Planning a trip?
Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Daymaniyat Islands location page.
Overview
Protected nature reserve archipelago an hour off Muscat's coast. Whale sharks aggregate here in summer to feed in nutrient-rich upwelling. Reef itself is a healthy mix of hard coral, schooling jacks, and resident leopard sharks on the sand.
What you'll see
4 species curated- seasonalWhale sharkPeak: Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct
- year-roundLeopard shark
- year-roundHoneycomb moray
- year-roundGreen turtle
Sightings evidence
1 record on file- medium confidenceWhale shark
- Last confirmed
- Oct 2025
- Recent records
- 45 within 25 km
- Cluster months
- Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
Sources & methodology
How we summarise this
We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.
Sources
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
- iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
- Wildbook (Sharkbook, Whale Shark, Manta Matcher) — Wild Me
- OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
- WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
- FishBase — FishBase Consortium
- Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
- REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation
Conditions
| Month | Water | Visibility | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22–24 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
| Feb | 22–24 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
| Mar | 23–25 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
| Apr | 25–27 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
| May | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
| Jun | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | moderate |
| Jul | 26–28 °C | 5–15 m | moderate |
| Aug | 25–27 °C | 5–15 m | moderate |
| Sep | 26–28 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
| Oct | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
| Nov | 25–27 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
| Dec | 23–25 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
Season calendar
Peak season highlighted · current month outlined
Gear for this site
Beyond the basic kit- SMB — Boat traffic in the marine reserve — surface signaling required.
Next step
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