The Caves:

Descending in the waters of Musandam doesn’t just give you a spectacular view of colorful coral reefs and gardens but it also has underwater caverns that have been eroded through the limestone rock by the sea. You can begin exploring the underwater caverns at 60 m from the exit point at RasSannat or you have the option to go 500 m from the rock stack at Khor Mala. The main chamber is around 15 to 20 m into the rock with a maximum depth of 10 m. The caves are home to a variety of fish, cleaner shrimps, stingrays, and resting sharks often found on the sandy bottom. At night, turtles seek the shelter of the caves to rest and stay away from the prying eyes of predators.

Some famous diving sites are;

Lima Rock:

The Lima Rock is a small island composed of shallow caves and deep fissures. There are two sites; one is located on the north side of the rock while the other lies on the south. There are varying maximum depths depending on the area which is anywhere between 12 – 60 m. At the southern side of the island at depths between 12 – 20 m, you’ll find a variety of hard corals, patches of orange and pink soft corals, and large shoals of reef fish. If you venture 20 m and deeper, you’ll be able to see yellow, green, black, and purple coral. At this depth, you are likely to encounter yellow-mouth morays, white tip sharks, leopard sharks, and different types of rays. If you’re into macro photography, you can check out the colorful nudibranchs at the northern side of the island.

Ras Lima:

The Ras Lima headland offers two good dive sites namely the north-facing site in Lima Bay and the east bay just south of the headland. The north side features an exciting wall dive with a steep cliff that plunges to 10 – 15 m while the east bay has headland cliffs that plummet into the water at depths ranging from 6 – 8 m. This site is known for large boulder corals (fallen boulders covered in corals) that harbor small reef fish like the triggerfish, pelagic fish, seahorses, and occasional devil rays.

Octopus Rock:

The waters around this almost round rock formation attract different kinds of reef fish, tuna, trevally, barracuda, and occasional leopard sharks. Feast your eyes on the colorful corals where tiny marine creatures like fan worms and feather stars live. That’s not all; if you pay close attention to the sandy bottom, chances are you’ll spot resting stingrays. The best thing about Octopus Rock is that it can be visited in most weather and tidal conditions because of its protected location in Lima Bay.