1022
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Musandam Peninsula: Mountain “safari”, SCUBA, Dhow cruising, Zipline, little castle, gargantuan supermarket.
The Musandam Peninsula isn’t quite as popular with international visitors to Oman as sites around Muscat and Nizwa. In part because the long drive to Khasab requires a border crossing into UAE and back out again to Oman and there’s only one flight at day, often not very conveniently timed. Its beauty and charm is also under-represented in promotional material. One of the blogs we read when preparing for the trip mentioned the region and described it as the highlight of the author’s trip to Oman, so we decided to preference Musandam over Salalah in the far south. (Next time!!)
It is however a fairly popular weekend destination for UAE folk. Dubai is only about 2 hours away by road. Luxury travellers may also be familiar with the Six Senses Musandam resort. One look at the prices and the cloistered, isolated nature of the place was enough to quickly dismiss it as an option. (It’s the sort of place that people arrive at by helicopter. Blegh).
Day 1: Our delayed flight meant that the timing was actually perfect for us to be able to check into our hotel and then head straight next-door at the scheduled time to the Musandam Discovery Diving Centre who had arranged our 4WD trip into the mountains as well as booking our Dhow cruise for us, plus of course the diving trip. The crew there were absolutely exceptional. The Omani owner of the dive centre as well as one of his ex-pat dive staff drove us in his own 4WD ute up the steep dirt road from sea level to 1000m in not much more than half an hour. Oman’s landscape contrasts continued to amaze. On the way up he pointed out various villages where small numbers of people still live in the rugged, dry mountains, growing grain in small fields when it rains.
The highest point on the drive was a plateau surrounded by peaks on most sides where our host says he often comes camping. Nearby were some remains of stone houses as well as a stone cistern dug into the hard ground to collect and store water for the previous inhabitants of the abandoned village.
In the mountains again
We got back into the ute and headed back down the mountain to the famous lookout point of Khor Najd. The I Love Oman sign is a recent nod to the Instagram generation, but doesn’t detract from the sheer beauty of this spot. I’d seen photos and now looking at my own photos, it doesn’t look that impressive in 2D. In reality you’re standing surrounded by mountains which drop almost vertically into the sea around this cove. We spent at least half an hour here just admiring the view and enjoying the peacefulness of our surroundings. The only other people at this famous lookout was an elderly UAE couple.
Apparently a luxury hotel is being built in the next cove over. It will be accessible by water only and this cove will serve as the road - to - boat transfer lounge station. So probably another Omani public beach that will soon be off limits to campers and day trippers.
We returned to Khasab, thanked our hosts and confirmed an 8:30 rendezvous for the following morning’s dive trip. We had a bit of downtime in our room and by the pool, then walked 15 minutes or so to an Iranian restaurant that got decent reviews. (It was decent…)
Khasab has a real frontier town vibe about it. It’s only 40km across the water to Iran and there is an almost constant stream of speedboats zigzagging back and forth carrying out trade between Iran and Oman to which the authorities of both countries turn a blind eye. Iranians bring livestock and fish over in their boats - often destined for third countries beyond Oman - and they return with sanctioned western brand goods ranging from TVs and laundry powder to cars apparently.
This lonngform article is well worth reading to get a well researched insight into the fascinating grey-market trade that exists in Khasab.
Day 2: SCUBA diving and snorkelling off the Musandam Peninsula.
I did my Open Water dive course in Byron Bay at the tail end of Covid, but due to various circumstances haven’t had an opportunity to to put those newly acquired skills into action. Until now. 1022+1 doesn’t dive, but the dive centre assured us that there would be good snorkelling for him at the two spots we’d be visiting, so he came out on the boat too. I was a tiny bit nervous that I wouldn’t remember some of the stuff once needs to be mindful of when diving. I hit the jackpot for this dive though because in addition to the friendly dive instructor who tagged along for yesterday’s mountain drive, another senior staff member was joining us today to take photos and video footage. No other punters had booked that day so under water was me, my private dive master and my own photographer!!
Within five minutes of being under water and getting my buoyancy under control, I felt like an old hand. I mean the mantra throughout the open water course and advice from these instructors was a shrug of the shoulders and “just breathe”. It kind of is that simple!
