Days 1-3: Muscat, Coast & Wahiba Sands
Day 1: Arrive Muscat. Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Mutrah Souq and Corniche. Welcome dinner. Overnight Muscat.
Day 2: Bimmah Sinkhole swim. Wadi Shab hike — swim through cave to hidden waterfall. Continue to Sur for the dhow-building yards. Overnight Sur/Ras al Jinz.
Day 3: Dawn turtle watch at Ras al Jinz. Drive to Wahiba Sands for dune bashing, camel ride, desert camp dinner under the stars. Overnight desert camp.
Days 4-5: Nizwa, Jebel Shams & Jebel Akhdar
Day 4: Wadi Bani Khalid swim. Nizwa Fort and souq (silver, dates, pottery). Afternoon: drive up Jebel Shams (3,009m) — Oman’s highest peak, with views into Wadi Ghul, the “Grand Canyon of Arabia” dropping 1,000 meters. Overnight Jebel Shams.
Day 5: Sunrise over the Grand Canyon. Drive to Jebel Akhdar: terraced orchards, damask rose water, ancient aflaj irrigation. Birkat Al Mauz mud village at the mountain’s foot. Return to Muscat. Overnight Muscat.
Day 6: Fly to Khasab — Musandam Peninsula
Morning flight from Muscat to Khasab, capital of the Musandam Peninsula — an Omani exclave separated from the rest of the country by the UAE. The peninsula juts into the Strait of Hormuz, its rugged mountains plunging directly into turquoise fjords that justify the “Norway of Arabia” nickname. Board a traditional wooden dhow for an afternoon cruise through the khors (fjords). Dolphins — spinner and bottlenose — often ride the bow wave. Stop to swim and snorkel among coral gardens. Telegraph Island, where the British laid submarine cable to India in 1864, is a historical waypoint. Sunset on the water. Overnight Khasab.
Day 7: Musandam Full Day — Fjords & Mountain Villages
Full day exploring Musandam. Morning: 4×4 drive up Jebel Harim (the “Mountain of Women”), Musandam’s highest peak at 2,087 meters. Visit the fossil-studded rocks — Musandam was once a seabed, and marine fossils are visible at altitude. Stop at Sayh, a village where pre-Islamic stone houses called Bait al Qufl (lock houses) dot the hillside. Afternoon: second dhow cruise or speedboat ride to Khor Sham — the most spectacular fjord — for swimming, snorkeling, and more dolphins. The fjord’s steep walls and silence (broken only by the occasional goat and the splash of your anchor) feel impossibly remote. Farewell dinner of Omani seafood. Overnight Khasab.
Day 8: Departure
Morning at leisure. Flight from Khasab to Muscat (or drive 3 hours to Dubai for an alternative departure). Transfer to Khasab Airport.
