Garden of Eden
Daymaniyat Islands · Oman
A wall and coral plateau off the western tip of Qesmah, one of the nine Daymaniyat islands scattered 70 km off Muscat. Boulders and blocks spangled with orange, purple and yellow soft corals drop from a 12 m shelf to sand near 23 m. Green and hawksbill turtles graze the plateau, which sits inside a reserve set aside in 1996 to protect their nesting beaches, and whale sharks cruise through on the late summer plankton bloom.
Conditions
Depth
10 to 24 m
Open water and up
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
5 to 15 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
22 to 30°C
Tropical wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 22 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 23 |
| Vis (m) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 10 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Hawksbill turtle
Last confirmed May 15, 2026 · 130 records
Almost always
Nearly every dive
Green turtle
Last confirmed Mar 7, 2026 · 15 records
Very likely
Most dives
Honeycomb moray
Last confirmed Jan 24, 2026 · 6 records
Very likely
Most dives
Whale shark
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Spotted eagle ray
Expected
Known here, not yet in recent logs
Gear