Helle and Peter had a one-week road trip in Oman with Jebel Shams and old forts in November 2025. We rented a car in Muscat, and spend the first day there to go an a snorkeling trip to Daymaniyat islands. Then we headed to the Saiq plateau in the mountains, stayed in Misfah, and started a 2-day hike around the grand canyon of Jebel Shams. On the last days we explored Bahla, Jabreen castle and Nizwa, before driving south to the Sea Turtle Reserve in Raz Al Jinz.
We flew with Etihad, and arrived at Muscat airport at 22:30. An hour later we had passed immigration, received our luggage and picked up our rental car from Sixt. We drove to the Radisson Blu hotel and went straight to bed.
Day 1 – Daymaniyat Islands and Muscat
After a short night we drove to Al Mouj Harbour to go snorkling with Marmar Tourism and Marine to The Natural Reserve of Daymaniyat Islands.
The sea was completely smooth, it was sunny and the temperature was already approaching 30 degrees. After 45 minutes on the boat we reached the Islands and jumped into the turquoise blue water.
The water was very clear and below the surface we saw colourful fish and more than 30 green sea turtles. It was amazing to swim with the turtles and watch how they went to the surface to breath and back down to the bottom. After an hour it was time for a break and refreshments.
The Kenyan boat captain took us to a white beach on the other side of the island, with another snorkeling spot. We walked around the beautiful island which has rough rocks, turquoise water, white beaches with the finest sand and sparse green vegetation. What a paradise.
In the afternoon we went to Oman Mall to buy camping gas at Decathlon for our hiking trip later this week. Decathlon didn’t have gas, but we found it at the HyperMax supermarket.
Muscat is a city for cars. The roads are huge and there is lots of expressways. Many streets have numbers instead of names.
It was time to explore the area around the Corniche with Muttrah Fort, Muttrah Souq and the old merchant houses lining the Corniche. Muttrah Fort is tiny, but beautifully set on the cliffs with an overview of the harbor with the Corniche, Souq and fish market.
We strolled down the Corniche to see the old merchant houses and had dinner at the beautiful Omani Restaurant Bait Al Luban.
Day 2 – Muscat to Misfah via Al Jamal Al Akhdar
Before leaving Muscat we made a visit to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Completed in 2001, it was an impressive sight with the richly decorated marble and white sandstone. In the outside arcades were niches decorated with tiles from all the Islamic world. In the main prayer hall a one-piece carpet of 70 by 60 m (21 tons in weight) covered the floor, and above an enormous Swarovski crystal chandelier in the 50 m high central dome. Is was astonishing.
The 2-hour drive to Al Jamal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain) was beautiful. At 2000 mas, the temperature had dropped to 15 degrees on the Saiq plateau. We chose hiking route W18b between the village of Al Ayn and Ash Shirayjah. The area is known for the terraced fields, where almonds, apricots, figs etc. are grown.
Route W18b starts at Diana point and is clearly marked, and most of the trail is built as stairs. Part of the route also follow the “Aflays” (water channels), that provide irrigation for the crops in the otherwise dry mountains. It was impressive to see how the dry mountain had been turned into fertile land.
We arrived in Misfah as the sun was setting at 5.30 pm. Misfah is a traditional medieval Omani village with narrow alleys and clay-houses build on the mountain above a wadi that has been turned into a date plantation.
Misfah is a truly atmospheric village, where we stayed the night at Misfah Hospitality Inn. The Inn is a traditional Omani house with thick walls and small window openings to keep the heat out during summer. The rooftop restaurant has beautiful views of the valley below.
Day 3 and 4 – Hiking in Jebel Shams
To get the most out of the daylight hours, we left the hotel at 7:45 and drove to Wadi Ghul, where we parked the car and started the hike.
Read about the hike here.
On day two we reached the View hotel at 18:30, an hour after sunset. We hoped to find a way to get down from the mountain, and we were lucky, as three hotel workers just finished their workday and were driving down to Al Hamra, so we got a lift down with them. They told us that no taxis were driving on the mountain after sunset.
Ali offered to drive us all the way to our car for a small payment, but as we reached Al Hamra he told us that he could not take us further. We were dumped by the bus station.
No taxis drove by, so we tried to hitch. After 10 minutes a guy offered us a ride. Most Omanis speak fluent English, and our driver as well. He asked us a million questions on the 15 minute drive to Wadi Ghul, and was happy to help visitors. As the other Omanis we met, he was proud of his country. We were so grateful for the hospitality of Omanis.
At 20:00 we were finally at our car and had a 30 minute drive to our hotel in Bahla. After a quick shower we had dinner at the rooftop terrace with views towards the floodlit Bahla fort and the crowds of people. It was Omani day, and it seemed like every Omani was on the street to celebrate. A huge contrast to the tranquility of the mountains.
Day 5 – Bahla to Nizwa via Jabreen Castle
Bahla fort is the oldest fort in Oman and is a UNESCO heritage site, with archaeological remains dating back 5000 years. 100 years ago it lay in ruins, but today it has been fully restored.
The walls are 3-4 meters thick. Besides the defensive purpose, it also helps keep the heat out during summer. The fort has a storage tower for dates and a system to press dates and collect the date sirup. In case of fighting, the date sirup was boiled and poured over the enemies.