The first dive site was about 10 - 15 metres depth and had beautiful and varied corals, a plethora of tropical fish species, several eels and a very sociable turtle who spent a good 15 minutes swimming alongside us. It was a really special experience. Visibility was a decent 15-20m I’d say. Our safety stop back up to the surface at 6m was over a beautiful coral garden. It’s some of the healthiest, unbleached coral I’ve seen for a very long time.
The second dive was in slightly poorer visibility so the focus was on getting up close and personal to underwater rock faces and coral beds. Again, eels were prominent, fish were colourful and plentiful and I spotted some amazing soft corals. Just as we were about to ascend to the surface we encountered a couple of large cuttlefish just hanging out and changing colours. On this dive my buoyancy control and comfort underwater felt further improved and I was able to really relax into the enjoyment of being underwater and observing so much live and beauty; and constantly reminding myself that I’m in Oman!
Silver cuttlefish...
...now it's brown
1022+1 said that the first snorkel site was fantastic and that he had excellent visibility and had a great time. The second one was a bit cloudy underwater and cold, so he didn’t stay in the water quite so long. The second site was next to some sheet cliffs, so simply floating and looking up instead of down was a treat there too.
Day 3: Dhow Cruise
Our next day in the Musandam Peninsula was water-based again. We were picked up at 9:45 from the hotel and taken to the port to board a dhow for the day of cruising among the fjords. We shared the van ride with two lovely German couples and then on the boat joined by another 7 or 8 people, so all up it wasn’t a large crowd. German was the main language spoken by our fellow guests and also by one of the three crew who was a real showman and was working hard to charm the ladies.
It was a perfect day for being on the water. Just a slight breeze to take the edge off the heat and no swell or chop. As we cruised deeper into the fjords, the water became glassy and still.
There’s plenty of Dhow operators in the port of Khasab. Today we were one of 4 or 5 vessels on the water, so it wasn’t too crowded. They all follow the same meandering path around the fjords, pointing out a couple of fishing villages and anchoring in a couple of coves good for swimming and snorkelling. They also all promise dolphin sightings. We weren’t disappointed. The Dhow captains sometimes work together to spot pods of dolphins, then motor at full speed side by side to create bow waves that the dolphins ride with apparent joy.
The snorkelling wasn’t so interesting in terms of marine life but the water at both stops was crystal clear and again, the above water scenery, blue sky, warm sunshine and chilled vibes of the group and of the whole tour made it a very memorable and relaxing day. Lunch was also a highlight. One often just expects sandwiches on a trip like this, but the crew set up a makeshift buffet with rice, veg curry, hummus, grilled chicken and fattoush salad. Sweet Omani mint tea, cold water and juice was constantly on offer.
Throughout the day, our colourful German speaking crew man invited some of the passengers to be models for his headscarf tying skills. It was actually a really fascinating cultural insight into the different ways that women wear the headscarf throughout the middle east. He saw me protecting my shoulders from the sun with a sarong and promptly adorned me with a men’s style head dress as well. He dubbed it the mafia look!!
Dinner was just in the hotel restaurant and nothing to write home about.
Day 4: Our flight back to Muscat wasn’t until 5pm and Khasab had two more attractions/activities for us to enjoy. 1: the world’s longest Zipline over water (1,800 metres, speeds up to 80km/h) and a small castle/fort.
The Zipline base station is attached to the second Atana-branded property in Khasab and there’s a free shuttle on demand between the two properties. We were the only people brave/silly enough to fly over a bay at a height of a couple of hundred metres when we showed up, so our money was promptly taken and we were put in a van and driven to the top of the tall hill on the opposite side of the bay that we’d be “flying” over. It was the first time for both of us to try zip lining and it was a hoot!! The staff clipped us into harnesses. Clipped the harnesses to the line. Muttered a bit of info into their walk talkies and with a “3 - 2 - 1 go” we were off, side by side on parallel lines. The ride was over in what felt like much less than the promised 1min 20 seconds it usually takes to cover 1.8km and it was absolute, giggle inducing fun. No photos unfortunately!
