7147,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7138\/revisions\/7147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetdiveholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}