After visiting Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Jordan, Oman became my next victim in my Middle East fever. This country is a hidden gem with tons of activities and fun places to see. If you´re looking for an easy tourist hot-spot, I must say that Oman will not be your best choice. I didn´t expect Oman to be as touristy as Turkey, but I barely saw tourists outside of my hotel, which for me made it a more exciting and authentic experience. On the other hand, finding affordable excursions without renting a car was more of a challenge. Maybe this is a good time to list the pros and cons of Oman as a travel destination:

Pros:

• Variety of activities (there are beautiful beaches, desert trips, excursions to oasis, canyons).
• Beautiful hotels and landscapes
• Good destination for nature
• Very friendly people everywhere
• Relaxed and tranquil vibe
• Not many tourists
• Nice destination for couples/families

Cons:

• Difficult to mix with local people
• Very hot weather
• Not easy to get around without renting a car
• I imagine it could feel lonely if you´re traveling solo

With one week to roam freely and relax at the same time, my boyfriend and I decided to change our plans and head out to Oman instead of Portugal. Nothing against Portugal, I am sure it´s great, but the trip to Oman (flight + accommodation) came out to about the same amount, and I always have a penchant for traveling beyond Europe. After remembering the beautiful oasis photographs I had seen from friends and the backdrop of the desert at the beach, we were sold on traveling to Oman.

Since the aim of our trip was also to relax by the beach and pool, we decided to stick to Muscat as our base, where we stayed in the beautiful Shangrila hotel. I know that most people traveling through Oman do not stay in the same city throughout the trip, which makes sense if you want to cover everything that Oman has to offer. However, the set up we chose was ideal for our situation, since there are more than enough day trips that you can make from Muscat, and we really enjoyed relaxing at the resort. In this sense, our trip was not super active in comparison to other trips I´ve done before, but maybe it was even more enjoyable to rest and relax while traveling for once!

So what did we do with one week in Muscat:

• Dolphin tour

We hired a tour from a company near the Shangri-La hotel called Extra Divers. The tour started quite early, and since we went in low season (September), there were not many tourists and we had the whole boat to ourselves. Cruising around on the boat was quite nice and it felt like we also had the whole sea to ourselves since we didn´t see other boats in the water. After cruising around for one hour, we were able to get close to a pack of dolphins, jumping in and out of the water. I love animals and nature, and somehow being so close to these animals stirred such a feeling of awe.  The view is also very nice as the shore area is surrounded by large rocks, a bit like a canyon. It really made me think about how deserts were once oceans.

• Snorkeling

After spotting the dolphins, the guide took us to Turtle Beach, a very nice place for snorkeling near the shore of a bay. The only way to get there is by boat and the sea life is very well preserved. We saw many colorful fish and corals, but the most special for me was snorkeling with turtles. Once in a while we would find a turtle and follow it around, of course without touching them or any corals. There is just something so cool about turtles, it really reminded me of the turtles in Finding Nemo/Dory, with their chilled out expression. The combination of dolphins and turtles in one day felt magical and made the trip romantic. The only downside to snorkeling in Oman is that the water can be cloudy, not sure if it´s because of the heat/algae or if it depends on the time of day and season. This means that once the fish/turtles swim away a bit, it´s difficult to keep track of them or what you want to look at. This wasn’t really an issue for us. The sea life was so varied, colorful, and alive that it really made it a wonderful experience. We saw one other boat of snorkelers when we arrived, but at one point we did have the entire bay to ourselves. Whether you are traveling solo or as a couple I really recommend this experience!

Since we combined the Snorkeling and Dolphin tour into one, it took about 4 hours in total. My genius plan of filming underwater with the Gopro failed when I realized I forgot it at home, so no pictures for this one!

• Wahiba Sands 

The Wahiba Sands are one of Oman´s deserts. It´s about a 2-hour drive from Muscat, which makes it perfect for a day trip. We hired a private guide to take us there since you needed a minimum of 6 people for a group. In the end, it was quite pricey but totally worth it!

The sand has different shades of gold, orange, and brownish colors that mix with each other, making it a very special landscape and different from other deserts. The sand is made from corals and has special minerals that people use for health purposes. Apparently, some people like to bury themselves in the sand. I was too busy running up and down the dunes to try this. Since I never rode a camel before, I was hoping I could be a typical tourist and find a camel to go around the Wahiba Sands. While I did see a lot of camels chilling inside fences in the middle of the desert, none of the owners were around so we couldn´t rent one out for riding. Aside from walking around on the super hot sand, our driver started driving very steeply up and down dunes and skidding from the sides, in what is known as dune-bashing. Personally, I had never tried it before, and although it was quite scary it was tons of fun! You just have to trust that the car will not flip over. Again, we did not see any other tourists, which made the experience quite romantic for us!

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**Make sure to wear closed shoes as the sand is extremely hot!!**

• Wadi bin Khalid Oasis

Our private guide also took us to the Wadi bin Khalid Oasis near the Wahiba Sands. Since they´re both quite close to each other, you can combine both on a day trip from Muscat. I always had a dream to visit an Oasis, and this was probably one of the main motivations to visit Oman. On the drive to the Wadi, you can already see palm trees springing all over near the highway on the areas where the rivers go by. Oman has such beautiful landscapes! The Wadi was the only spot where we saw local Omani people (in addition to the mall in Muscat). Because their culture is more conservative, I wore a t-shirt over my bathing suit. Our hotel concierge told us that before it was ok to go just in a bathing suit to the Wadis, but that since the Italian tourists started visiting it changed because ¨they go as if they´re naked¨. That really made me laugh as I pictured guys in speedos in the middle of the Wadi. The wadi was like a small lake surrounded by large rocks and palm trees, it really gave such a charming backdrop. There is a café where you can get food and lemonade, and there are also bathrooms where you can change (take your own tissues/TP!). The water of the wadi was cold but since it was so extremely hot outside (38 degrees C), it felt so refreshing. There are some little fish where the rocks meet the water, watch out because they bite, although apparently they are healthy and some people pay for these pedicures in some places. As we swam, families started arriving with picnics in order to start the weekend (in Oman it starts on Thursday). It was also nice to see local Omanis enjoying themselves, since other than our guide, we had not met any other Omanis. If you go, ask your driver to stop somewhere for Karayak tea, it’s similar to chai latte and oh so delicious!