We got dropped back at our hotel and then wandered over the road to Khasab castle. It’s only a small fortified castle compared to some of the grand palaces we saw elsewhere in Oman. It’s also unique for being built at ground level rather than up on a hill. What it lacked in scale, it more than made up for by having loads of really good, informative history and descriptions in various rooms on the upper level. The site doubles as the local museum and is administered mostly by a local women’s group (CWA equivalent perhaps). They absolutely nailed it when it came to providing history, trivia and cultural explanations at just the right level of detail for visitors. Better than any other site we visited in Oman, including the national museum.
Our final final stop in Khasab was LuLu - the gargantuan supermarket adjacent to the hotel. LuLu is a chain in Oman that is both supermarket and cheap department store in one. I know I’m not unique in loving visits to supermarkets when I’m travelling overseas. It’s just so insightful! As mentioned up thread, I had already popped in the night before to track down the delicious pink rosewater flavoured milk that Seat0B recommended. This time we were looking for gaffa tape to reinforce an emerging crack near the base of 1022+1’s suitcase as well as a bit more baklava or other sweet treats. We were unsuccessful on the tape but had no trouble with treats.
Fancy water selection...
It’s apparent that the store is partially catering to cross-strait trade because a lot of shelves had Costo-sized products: from 20kg bags of American branded laundry powder to bulk packs of just about any brands that are probably sanctioned in Iran. Though having travelled there some years ago, US IP lawyers would have a field day on some of the brand infringements of things like domestically produced cola, chain coffee shops, fried chicken places and the like!! Of course Iranian aircraft engineers are also incredibly skilled at replicating Boeing, MD-Douglas, Fokker, ATR and Airbus spare parts to keep the extensive domestic fleet airborne and relatively safe in spite of the challenges.
We returned to the hotel, grabbed lunch in-house again because Khasab is a bit dire for eating out, packed, chilled and appreciated our 3:30 late checkout. Musandam Peninsula was a blast and I’d say should not be missed on any trip to Oman - or included in a side trip as part of a Dubai stopover.
I needed my rest for the encounter that was shortly going to unfold at the airport!!
The Musandam Peninsula isn’t quite as popular with international visitors to Oman as sites around Muscat and Nizwa. In part because the long drive to Khasab requires a border crossing into UAE and back out again to Oman and there’s only one flight at day, often not very conveniently timed. Its beauty and charm is also under-represented in promotional material. One of the blogs we read when preparing for the trip mentioned the region and described it as the highlight of the author’s trip to Oman, so we decided to preference Musandam over Salalah in the far south. (Next time!!)
It is however a fairly popular weekend destination for UAE folk. Dubai is only about 2 hours away by road. Luxury travellers may also be familiar with the Six Senses Musandam resort. One look at the prices and the cloistered, isolated nature of the place was enough to quickly dismiss it as an option. (It’s the sort of place that people arrive at by helicopter. Blegh).
Day 1: Our delayed flight meant that the timing was actually perfect for us to be able to check into our hotel and then head straight next-door at the scheduled time to the Musandam Discovery Diving Centre who had arranged our 4WD trip into the mountains as well as booking our Dhow cruise for us, plus of course the diving trip. The crew there were absolutely exceptional. The Omani owner of the dive centre as well as one of his ex-pat dive staff drove us in his own 4WD ute up the steep dirt road from sea level to 1000m in not much more than half an hour. Oman’s landscape contrasts continued to amaze. On the way up he pointed out various villages where small numbers of people still live in the rugged, dry mountains, growing grain in small fields when it rains.
The highest point on the drive was a plateau surrounded by peaks on most sides where our host says he often comes camping. Nearby were some remains of stone houses as well as a stone cistern dug into the hard ground to collect and store water for the previous inhabitants of the abandoned village.
In the mountains again
We got back into the ute and headed back down the mountain to the famous lookout point of Khor Najd. The I Love Oman sign is a recent nod to the Instagram generation, but doesn’t detract from the sheer beauty of this spot. I’d seen photos and now looking at my own photos, it doesn’t look that impressive in 2D. In reality you’re standing surrounded by mountains which drop almost vertically into the sea around this cove. We spent at least half an hour here just admiring the view and enjoying the peacefulness of our surroundings. The only other people at this famous lookout was an elderly UAE couple.
