Discover Oman: Nizwa, Desert Adventures, Turtle Watching & Scenic Wadis

We'll leave Muscat for the old capital of Oman Nizwa, we'll visit the famous Nizwa Market (Souq), where a wide variety of vendors offer their goods in the streets of the souq, where you can find, vegetables, pottery, jewelry, handicrafts, Omani sweets (Halwa), dates spice, and souvenirs which are sold in authentic old market halls that few places can boast, especially interesting is the Friday cattle market when the locals from the nearby villages come to sell their, goats, cattle, sheep, and chickens in a circus style open marketplace.

Next to the Souq is Nizwa Fortress, the fort is a museum today and offers splendid views of this ancient town and the surrounding mountains, you can walk around in this impressive Fortress and visit its many rooms, passages, and towers, the Fort architectural testimony to the economic and military achievements of the early Yaruba dynasty from the mid-17th century, it was a military stronghold designed to withstand even the strongest of attacks at the time, even along the corridors, many traps were laid to deter any intruders that might have penetrated the defenses.

From Nizwa we continue our journey to Ibra there we’ll visit the old part of Ibra, which is old almost 1000 years. It’s been built from mud and limestone you can walk around the village, the village is not completely abounded there are still some people living there.

From Ibra we continue our journey to the desert (Wahiba Sands) this spectacular desert has an area of 12,500 Square K.M they called also Al Sharqiya Sands, formerly known as “Wahiba Sands” is a region of desert in Oman the region was named for the Bani Wahiba tribe, divided between the northern and southern Governorates in the eastern region, the area is defined by a boundary of 180 K.Ms (110 mi) north to south and 80 K.M (50 mi) east to west, relax in the camp or take part in an adventurous 4×4 drive in the sand dunes, then we’ll watch the stunning sunset of the desert on one of the big sand dunes, we finish the day with dinner at the camp.

Overnight in Wahiba Sands ( Safari Desert Camp or Similar)

Today after check-out from our camp in the desert we'll drive to Wadi Bani Khalid, one of the biggest and most beautiful Wadis in Oman. after reaching Wadi Bani Khalid just a short walk of approximately 10 minutes (walking shoes or trainers are required) you'll see sparkling clear water pools 9 meters in depth perfect for a long swim, or relaxing sunbath, in the beautiful scenic Wadi Canyon.

From Wadi Bani Khalid,  we continue our journey to Sur, we'll give you a city tour of Sur, we'll show you the dhow factory where you can see the wooden dhow building, and we'll show you the old ship, then we take you to the old part of Sur where you can see most of the houses designed with wooden doors and windows.

From Sur, we continue our journey to Ras Al Hadd we check in our hotel/resort for the night. In the evening after a buffet dinner, we'll visit the Turtle Sanctuary at Ras Al Jinz, where we'll go on a guided beautiful walking tour on the beach at night under the stars, where we have a high chance of seeing Omanis great sea turtles stumbling onto the beach to build a nest and lay the eggs, if you are lucky, you can even see baby turtles hatching from some nests.

Overnight in Ras al Hadd (Turtle Beach Resort or Similar)

Today we continue our tour to Wadi Shab, this Wadi is an enormous canyon gorge that is lined with palm trees and impressive indications of what the power of the water coming down from the mountains can do in nature, with a 35 to 40 minute hike up through the canyon Wadi (walking shoes or trainer and swimming shoes are required) we arrive at one of the crystal clear water pools, tourists can swim through the warm waters from pool to pool, eventually, we come to the last pool where an opening among the enormous rocks allows us to swim into an incredible crevice cave with a small waterfall. Inside, the sunlight filters in from the outside, turning the water into a beautiful turquoise blue whilst water showers down one side of the cave from the wadi beyond.

From Wadi Shab, We’ll make a stop at Fins Beach or people call it white sands beach opens up a panorama of strikingly white sands and intriguingly pebbly beach, with sparkling turquoise waters and soft cool breeze.

Our next stop is Bimmah Sinkhole, a big crater near the sea with a big lake at the bottom (Swimming is possible in the Sinkhole) Bimmah Sinkhole a water-filled depression, structurally a sinkhole, in the limestone of eastern Muscat Governorate in Oman, a lake of turquoise waters, it is 50 m by 70 m wide and approximately 20 m deep, it's only about 600 m away from the sea, between the coastal towns of Dibab and Bimmah village, the sinkhole was formed by a collapse of the surface layer due to the dissolution of the underlying limestone, to preserve the sinkhole, the local municipality developed a park there.

From Sinkhole we drive back to Muscat.