A desert, a canyon and a coral reef, all inside one week.
Which Wadi Shab trip leaves you time in the water. What the Khasab dhow costs once lunch is in. Whether Jebel Shams is worth four hours of driving from Muscat. Reviews of every tour you can book in Oman.
Four days out that decide how the rest of an Oman trip goes.
A boat to the Daymaniyats, a gorge you swim up, an afternoon on the dunes and the crossing into Musandam. What each costs, and what the people who went say about it.
01The island boatDaymaniat Islands Snorkeling Trip with BrunchGreen turtles in the shallows off the Daymaniyat Islands, then brunch on the sand. It sails early because the sea gets up by noon.
02The wadi dayWadi Shab & Bimmah Sinkhole Full-Day TourWadi Shab and the Bimmah Sinkhole in one run down the coast road. Take shoes you can swim in; the last pool is a wade and a scramble.
03The dune dayWahiba Desert and Wadi Bani Khalid Guided Group TourWahiba Sands and the pools at Wadi Bani Khalid, timed so the dune drive lands in the hour the sand turns orange.
04The Musandam crossingHalf-Day Dhow Cruise, Dolphin Watching, & SnorkelingA wooden dhow out of Khasab into the fjords, dolphins alongside and a snorkel stop under a cliff wall.
The wadis run cold. The dunes two hours on do not.
The best Omani days are inland. A gorge with drinking-cold pools at the bottom of it, a sinkhole you climb down into, a dune field past the last town, and a canyon rim three thousand metres up. Four kinds of day, what each costs to board, and how far you drive for it.
Muscat, Salalah, Khasab and Nizwa are four different Omans.
A capital strung along the Gulf of Oman, a monsoon-green south, a fjord coast cut off from the rest of the country, and the old interior capital under Jebel Akhdar. Where each one sits, and the day out it is worth flying or driving for.
Turtles off the Daymaniyats, dolphins between the Musandam cliffs.
The Gulf of Oman stays warm all year and the reef starts a few hundred metres off the beach. Boats leave Muscat at first light for the islands, and the Khasab dhows work into the fjords at walking pace with the engine barely on.
The Omani days out more travellers take than any other.
Every Oman tour we have reviewed →What the country actually sells: the island boat, the coast-road wadis, the dune drive and the fjord dhow, in the order travellers book them.
1
Daymaniat Islands Snorkeling Trip with Brunch
Spend 4.5 hours cruising from Muscat to the Daymaniat Islands, stopping to snorkel with turtles, colorful fish, corals, and possibly octopuses. Guides such as Captain Ola, Captain Nemo, and Captain B help you in the water, while sandwiches, fruit, snacks, and soft drinks are served onboard.
From · $86
Read our review →
2
Wadi Shab & Bimmah Sinkhole Full-Day Tour
from $40
3
Wahiba Desert and Wadi Bani Khalid Guided Group Tour
from $130
4
Half-Day Sightseeing Essentials Tour and Audio Guide
from $48
5
Half-Day Dhow Cruise, Dolphin Watching, & Snorkeling
from $37
6
Wadi Bani Khalid Oasis & Oman Desert Tour
from $130
7
Daymaniat Islands Snorkeling Tour with Refreshments
from $72
8
Nizwa and Oman’s Historical Gems Tour
from $100
Muscat: the Grand Mosque before nine, Muttrah after dark.
The capital runs along a thin strip between bare mountains and the sea, and it keeps hours. The Grand Mosque takes visitors in the morning only, the souq at Muttrah fills up once the sun is off the corniche, and the coast road to the wadis starts at the far end of town.
- 1Daymaniat Islands Snorkeling Trip with Brunchfrom $86
- 2Wadi Shab & Bimmah Sinkhole Full-Day Tourfrom $40
- 3Wahiba Desert and Wadi Bani Khalid Guided Group Tourfrom $130
What a day out in Oman actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. The cheap end is the city and the coast road; the top end is a 4x4 and a driver for a whole day.
City mornings, the Khasab dhow, dolphin boats out of Muscat and the shorter runs down the coast road.
The full-day standards: Wadi Shab and Bimmah, the Daymaniyat boat, Nizwa and Jebel Akhdar.