Apparently a luxury hotel is being built in the next cove over. It will be accessible by water only and this cove will serve as the road - to - boat transfer lounge station. So probably another Omani public beach that will soon be off limits to campers and day trippers.
We returned to Khasab, thanked our hosts and confirmed an 8:30 rendezvous for the following morning’s dive trip. We had a bit of downtime in our room and by the pool, then walked 15 minutes or so to an Iranian restaurant that got decent reviews. (It was decent…)
Khasab has a real frontier town vibe about it. It’s only 40km across the water to Iran and there is an almost constant stream of speedboats zigzagging back and forth carrying out trade between Iran and Oman to which the authorities of both countries turn a blind eye. Iranians bring livestock and fish over in their boats - often destined for third countries beyond Oman - and they return with sanctioned western brand goods ranging from TVs and laundry powder to cars apparently.
This lonngform article is well worth reading to get a well researched insight into the fascinating grey-market trade that exists in Khasab.
Day 2: SCUBA diving and snorkelling off the Musandam Peninsula.
I did my Open Water dive course in Byron Bay at the tail end of Covid, but due to various circumstances haven’t had an opportunity to to put those newly acquired skills into action. Until now. 1022+1 doesn’t dive, but the dive centre assured us that there would be good snorkelling for him at the two spots we’d be visiting, so he came out on the boat too. I was a tiny bit nervous that I wouldn’t remember some of the stuff once needs to be mindful of when diving. I hit the jackpot for this dive though because in addition to the friendly dive instructor who tagged along for yesterday’s mountain drive, another senior staff member was joining us today to take photos and video footage. No other punters had booked that day so under water was me, my private dive master and my own photographer!!
Within five minutes of being under water and getting my buoyancy under control, I felt like an old hand. I mean the mantra throughout the open water course and advice from these instructors was a shrug of the shoulders and “just breathe”. It kind of is that simple!
The first dive site was about 10 - 15 metres depth and had beautiful and varied corals, a plethora of tropical fish species, several eels and a very sociable turtle who spent a good 15 minutes swimming alongside us. It was a really special experience. Visibility was a decent 15-20m I’d say. Our safety stop back up to the surface at 6m was over a beautiful coral garden. It’s some of the healthiest, unbleached coral I’ve seen for a very long time.
The second dive was in slightly poorer visibility so the focus was on getting up close and personal to underwater rock faces and coral beds. Again, eels were prominent, fish were colourful and plentiful and I spotted some amazing soft corals. Just as we were about to ascend to the surface we encountered a couple of large cuttlefish just hanging out and changing colours. On this dive my buoyancy control and comfort underwater felt further improved and I was able to really relax into the enjoyment of being underwater and observing so much live and beauty; and constantly reminding myself that I’m in Oman!
Silver cuttlefish...
...now it's brown
1022+1 said that the first snorkel site was fantastic and that he had excellent visibility and had a great time. The second one was a bit cloudy underwater and cold, so he didn’t stay in the water quite so long. The second site was next to some sheet cliffs, so simply floating and looking up instead of down was a treat there too.
Day 3: Dhow Cruise
Our next day in the Musandam Peninsula was water-based again. We were picked up at 9:45 from the hotel and taken to the port to board a dhow for the day of cruising among the fjords. We shared the van ride with two lovely German couples and then on the boat joined by another 7 or 8 people, so all up it wasn’t a large crowd. German was the main language spoken by our fellow guests and also by one of the three crew who was a real showman and was working hard to charm the ladies.
It was a perfect day for being on the water. Just a slight breeze to take the edge off the heat and no swell or chop. As we cruised deeper into the fjords, the water became glassy and still.
There’s plenty of Dhow operators in the port of Khasab. Today we were one of 4 or 5 vessels on the water, so it wasn’t too crowded. They all follow the same meandering path around the fjords, pointing out a couple of fishing villages and anchoring in a couple of coves good for swimming and snorkelling. They also all promise dolphin sightings. We weren’t disappointed. The Dhow captains sometimes work together to spot pods of dolphins, then motor at full speed side by side to create bow waves that the dolphins ride with apparent joy.
