Refresh or ReActivate your Scuba Diving Skills with Aura Divers
Has it been a while since you’ve been diving? Want to get back in the water but don’t know where to start?
PADI offers two different courses to help you refresh your scuba diving knowledge and skills: the PADI ReActivate Course and the PADI Refresher Course. The PADI ReActivate Course is a course for certified divers that want to refresh all the diving skills they learn during the Open Water Course. The course consists of online theory, confined water session and an optional open water session. The Refresher Course can be done in a few hours and before open water dives. It consists of a quiz and practicing in-water skills.
To do a Refresher or ReActivate course, you need to have an entry level certification from any organization. Whether to do a PADI Refresher or ReActive Course depends on how long you’ve been out of the water and your certification level. It’s recommended to do a PADI Refresher if you’ve been out of the water for longer than a year. If it’s been longer than 2 years’, the PADI ReActivate Course is the way to go. If you haven’t been diving since your initial course, it may be better to consider the PADI ReActivate Course. Both of these courses are useful for people that are a bit apprehensive about scuba diving.
PADI ReActivate
The PADI ReActivate Course is part eLearning where you can watch videos on how to perform the necessary diving skills. It helps you relearn dive theory. If you have any questions, write them down and make sure to ask your dive instructor when you see them. You’ll go over the content from your initial course like: dive planning, equipment assembly and safe diving practices. With your instructor, you can do an in-water session in a pool or confined open water. During the in-water session, you’ll go over ALL the skills from your Open Water Course.
PADI Refresher
In comparison, A PADI Refresher Course is slightly different. It goes over basic diving practices, including alternative air source use, how to clear a mask, setting up and disassembling dive gear, and how to recover your regulator. At the start, complete a quiz which you’ll go over with your dive instructor which covers dive theory and safety practices. There is no eLearning as part of this course.
At Aura Divers, we offer both Refresher and ReActivate Courses. Give us a call to discuss which is the best for you!
Snorkeling vs scuba diving: which is better?
The long debated question: scuba diving vs snorkeling, which is better?
Snorkeling is a popular activity whereby the person swims at the surface with a mask, snorkel and fins. While diving, you have added equipment including a BCD (buoyancy control device), tank, dive computer, wetsuit and weights. Using this equipment, you can go down to a given depth. On a Discover Scuba Dive, the maximum depth is 12 meters, Open Water Divers can reach 18 meters and Advanced Open Water Divers can plunge even further to a depth of 30 meters.
Snorkeling at Daymaniyat Islands
You can snorkel with little experience of being in the water. Whereas, diving can take some theory and practical experience before getting the hang of it. If you aren’t confident in the water, you can wear a life jacket to keep you afloat while you snorkel. It’s also possible to gain experience snorkeling to build your confidence before going diving. You don’t require a certification and snorkeling can be done nearly everywhere. On the other hand, diving requires you to get certified and when you dive in a new place you should ideally dive with a professional diver to be on hand at all times to act as a guide.
Scuba Diving in Oman
To start scuba diving, it’s important that you have the right equipment and perform pre-dive safety checks. You need to learn the theory behind diving safely and then put it into practice. For instance, how to perform safety stops for three minutes at five meters, conduct buddy checks, and be able to remain neutrally buoyant. While this sounds complex, divers from their second dive are able to do this successfully.
Diving allows you to immerse yourself in the underwater world for an extended period of time. Most snorkelers can get tired easily and will remain in the water for shorter than an average dive. While it takes longer to start to dive and is more expensive, the rewards are immense. When it comes down to it, when comparing snorkeling vs diving, it will mostly depend on personal preference.
At Aura Divers, we’re here to help you with all your diving and snorkeling needs in Oman. Contact us for more information or to book.
5 types of sharks you can dive with in Oman
5 types of sharks you can dive with in Oman
Diving with sharks is an amazing experience. Most sharks are scared of humans and will swim away as soon as they see us. You can spot up to 10 species of sharks around Oman but let’s take a look at some of the most popular:
Blacktip Reef Shark
The blacktip reef shark is a very skittish shark which poses no threat to humans. They can range from 1 to 3 meters in length. One of the most popular sharks to see while diving in Oman, you can find them at Seahorse Bay in Bandar Khayran and throughout the dive sites at Daymaniyat Islands.
Whitetip Reef Shark
The whitetip reef shark is the most common shark to be found around the Arabian Gulf. You can usually spot them resting in caves. These sharks hunt at night so during the day, it's easy to find them resting in dark places. Average length is roughly 1.25 meters.
Zebra Shark
Zebra sharks, otherwise known as Leopard sharks, live at Daymaniyat Islands. They are truly beautiful, with a long slender body, and an equally long tail. You can find them while resting on a sandy bottom. Leopard sharks eat clams, fish eggs, and shrimp and pose no threat to humans.
Whale Shark
Whale sharks are actually not whales at all and are actually a type of filter-feeder shark. From July to September, it’s common to find whale sharks at Daymaniyat Islands and Al Fahal Island. You can spot them while diving and snorkeling as they use their mouths to filter plankton from the water and remain close to the surface.
Oman Bullhead Shark
The Oman Bullhead Shark lives around the central coast of Oman and Pakistan. The average length is 56cm. The chance of seeing an Oman Bullhead Shark while diving is very rare, but some divers have reported spotting these majestic sharks during a dive. Sadly, they caught as bycatch by fisherman and as a result, their population is significantly declining.
Seeing a shark during a dive is an exhilarating experience for even the most accomplished diver. So what are you waiting for? Book your dives today.
When is Whale Shark Season in Oman?
When can i see Whale Shark in Oman?
It’s time to start thinking about your next holiday escape during one of Oman’s most thrilling seasons for adventure seekers, scuba divers, and water lovers:
Whale Shark season in Oman!
Whale sharks are unquestionably the most powerful fish in the ocean, with the largest reaching 12 meters in length and weighing up to 20 tons. (This implies they’re not just the world’s largest fish, but also the world’s largest vertebrates, with the exception of great whales.) Despite their enormous size, whale sharks are perfectly harmless to humans; they are filter feeders, and sieve small plankton from the water.
Where can I see Whale sharks in Oman
Daymaniyat Islands is one of the best spots in Oman for whale shark snorkeling and diving.
That’s because the gigantic fish congregate in large numbers along Muscats coastline every summer Whaleshark season is between September to November.
The sharks and their pups migrate south to the warmer waters of the southern hemisphere in search of many fish eggs, shrimp, copepods, and other little morsels. During this period, there is a very good chance of an encounter.
Swimming and snorkeling with Whale sharks
The Daymaniyat Islands and Al Fahal Island:
are two of the most well-known places in Oman for seeing the gentle giants up close. At Aura Divers, we provide you with an opportunity to get closeup and swim amongst the Whale sharks , which is as close to a miraculous experience as you can get in the ocean. Whale sharks are awe-inspiring creatures, not just because of their size, but also because of their elegance and beauty: with their wedge-shaped heads, muscular tails, and exquisite markings, they’re truly magnificent creatures.
Our boat dock at Al Mouj Marina makes it a great starting point for the whale-shark excursion because of its proximity to the Daymaniyat Islands. Spend the day communing with these magnificent fish, then reflect on your adventure in in one of the Marinas many restaurants and walkways Book a whale shark trip with us for the summer fun—we’ll take care of the rest.