Private 4x4 days, Jebel Shams with a driver, balloon flights over Wahiba and overnight desert camps.
Three things that only happen in Oman.
Gulf beaches and desert camps run the length of this coast. A river at the bottom of a dry gorge, a shepherds’ ledge halfway down a three-thousand-metre wall, and a fjord coast at thirty degrees do not.
Wadi Shab
The coast road south of Muscat runs through country with nothing green in it, and then there is a split in the rock with a river at the bottom. You leave the car, pay a boatman a couple of rial to cross the first pool, and walk forty minutes upstream past date palms to a chain of pools. The last one is a swim into a slot in the cliff with a waterfall inside it, and your bag has to stay behind.
- 1Wadi Shab & Bimmah Sinkhole Full-Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,862 reviews
- 2Wadi Shab and Bimmah Sinkhole Group Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 303 reviews
- 3Wadi Shab and Bimmah Sinkhole Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 199 reviews
Jebel Shams
The country’s highest mountain drops straight into Wadi Ghul, and the Balcony Walk follows a shepherds’ ledge cut halfway down the wall to a village nobody lives in any more. It runs twenty degrees cooler up on the plateau than it does in Muscat, the last stretch of road wants four-wheel drive, and the light is worth the early start.
- 1Nizwa Fort-Nizwa Souq-Misfah Al Arbyeen-Jebel Shams – Private Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 220 reviews
- 2Nizwa and Jebel Shams Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 153 reviews
- 3Full Day Private Tour to Nizwa and Jebel Shams from Muscat★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 49 reviews
The Musandam
Musandam is Omani territory cut off from the rest of the country by the Emirates, and the coast there collapses into steep-sided inlets that look like Norway with the water at thirty degrees. Wooden dhows leave Khasab in the morning, run between the cliffs at walking pace, and anchor off Telegraph Island long enough for everyone to get in.
- 1Half-Day Dhow Cruise, Dolphin Watching, & Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 507 reviews
- 2Half-Day Dhow Cruise with Dolphin Watching★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 189 reviews
- 3Khasab Musandam Full Day dhow cruise with lunch and Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 186 reviews
Four Omani bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this country can be arranged over breakfast on the morning you want it. These four run on seasons, permits and guide ratios that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Hot Air Balloon Tour at Wahiba SandsThe balloons over Wahiba only fly in the cool half of the year, and every basket has a fixed number of seats.
- 02Sunset Desert Safari Salalah Tour in Rub Al Khali – Empty QuarterThe Rub al Khali runs out of Salalah, a two-hour flight from Muscat, and the sunset departures go first.
- 03Jebel Shams Balcony Walk and Via Ferrata AdventureThe ledge route on Jebel Shams is guided to a fixed ratio, so the day has a hard cap on numbers.
- 04Daymaniyat Island: Snorkelling Tour with Tasty LunchThe Daymaniyat Islands are a nature reserve worked under permit, and landings close entirely through the turtle-nesting months.
From June the interior is unbearable and the far south turns green.
Between June and September the Muscat side sits above forty degrees and a wadi becomes a before-ten proposition. The same monsoon that does that drags cloud over Dhofar, and Salalah spends three months green, cool and running with waterfalls. Go early, go underwater, or go south.
Muscat, the coast road, Wahiba, Nizwa: the drive almost everybody does first.
Muscat
Nizwa
SalalahThe newest Oman tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Wahiba Sands and Wadi Bani Khalid Full-Day Tour from Muscat
Read our review →
Wadi Shab &Bimmah Sinkhole &Heart shaped Cave &Pebble Beach
Read our review →
West of Salalah private tour – fascinating mountains and beaches
Read our review →
Private tour – Empty Quarter desert adventure – Wadi Dawka + Ubar
Read our review →
Where Sea Meets Rock: A Scenic Journey to West Salalah’s Shores
Read our review →
Explore Samhan Mountain – Half-Day Getaway with Lunch Included.
Read our review →
Salalah City Tour: Discover Salalahs Treasures with a Local Guide
Read our review →
Salalah East & West Combination(Salalah tours):Oman Shore excursions
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