The snorkelling wasn’t so interesting in terms of marine life but the water at both stops was crystal clear and again, the above water scenery, blue sky, warm sunshine and chilled vibes of the group and of the whole tour made it a very memorable and relaxing day. Lunch was also a highlight. One often just expects sandwiches on a trip like this, but the crew set up a makeshift buffet with rice, veg curry, hummus, grilled chicken and fattoush salad. Sweet Omani mint tea, cold water and juice was constantly on offer.
Throughout the day, our colourful German speaking crew man invited some of the passengers to be models for his headscarf tying skills. It was actually a really fascinating cultural insight into the different ways that women wear the headscarf throughout the middle east. He saw me protecting my shoulders from the sun with a sarong and promptly adorned me with a men’s style head dress as well. He dubbed it the mafia look!!
Dinner was just in the hotel restaurant and nothing to write home about.
Day 4: Our flight back to Muscat wasn’t until 5pm and Khasab had two more attractions/activities for us to enjoy. 1: the world’s longest Zipline over water (1,800 metres, speeds up to 80km/h) and a small castle/fort.
The Zipline base station is attached to the second Atana-branded property in Khasab and there’s a free shuttle on demand between the two properties. We were the only people brave/silly enough to fly over a bay at a height of a couple of hundred metres when we showed up, so our money was promptly taken and we were put in a van and driven to the top of the tall hill on the opposite side of the bay that we’d be “flying” over. It was the first time for both of us to try zip lining and it was a hoot!! The staff clipped us into harnesses. Clipped the harnesses to the line. Muttered a bit of info into their walk talkies and with a “3 - 2 - 1 go” we were off, side by side on parallel lines. The ride was over in what felt like much less than the promised 1min 20 seconds it usually takes to cover 1.8km and it was absolute, giggle inducing fun. No photos unfortunately!
We got dropped back at our hotel and then wandered over the road to Khasab castle. It’s only a small fortified castle compared to some of the grand palaces we saw elsewhere in Oman. It’s also unique for being built at ground level rather than up on a hill. What it lacked in scale, it more than made up for by having loads of really good, informative history and descriptions in various rooms on the upper level. The site doubles as the local museum and is administered mostly by a local women’s group (CWA equivalent perhaps). They absolutely nailed it when it came to providing history, trivia and cultural explanations at just the right level of detail for visitors. Better than any other site we visited in Oman, including the national museum.
Our final final stop in Khasab was LuLu - the gargantuan supermarket adjacent to the hotel. LuLu is a chain in Oman that is both supermarket and cheap department store in one. I know I’m not unique in loving visits to supermarkets when I’m travelling overseas. It’s just so insightful! As mentioned up thread, I had already popped in the night before to track down the delicious pink rosewater flavoured milk that Seat0B recommended. This time we were looking for gaffa tape to reinforce an emerging crack near the base of 1022+1’s suitcase as well as a bit more baklava or other sweet treats. We were unsuccessful on the tape but had no trouble with treats.
Fancy water selection...
It’s apparent that the store is partially catering to cross-strait trade because a lot of shelves had Costo-sized products: from 20kg bags of American branded laundry powder to bulk packs of just about any brands that are probably sanctioned in Iran. Though having travelled there some years ago, US IP lawyers would have a field day on some of the brand infringements of things like domestically produced cola, chain coffee shops, fried chicken places and the like!! Of course Iranian aircraft engineers are also incredibly skilled at replicating Boeing, MD-Douglas, Fokker, ATR and Airbus spare parts to keep the extensive domestic fleet airborne and relatively safe in spite of the challenges.
We returned to the hotel, grabbed lunch in-house again because Khasab is a bit dire for eating out, packed, chilled and appreciated our 3:30 late checkout. Musandam Peninsula was a blast and I’d say should not be missed on any trip to Oman - or included in a side trip as part of a Dubai stopover.
I needed my rest for the encounter that was shortly going to unfold at the airport!!