 

• Souk

I always love visiting souks/bazaars. There is just something about the mix of colors, the small alleys, and the curiosity of looking at everything that the market has to offer. However, I must say that the souk in Muscat exceeded my expectations. It is set very picturesquely right on the harbor, and although it wasn´t as pretty as the ones I visited in Iran, or as big as the one in Istanbul, it had something else- an authentic vibe. Obviously, a lot of tourists visit the souk, but it called my attention that the stuff they sold wasn’t the typical souvenirs, but more products that are actually used in Oman. Of course, there were also many pashmina shops and Indian textiles but I really enjoyed seeing all the local crafts and bought some spices for cooking back at home. I always joke that everything I like happens to be the most expensive item in a shop, and this became true in Oman again. Oman is known for its wooden doors, which line up the beautiful streets in Stone Town in Zanzibar. At the market, they sold miniature versions that you can use for home decoration. I was not quite satisfied by the ones they tried to sell me, either the paint was too dark, or the door didn’t quite open the way I wanted it to (yes, I’m super picky). And then, suddenly, I found the perfect one. It was cute, with many finely carved details, a metal knob and studs, and even a lock at the back. It turned out that the ones that didn’t fully convince me were made in India (still Omani style) and were cheaper versions, and the one that I had picked up was the real Omani very very expensive one. When I tried to negotiate the price down, the shopkeeper seemed so offended that I didn’t think Omani hand labor deserved such a price. He kept telling me that it was made ¨by Omani hands!¨. Maybe it’s becoming very rare for Omanis in Muscat to do any hand labor at all. Of course I could see it was finer, not because of the Omani hands that touched it, but just because it really was higher quality and finely made. Eventually, we settled on a price that we were both happy with and now the little door is sitting on my living room table.

Jewelry makes up a large part of the souk in Muscat. I saw so many women getting gold jewelry in the stores. They had some beautiful designs. In general, I´m more into silver, and I was very happy with a pair of turtle-shaped stud earrings that my boyfriend got me as a gift (wearing them as I type).

• Grand Mosque

The grand mosque in Muscat was so beautiful and different from the mosques that I had visited before in other countries. While they do have one big tiled mosaic at the large men’s prayer room, most of the mosque building is made from white marble, so elegant and majestic. Along the corridors, they have examples of different middle-eastern tiles used as Islamic decoration throughout history. As I’m obsessed with tiles, this was super interesting for me. I really liked the corridor with the Persian rug style tiles and the Indo-Persian style reminiscent of the Taj Mahal. The mosque is only open for non-muslims at specific times, so check this if you wish to visit. After exploring the mosque, we were invited for coffee and dates in a small side room of the mosque by a woman that worked there. They invite tourists in so they can discuss and ask any questions about Islam, and clear any doubts, so it’s purpose is to foster inter-cultural dialogue.

 

• Muscat mall

The mall was very nice, and it was the only other place where we saw local Omani people (most service jobs are done by immigrants). I didn’t expect for people in the city to dress so conservatively, but I especially liked the Omani hats that men wore, sometimes with a colored turban wrapped around it. The mall wasn’t so different from a mall that you could find in the US or another country, but it was still fun to shop around and try the food court. They also have a large supermarket (well, massive for European standards) where we got my beloved cardamom coffee (don’t buy the Nescafe one, it’s disgusting) and tons of snacks for the hotel. Omanis and I share something in common, which is our love for a particular spice, cardamom. I love it in coffee, tea, pastries, chewing gum, I just love it.

• Bait al Zubair Museum

If you like anthropology/cultural museums you will enjoy the Bait al Zubair museum. The museum is quite small and has a collection of all the different traditional garments, outfits, utensils and furniture of Oman. Every piece has an informative explanation of how it is/was used and its relevance to the culture. The museum gives you a good picture of the history of Oman, its people, and their culture. Considering that Oman is not very known abroad, and even in Oman it is difficult to mix with local people as a tourist, this museum really helped to give me a fuller picture of the country and its history. It also touches upon Oman’s past as a trading country and its relationship to other countries, such as the neighboring Arab countries, Persia, and Zanzibar. I especially liked looking at the Omani daggers called Khanjar. They have so many beautiful ones from different historical times, and they also differ according to the social background of the person wearing them. I found it quite cool that basically the men’s traditional attire is still being worn these days, just a little bit different. The women I saw were wearing mostly black Abayas, which was an influence from the neighboring countries and Iran. Personally, I liked the women’s traditional Omani outfits better since they were more colorful and the headscarf loosely draped, but I can understand how for everyday wear the black abayas are simple, easy and elegant, as described by the woman at the Grand Mosque.

All in all, I really recommend Muscat and Oman in general as a destination for couples. Many of the activities available are so romantic, we really had a great time there!

If you have any questions or would want some recommendations when planning your trip, please don’t hesitate to message me.

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