Oman, wadi by wadi.
Which Wadi Shab trip leaves early enough to swim the canyon alone. What a night in the Sharqiya dunes really costs. Whether the Daymaniyat boats justify the 6am alarm. Every tour in Oman, reviewed.
Wadis, dunes, forts: how an Oman week divides.
The canyon swims, the dune nights, the fjord dhows and the fort towns of the interior. Six ways to spend a day here, and the best tour for each.
Wadi Shab or Bani Khalid: pick your swim.
Every wadi tour →
Wadi Shab takes a boat ride, a 45-minute scramble over boulders and the nerve to swim through a crack into a waterfall cave. Bani Khalid you can float in ten minutes from the car park. These three carry the most travellers; the full list splits the rest by how far you are willing to walk.
Wadi Shab and the Bimmah Sinkhole
Boat across the first pool, three hours of ledges and turquoise water, then the swim through the gap into the cave. The sinkhole is the cool-down on the drive home.
Wadi Bani Khalid, then the dunes
Green pools you can reach in sandals and lunch under the palms, then dune bashing into the Sharqiya sands for sunset on the ridge.
Wadi Darbat when the falls are running
Dhofar keeps its own weather. After the monsoon the Darbat cliffs run with water, camels graze the valley floor and the hills stay green into October.
The Oman days that fill first.
Every review →Daymaniyat boats, the Wadi Shab run, the Sharqiya dune nights. More travellers take these than anything else in the country, and each one earns its day.
1
Daymaniat Islands Snorkeling Trip with Brunch
Review of Muscat’s Daymaniat Islands snorkeling trip, with turtles, colorful fish, boat rides, brunch, practical tips, and honest value advice.
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
Three days in Muscat, and the sea does half the work.
The capital keeps its buildings under the ridge line and its life on the water: dolphin boats out at seven, the Daymaniyat reefs an hour offshore, Muttrah souq once the heat drops. Most Oman trips start here, and most of the best days leave from here.
What Oman keeps to itself.
Dune camps and dhow trips run the length of this coast. The turtles at Ras Al Jinz, the Friday livestock ring in Nizwa and the fjords behind Khasab belong to Oman alone.
The Turtles of Ras Al Jinz
Green turtles have been hauling out onto the sand at Ras Al Jinz, the eastern corner of Arabia, for longer than anyone has been counting. The reserve takes guided groups only, at dusk and again before first light, and the walk down to the beach is done in the dark with no torches. Summer brings the biggest numbers, but a winter night rarely comes up empty.
- 1Daymaniyat Island Snorkeling with Turtles Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 72 reviews
- 2Private Wadi Shab – Ras Al Hadd Overnight – 2 Days Tours★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 9 reviews
- 3Daymaniyat Islands Snorkeling Small Group Turtles★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 7 reviews
The Nizwa Goat Market
Before the souq properly opens, the livestock ring in Nizwa fills with men walking goats in circles while the bidding moves around the outside. It is finished by nine and it happens once a week, which is why every Nizwa tour that includes it leaves Muscat in the dark. The fort with the fat round tower is the other reason to be there early.
- 1Nizwa Fort-Nizwa Souq-Misfah Al Arbyeen-Jebel Shams – Private Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 220 reviews
- 2Nizwa Heritage & Culture Full Day Tour with Audio Guiding★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 213 reviews
- 3Nizwa Fort-Nizwa Souq-Birkat Al Mouz-Jebel Akhdar – Private Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 80 reviews
The Khor Sham Dhows
Musandam is Omani land cut off from the rest of the country by the UAE, and its coast falls apart into cliffs and deep inlets. The wooden dhows leave Khasab in the morning, drop anchor in Khor Sham where the water goes flat and clear, and the dolphins usually find the boat before the snorkelling stop does.
- 1Half-Day Dhow Cruise, Dolphin Watching, & Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 507 reviews
- 2Half-Day Dhow Cruise with Dolphin Watching★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 189 reviews
- 3Dolphin Watching Day Tour with Snorkeling & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 188 reviews
From a $30 seat on the Wadi Shab bus to a private 4x4 and driver.
Every tour on the site, cheapest first. A good Oman day starts at the price of lunch.
Souq walks, city highlights, a shared seat on the Wadi Shab run and half-day dhow cruises out of Khasab.
Daymaniyat snorkelling boats, full-day desert safaris, Nizwa and Jebel Akhdar with lunch included.
Private 4x4 days with a driver, Empty Quarter sunsets, balloon flights and overnight camps in the sands.
When the khareef turns Salalah green, fly south.
From late June into September the Indian Ocean monsoon parks over the Dhofar mountains: drizzle, fog along the Jabal, waterfalls at Wadi Darbat and hillsides that stay green until October. The rest of the country is at its hottest, so the whole Gulf comes to Salalah. Book the safaris before the flights.
Salalah is a different country under the same flag.
Coconut palms along the beach road, frankincense trees on the plain, empty white bays west of the city and the Empty Quarter an hour inland. Nothing in Dhofar looks like the north, and its best days are long drives that want a driver.
In Khasab the day is a boat, or it is nothing.
Oman’s northern tip is cliff and inlet, with villages that have no road to them. The dhows leave the Khasab corniche mid-morning for Khor Sham, cut the engine for snorkelling off Telegraph Island and are tied up again before the afternoon wind. Plenty of these tours start in Dubai instead, which makes the day a border crossing: carry the passport.
- 1Half-Day Dhow Cruise, Dolphin Watching, & Snorkelingfrom $37
- 2Half-Day Dhow Cruise with Dolphin Watchingfrom $37
- 3Dolphin Watching Day Tour with Snorkeling & Lunchfrom $65
Book these before you land in Muscat.
Most of Oman can be arranged at the hotel desk the night before. These cannot. They run on permits, checkpoints, nesting seasons and a handful of seats.
- 01Daymaniyat Island: Snorkelling Tour with Tasty LunchThe islands are a nature reserve. Every boat carries a permit, landings stop in nesting season, and the good operators run one trip a day.
- 02Nizwa and Jebel Akhdar Tour with LunchThe checkpoint at the bottom of the mountain road turns back two-wheel-drive cars, so the Jebel day means a booked 4x4 with a driver.
- 03Private Wadi Shab – Ras Al Hadd Overnight – 2 Days ToursTurtle-beach visits are guided groups at fixed hours, and the number of places on each walk is capped by the reserve.
- 04Hot Air Balloon Tour at Wahiba SandsBalloons fly the cool months only and lift at first light over the sands. A basket holds a handful of people.
Oman does its best work at either end of the day.
All desert safaris →
By region — north to Dhofar
Muscat527 tours
Salalah & Dhofar104 tours
Musandam & Khasab37 tours
Nizwa & the interior27 tours
Wahiba Sands & the east16 tours- Every tour in Oman →
Muscat, Nizwa, the sands and back: the loop most first trips take.
Jebel Akhdar
Wadi ShabThe newest Oman reviews.
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