We are planning to visit Oman this early fall. Can anyone
share some experiences of travelling in this country. Is
driving a rented car smart way of travelling around ????
Since we only have 2 weeks, can you point the best spots ?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
[There are 10 posts - the latest was added on Sun 9 May, 4:25]
Use the form at the end of this page to add your own post.
Topics
| Thorn Tree
| Home
Car rental is just about the only way to do it. Public
transport is taxis. No trains or coaches. You may want to
consider a 4wd vehicle rental if you can afford it (3 or 4
times the cost of saloon rental is my guess) to give you
option to go off-road BUT DON'T go in one vehicle off-road.
People do die in the desert.
.
Muscat is of course a must see place. And around about -
it's quite spread out. You could probably spend several days
there. There's a place nearby called Nizwan or something
which is supposed to be worth a visit. And if you're in the
country for two weeks, then Salalah in the south should be
on your itinerary. It's about 1000 km from Muscat though.
.
Main roads are 4 lane highways in excellent condition.
Driving standard is pretty good (much better than the UAE!).
Petrol is cheap and no shortage of petrol stations. If your
car gets dirty, wash it. A dirty car is a traffic offence.
.
If you do feel like venturing off-road, have a look at this
site. It's not Oman but may have some useful links.
(http://www.offroademirates.com/)
.
Have fun!
There is a good diving community in Muscat. The diving down
there is super! We dove in about May of last year, and the
water could get a little chilly for a 3mm wetsuit.
Go to www.altavista.com and enter the following in the
search
+diving +oman
you will get over 6000 pages to browse. Enjoy!
Wow! Some of those 6000 were really lousy. I have been
browsing around a bit (dreaming of MY next trip there!) and
here are some of the good pages I found:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/4631/damaniyt.htm
Note that Sawadi Beach Resort is a really nice place to
stay, but they didn't know how to run the place when our
group stayed there! Make sure you have lots of time for
meals and check the bill carefully! Blue Zone divers that
were the operator there at the time knew the good spots, but
overloaded the boat with divers - so much so, it was taking
in water (greed?). Still - it is worth it for the locations!
http://www.inforamp.net/~emous/oman/diving.htm
http://www.mindspring.com/~russconway/oman.htm
Renting a car in Oman is expensive but the only way to
enjoy your trip. Prices (April 99):
* for a saloon car: 14 OR/day with 200km limited or 18
OR/day illimited (advised, this is a big country) by
Thrifty Car (the cheapest one)
* for a 4WD: 40 OR/day with 200km (always expensive)
But you can drive a lot of the country in a saloon car to
visit. To drive into the wadis and the desert, 4WD is
necessary.
Good spots (personnal favorites):
the road from Muscat to Sur along the coast (beaches
paradise) with 4WD
try to go to Musandem Peninsula (it's difficult because of
visas and road permit) but it is the best region all over
the Gulf.
Enjoy your trip
How about "renting" a driver with a car? I am sure someone
knows a taxi driver or such (English-speaker,
preferably) that is willing to get paid a daily rate for
driving you around (and probably at a price not far off the
rate for you renting just a car from a company). He/she will
know the roads a lot better and can speak with the locals to
get specific directions or just to "be friendly". We did
this (a group of 11 in a minibus) and were even invited in
to a village we stopped near to stretch our legs.
Unfortunately, we were "hurrying" to Nizwa and couldn't
spare the time. In addition, you get to know at least ONE
local pretty well - and you don't have to drive and read
maps, you can spend the time hanging out the windows gawking
at the fantastic scenery ;-)
Is it worth the trip?
I am considering going there soon but what with the
transport difficulties etc. I wonder whether I might be
better of elsewhere. How much fun and how interesting is
Oman!!
Will check in later - please reply!
Cheers
Ryan
Any trip is worth it. I have been to Oman on a short trip
and hope to go back for longer. Hey - I would even go for
living there as an expat for a couple of years!
Whether it's woth the trip depends on what you're interested
in. Oman is big and there's a lot of sand. Muscat and around
is definitely worth a visit IMHO. This time of the year it's
starting to get unpleasantly hot daytimes - 35 to 40
degrees. If you're flying from a long way away just for a
week in Oman, you may want to consider a week on the Turkish
coast or something else instead. If you're in the gulf
anyway then Oman is one of the nicer places to have a look
around as a tourist. Dubai has more shopping and nightlife.0
As for transport difficulties, I wouldn't say there are any
if you rent a car. It's just that a public transport system
doesn't exist like it does in western countries.
There's a small book called 'Snorkelling and Diving In Oman'
which you'll be able to get from Family Bookshop or any
Hotel bookshop for about $10. You will certainly need to
hire a car but the driving is fine. Go to Nizwa if you can
- a most peaceful and pleasant spot. Oman is a beautiful
country well worth the effort.
There are some buses, at least from Muscat to Salalah. About
a 12 hour journey. Roads outside the Muscat region are not
four lane highways, indeed the road to Nizwa can be
dangerous due to reckless overtaking. It is black top all
the way though
Taxis are expensive. 2 years ago a trip from the airport
totown (20mins) was OR5 (as was the trip across the road to
the airport hotel!) Even so, as the drivers queue for a long
time without a fare then a daily rate might be negotiable.
The series of oil roads in the centre/south of the country
(Marmul / Nimr/Rimr) are passable by 2WD - but they are not
surfaced and uncomfortable - also until you hit the coast
they are not very scenic. Marmul to Salalah section is
apparently kept in poor condition to stop poeple taking a
short cut from the black top.
Have fun