Oman 10d Trip Schedule - Please Comment! Thank you!

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jannevdb
jannevdb

Hi!

We are leaving for Oman tomorrow (yeah this is really last minute post:) and was hoping someone might be able to give some perspective on below trip schedule as it is quite flexible (no actual bookings made other than Muscat). So more than happy to change following comments as we go. We rented a 4*4.

Day1-3: Muscat visit and enjoying the hotel

Day 4: Head slowly down the Muscat/Sur coastal and setup camp around Al Seifa (read that its got good beaches)

Day 5: Further down coastal road and was thinking of driving up to Gaylah in the morning and doing Wadi Shab in the afternoon as i understood they are near too eachother (not too strecthed? or what about Wadi Tiwi? Sleeping that night i was thinking about either Wadi Shab camping or Tiwi beach camping (again all advise is welcomed)

Day 6: Wadi Bani Khalid followed by Sur peek around and heading in the evening to the Turtle Reserve (got preliminary booking in the reserve hotel - is this worth it or better to camp somewhere wild around turtle beach of course honoring the turtle rules!)

Day 7: Head for the Wahiba Sands with stay over in the Desert Discovery Camp - Question we will be reaching the Sands pretty early while Desert Discovery only picks up its clients at 3pm at Al Wasil - Is there any chance to rent the day itself somewhere a guide and hit the desert already in the morning ending at the Nomadic Camp? In terms of guide we are hoping we can actually drive orself then instead of being driven. Should we maybe cancell the desert camp and camp ourselves??

Day 8: Leave the Sands and do Wadi Khabbah and/or Wadi Tayein. Is this too strectched if so which one do you recommend? Sleep in Nizwa - if any one nows a good camping spot around Nizwa please share as currently we were thinking of maybe staying in a hotel that night.

Day 9: Head up to Jebel Akhdar and camp on one of its 2 plateaus (good idea overall?)

Day 10: Head up to Jebel Shams visiting Wadi Gul staying in the Jebel Shams Hotel (too little for a day or too much?)

Day 11: Wadi Bani Awf finishing back in Muscat in the evening.

So thats a bit our plan but i would love to get some comments/tips and advice on it as we are fully flexible. Maybe we are missing some must-sees or should take longer our time in one place? We do have to leave Muscat for Dubai in the morning of the 11th. For this transfer we were thinking taking one of the bus companies eg. Comfort line or Oman National - Any advice? Should we book?

Looking so forward to it!! Cheers!

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genghis_caterpillar
genghis_caterpillar

Really nice itinerary - you've obviously done your research, and generally its good, but a couple of thoughts:

Day4 - Al Seifah. Lovely beaches, but as far as I know (I might be wrong) there's no road connection through to the south from here, so you'll have to do some backtracking almost back to Muscat the next morning to get onto the coast road. As an alternative, consider camping on the beach at Fins which is also lovely.

Day 5 - I dont know Gaylah so cant comment, but I could easily spend a whole day in either of Wadis Shab and Tiwi so I'd probably focus on one for the whole day. Wadi Shab isnt great for camping because there's a limit to how far you can take the car, but I've camped several times in Wadi Tiwi and enjoyed it, so consider that as an overnight option.

Day 6 - definitely worth staying at the reserve. There are patrols to stop wild camping, and its generally discouraged.

Day 7 - Most of the camps will let you rent a guide to do some self-driving in the sands. Would be worth contacting them once you arrive in Muscat to see if any of them will arrange a full day or half day of sand driving in your own car before heading into the camp in late afternoon. The camps can be a bit annoying when they're full at the weekends, but if you go mid-week, its well worth it, and good to have access to showers etc because wild camping in the sand leaves you awful gritty. And would also be hard to get the guide for the driving if you're not staying with them that evening I suspect.

Day 8 - I dont know either of these wadis to advise but again I'd recommend sticking with one and spending the full day as you get more out of these places when you leave the car and start exploring on foot. I've camped in the old town of Tanuf many years ago and that used to be a good camp site, fairly close to Nizwa.

Day 9 - yes

Day 10 - definitely not too little.

I think it would be a shame to be in the Nizwa area and not visit any of the forts (maybe because I'm a castle geek), but I would make the effort to see either Nizwa fort, or preferably Jabreen, and would probably use Day 8 as a forts and souk day in and around Nizwa, but that may not be your thing.

I havent used the MCT - DXB buses so cant give you any definite advice, but if you have a fixed time to be in Dubai, its probably worth getting your tickets in advance, before you leave Muscat.

You'll have a fabulous time. Enjoy.
GC

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jannevdb
jannevdb

Thank you so much Genghis! Looking forward to it!

Cheers,
Jan

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