The nearby Great Mosque of Bahla is not impressive when seen from the outside, but on the inside it has inscriptions dating from 1033 and a beautiful carved niche from 1511.
Just across the road from the fort is Bahla Souq. It is a local, rural marked, where men were chatting and drinking Omani coffee. We were invited to sit and have coffee and dates with the locals. No English was spoken here, but the hospitality was evident.
Jabreen Castle has elegantly decorated ceilings and doors and looks more like a palace than a castle. It was build in 1670 by iman Bil’arub bin Sultan and has also been fully restored. The first madrasa in Oman was situated in the castle and islam, astronomy, mathematics, medicine etc was taught here.
Nizwa old town was full of people celebrating the national holiday. We found a rooftop restaurant overlooking Nizwa fort and Jamea Al-Qala’a Mosque. While having lunch traditional Omani music was played at the square in front of the fort. It was very atmospheric and we just soaked it all in. We checked in at Riad Nizwa.
The old city was crowded with people in the evening, all there to celebrate Oman national day. All restaurants were full, but after waiting we were lucky to have a table where we had dinner. The food was good, and the views were fantastic with the floodlit Nizwa fort and mosque.
After dinner we visited the fort, and there were many activities: Food stalls, children’s activities and live music and entertainment from a stage. In another courtyard a tradition Omani performance was held.
Day 6 – Nizwa to Ras Al Had
Every Friday morning the traditional goat market takes place in Nizwa souk. We got up at 6:30 to experience it. It was humming with people, goats and cows. At 7:15 the goat owners started to walk with the goats in a large circle with people bidding on the goats from all sides. Goats shifted owners and the new owners went away with their purchase. We spoke with one of the new owners and the price of a goat is approximately 50 OMR corresponding to 120 Euros.
After breakfast we headed south towards Ras Al Had. We had 4 hours of driving through dry landscapes with small hills. We decided to make a stop at Bidiyah to see the sand dessert and the camel race course.
In Bidiyah we picked a random dirt track toward the dessert, and drove towards the sand dunes. The surface changed from gravel to soft sand, and the car struggled not to get stuck, so we turned around. We got a glimpse of the red sand dunes continuing far inland.
There were no camel race on the race course, so it was a quick stop. This was a conservative part of the country, so Helle covered up with a head scarf.
Wadi Bani Khalid is a half hour detour from the main road. The wadi is known for the beauty, the pools for swimming and a cave with bats and running water. The wadi was indeed beautiful with steep cliffsides, rocks formed by running water and palms. It reminded us of Wadi Ghuweir in Jordan. It was a Saturday and the wadi was packed with Omanis and migrant workers picknicking and swimming in the pools.
The cave in Wadi Bani Khalid has very narrow entrance. Inside the cave were tiny bats hanging from the roof, and further inside was a flowing stream. The cave was hot and humid.
After a refreshing swim in one of the cold pools we continued to Raz al Had.
We arrived at Salem Fish Guesthouse half an hour before sunset, and quickly changed into swimwear and headed to the beach for an afternoon swim and to watch the sunset.
We had one of our best meals at Salem Fish Guesthouse, at a long table with all the other guests where we chatted and exchanged experiences from Oman.
November is low season for watching sea turtles laying eggs on the beach at Raz al Jinz. Many others wanted to try their luck, and the Turtle Reserve was full of people that wanted to join the tour. No reservation is needed, you just need to be in the reception of the Raz al Jinz turtle reserve at 20:20.
At the beach we saw a tiny baby turtle, the size of a palm, struggling to get down to the ocean. A cat was hunting the baby turtles, and only 2 out of 1000 turtles survive to become adults. Later a large turtle crawled back to the sea leaving a huge track behind. The turtle was 1 meter long, and must have had a weight of more than 100 kg. Turtles lay approximately 100 eggs at a time. It lays eggs 3 times with 2 weeks in between. It takes 1 hour to dig the nest, 15 min to lay the eggs and 1 hour to cover the eggs. The eggs will hatch after 2 months. It was impressive to see the turtles on the beach and we were grateful for our luck.
Day 7 – Raz al Had to Muscat
Our last day in Oman started with a boat trip with Salem, the owner of our guesthouse. He took us out to watch dolphins and go snorkeling. The dolphins were playful and jumped out of the water. The dolphins were very fast and it was difficult to catch them with the camera. It was fascinating to watch them jump and play.
Salem took us closer to the cliffs for snorkeling. Most of the corals were dead, but there were lots of colorful fish.
We were back at the guesthouse at 11:00, had a shower and packed our luggage to be ready for our midnight flight.
In Sur we visited the still functioning boat factory, where they build the traditional Omani wooden dhow ships. They had a number of boats at different stages in the building process, which made it easy to see the process.
We had been recommended Zaki restaurant, so we went there for lunch. It was packed with locals. We had delicious Indian dishes and fresh creamy mango juice.
On the road towards Muscat we made a quick stop at Bimmah sinkhole. We didn’t feel like swimming, so we just watched it from above.
As sunset approached, we reached Muscat and had a nice walk around the old town of Muscat and the Sultan palace.
We found a cafe overlooking the harbor, and enjoyed the last night of our one-week road trip in Oman with Jebel Shams and old forts, sitting outside in 24 degrees and looking at the people walking by.