A celebrated local beauty spot, this khor (inlet) is often partitioned from the sea by a sandbar that shrinks and grows according to the season. In the summer, water chasing through Wadi Darbat sometimes breaches the bar, dissolving the lagoon back into the sea. After a heavy storm surge, it can take months for the beach to rebuild. As tempting as it looks, swimming here is very dangerous as the waves are powerful and there is a strong undertow.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Al Baleed Archaeological Park
19.97 MILES
Well-labelled and atmospherically lit at night, the ancient ruins of Al Baleed belong to the 12th-century trading port of Zafar. Frankincense was shipped…
Jebel Samhan Viewpoint
18.23 MILES
The upper plateau of Jebel Samhan suddenly ends in a vertiginous drop more than 1000 meters to the coastal plain below. Barely a ledge interrupts the…
Wadi Darbat
5.2 MILES
A popular picnic site during the khareef and a great place to enjoy the jebel in any season, Wadi Darbat is a grassy plateau in the hills marked by Oman's…
Sumhuram Archaeological Park
0.59 MILES
Looking across one of Dhofar's prettiest bays at peacefully grazing camels and flocks of flamingos, it’s hard to imagine that 2000 years ago Khor Rori was…
Ayn Razat
14.9 MILES
The most striking of all the springs scattered across the Salalah Plain, Ayn Razat flows copiously from the hillside at all times of year and rolls across…
Wadi Darbat Waterfall
2.98 MILES
Every few years, steady rains across the jebel result in a torrent of water racing across Wadi Darbat and falling over the edge, 300m to the Salalah Plain…
Job’s Tomb
29.84 MILES
In religious terms, this tomb is probably the most important site in Dhofar. The tomb of Prophet Job, mentioned in the Old Testament and venerated by…
Taqah Castle
2.72 MILES
This small but well-preserved castle was built in the 19th century. With a furnished interior, good signage and an accompanying booklet explaining the…
Nearby Dhofar attractions
1. Sumhuram Archaeological Park
0.59 MILES
Looking across one of Dhofar's prettiest bays at peacefully grazing camels and flocks of flamingos, it’s hard to imagine that 2000 years ago Khor Rori was…
2. Taqah Castle
2.72 MILES
This small but well-preserved castle was built in the 19th century. With a furnished interior, good signage and an accompanying booklet explaining the…
3. Wadi Darbat Waterfall
2.98 MILES
Every few years, steady rains across the jebel result in a torrent of water racing across Wadi Darbat and falling over the edge, 300m to the Salalah Plain…
4. Wadi Darbat
5.2 MILES
A popular picnic site during the khareef and a great place to enjoy the jebel in any season, Wadi Darbat is a grassy plateau in the hills marked by Oman's…
5. Ayn Athum Waterfall
7.4 MILES
Just before reaching a spring of the same name, a small car park appears on the right-hand side of the road and a paved path disappears mysteriously into…
6. Ayn Athum
7.63 MILES
One of several issuing from the hills above the plain to the east of Salalah, this spring trickles into a reservoir at the end of the road. The spring…
7. Ayn Tabraq
8.69 MILES
One of the prettiest springs sprinkled across the eastern Salalah Plain, this one ushers from a bare rock and is channelled through a zigzagging concourse…
8. Tawi Atayr
9.89 MILES
This deep sinkhole (1 million cu metres), known as the Well of Birds, gapes without warning in a corrugated landscape of rock, covered in thicket. A small…