Oman Aggressor
I had the opportunity to dive with the Oman Agressor in the Musandam province. Arriving to Musandam can be a challenge as there is only one flight per day in and one out going from the Muscat airport to Khasab, which normally means one has to stay a night either at arrival in Muscat or departure at Khasab and accommodations can expensive if one expects high quality, or for a reasonable price for a not so nice hotel. They have a preferred host hotel, however he accommodation at either Muscat or Musandam has to be arranged personally, it is not part of the service.
It is necessary to arrange transportation from the airport in Musandam to the boat with the staff of the Oman Aggressor, since taxi service is not available in the surroundings, and if you happen to find one, it can be expensive. The transportation with the boat is also not cheap, but is guaranteed and safe. If you arrange it with the Oman Aggressor staff, once at the airport, a service car will be waiting for you to take you to the boat with a sign or a list.
There is also the option to fly to Dubai and drive from there to Musandam, either with a rental car or with a taxi, but according to the experience of the people that did it, driving that region can be very challenging, you can get lost easily as there are no signs or these are in Arabic. Taxi from Dubai can be expensive. It is around 200 km and a 3 hr drive.
The boat is docked at the Musandam marine, which is a restricted access by the government. Booking the service from the Oman Aggressor also saves you the trouble to explain at the gate why you are there.
The boat was big, clean, and with enough amenities to entertain around 20 guests. Sun chairs, sofas, places to rest in the shade and a jacuzzi on the top deck filled at the request were available for use. The dinner room was ample and comfortable and always clean.
At arrival, we were taken photos to be displayed at the screens so everyone knew the rest of the people by name. This was not only for the guests, but also all the crew and staff photos were portrayed so we could name everyone on the boat.
The rooms were comfortable and spacious enough to store the necessary luggage, equipment and clothes for the trip. The shower was big and hot water was available all day long. The service to the rooms and the common areas was impecable and kept clean at all times. I stayed in a double room with twin beds, and there was space enough for both divers luggage. Airco was available, as well as reading lights and enough electrical plugs to connect several devices.
The staff of the Oman Agressor was diverse and friendly, as well as helpful at all times. The divemaster was experienced and the two support dive guides were also very experienced and know the area quite well. Unfortunately, it is the policy of the Aggressor that they do not offer "guided dives" so we had 3 different diving teams and most of the time only 2 guides were with us, so one dive group was going solo. This was not much of a problem for us as we had a mix of experienced and adventurous divers that were looking to go on their own. But overall I always prefer to have a guide that knows the area can show us the secrets hidden in the diving sites.
For the dives they offered air as well as Nitrox mixture for the tanks, the briefings were clear and useful to get an idea of the dive sites, and the crew was very helpful in checking the equipment, getting the gear on and off, maintaining and cleaning the gear. If you have any kind of injury they also help you carry your gear onto the dingy.
They have a dry area in the middle of the deck for all the sensitive devices like cameras, torches, computers, etc. This is very helpful to keep order in the boat during the preparation for the dives. Each diver also gets a shelf where they can leave their belongings like sunglasses, towels. t-shirts and smaller objects before the dive and pick them up easily at their return. Two showers with hot water were available on the dive platform to rinse after the dives.
I had heard from a friend that Oman had a lot of big fauna to see and enjoy, however in Musandam and for our trip, this was not really the case. There was a lot of small fish and critters to look at, but not much of the big ones. The diving sites can be challenging and not suitable for beginner scuba divers, as the current tends to be strong and in the blink of an eye this takes them away from the group.
It is therefore always recommended to have a buoy to signal the boats at the surfacing site if one gets carried away. Visibility is Ok and the temperature is comfortable for a 5 mm suit, for somebody that is always cold like me. Many divers used to colder waters were even just with a 1 mm suit or even shorts.
The food was ok, the breakfast had a variety of continental breakfast with eggs, fresh fruit and bread with butter and jams and honey. Lunch and dinner were varied every day with a mixture of international western and middle east combination, also with options for vegetarians. Nothing exceptional but mostly fresh and tasty.
Drinks, such as coffee, tea water, and sodas as well as snacks were available at all times in the dining room. They also offered local beer and some wine at no additional cost. However, you could bring your own bottle of alcohol and ask them to store it for you.
We had 2 different anniversaries during our stay, and the staff and chef were kind enough to bake a cake for all of us to celebrate.
Overall the experience in Musandam with the Oman Aggressor was good.
