We spent a lot of time looking into Oman and trying to decide what to do and what not to do. Specifically on whether we should try to visit the Turtles or pop into the Wahiba Sands.
In the end with Emirates cancelling our flights and us now only having 4 full days in country we decided against both. The turtle set up seemed non-conducive to the turtles with overbooking, long waits and
guides randomly throwing turtles on the beach from their pockets when none turned up naturally. This combined with us being in the wrong season lead to us being happy to skip this. For the Wahiba Sands we felt
that we did not have enough time and we have already spent lots of time in deserts and felt our time would be better spent elsewhere in Oman.
Nonetheless we still had an action packed trip planned for our limited time in Oman. This was to include a walking tour of Muscat, lots of visiting and hopefully swimming in Wadi's, driving over the Jebel Sham mountains, the Omani Grand Canyon,
Forts, Castles, Beaches and Sea.
If we had more time in Oman we would have definitely tried to include the Musandam Peninsula, Wahiba Sands and Salalah but all were too far or too difficult given the only recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
In the run up to our trip Oman was experiencing heavy rainfall. We knew a lot of the mountain roads would be shut in bad weather and so were hoping for the best before our arrival as we didn't know exactly what to expect.
NOTES: Due to connections and time differences most of our first day was lost to travel times. Again due to flight times and time differences we were not able to get much of any sleep on board the planes. At this time connections to Muscat from Dubai were very limited and sporadic and we'd already had individual legs cancelled on us by Emirates since we first booked the trip. As a result we knew we'd be picking up our rental in the dark and had planned to simply drive to the hotel before crashing for a couple of hours. We then planned to grab lunch and head out to explore Muscat on foot in the early afternoon.
NOTES: This is a long day. Best case scenario the driving portion alone will take you 7 hours. If you have worse conditions or slower drivers / traffic it may take much longer. It is wise to start the day by leaving your Hotel at or shortly before sunrise. The driving will also be quite difficult especially as you navigate through the valley cutting and eventually into the mountains. In the mountains you'll need a proper 4 wheel drive vehicle with moderate ground clearance and good power. The climbs and descents are easily 30%+ in places and on dirt / sand roads. Paths are single track and passing places leave a lot to be desired with no safety barrier and cars often having to be driven precariously close to edges with sheer drops. This drive is not recommended for the inexperienced driver.
NOTES: Again this will be a fairly long day. Spanning most of the day from Sunrise to sunset.
The drive from the hotel to Wadi Ghul is quite long and the climb back into the mountains can be arduous after such a long day on the mountain roads before it. Once out the mountains though in the afternoon the drive
becomes much more pleasant. The W6 balcony hike is not for the faint hearted as it is a small track with limited passing places and often has sheer drop offs. We didn't hike the whole length but went about one hour along
to a nice vantage point before turning back. If you hike all the way to the end I believe there is a small swimming spot. There are often locals around who will offer to guide you if wished. Really this isn't necessary
if you only want a moderate wander.
NOTES: For this journey we choose a much longer route as we wanted to include the last of the key sights to see. You can avoid these sights and shorten the drive by 2 to 3 hours plus stop time. If you don't this will be the longest day so far. You should expect about 8.5 hours driving not including stop time. Additionally if you want to avoid the crowds at Wadi Bani Khalid I'd suggest that you leave as early as you can. It is just over 2 hours to Wadi Bani Khalid and you ideally want to be there no later than 10am.
Fuel is cheap in Oman, Car Rental is average, most accomodation is expensive. Accomodation is limited in most areas to up market tourist hotels as a result you should expect to pay from £150 per night up to £500 depending on where you are staying. Food and drink from hotels will be moderately expensive. We brought snacks and drinks from local shops on route where we found them and this worked out very cheap. If you are prepared to buy water, drinks and supplement your meals with snacks you'll likely be able to keep your food costs down somewhat. Alcohol is not widely sold outside the tourist Muscat hotels.
You can see how our actual trip went along with photos here: Oman 2022