Oman
Oman has never been on our list but when we found out about Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve
https://www.rasaljinz-turtlereserve.com/en/
and we read all info online, we decided to go there, see the turtles (or not) but also check what’s going on in Oman regarding conservation of the animals and their environment.
We booked the visit through Booking.com, as they had the best price. They offer a cheaper option – rooms in the main building – as well as luxury tents in the tent village:
You could also check out this hotel, Turtle Guest House. It’s quite close to the reserve and costs about half as much as the hotel inside the reserve. It might be a particularly good option for a solo traveller, as you would only need to pay the turtle visit fee for one person. It could also be a good option if you want to stay in the area for longer.
Since Oman is not as popular a tourist destination and I found a lot of information that turned out to be wrong, completely untrue or misleading, I’m adding some additional information and tips at the end.
The route below is the most efficient way to visit all the places we visited. However, it all depends on your arrival time in Muscat. Main points to keep in mind:
The Grand Mosque is open for visitors only Monday – Friday, 8am – 10am - two hours in the morning!
The Sinkhole is a nice place to stop for a break, but it’s not worth going out of your way to visit if you have limited time in Oman.
Wadi Ash Shab – May – September – the best time to get there is 7am, later it is simply unberable hot
Bimmah Sinkhole / Hawiyyat Najm Park
It was nice to get into the cool water and feel the tiny fish swimming around our feet. The place was almost empty when we arrived around midday.
The sinkhole is in Hawiyyat Najm Park (look out for the sign on the road), very close to the motorway. There is a car park and toilets by the entrance. It’s a nice place to stop on the way, rest and take a break from your journey, but it’s not really a destination in itself — unless you have plenty of time to spare.
Beaches along the coast:
These are rocky beaches; we didn’t see anyone swimming there — only fishing boats. Swimming shoes are recommended.
Wadi Ash Shab
From the parking lot, take a boat to cross the wadi. Boats operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and charge a small fee for a return ticket.
The first part of the path is easy to follow and leads through plantations.
There are no signs, and the path disappears in a few places. I’ve marked the route on the second Google screenshot: in the first part of the wadi, the path is on the right side; later, you’ll need to follow a trail on the left side of the wadi.
Places to stay around Wadi Ash Shab: The cheapest stay close to the Wadi (use booking.com map to search other properties)
Sur
The turtle reserve
Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve was established in 1996 through the merger of two reserves: the Ras Al Jinz National Nature Reserve and the Ras Al Hadd National Scenic Reserve. Covering a total protected area of 120 square kilometres, the reserve includes a 45-kilometre coastline and extends one kilometre into territorial waters. According to the website it protects sea turtles and their natural habitat while promoting responsible tourism and preserving the region's cultural heritage.
It is the only place along Oman's coastline where you can legally watch turtles nesting. The beach is closed from 5 pm to 5 am to protect the mother turtles that come ashore at night to lay their eggs, as well as the hatchlings that emerge and make their way to the sea.
In our opinion, it felt more like a tourist attraction than a reserve dedicated to protecting turtles.
The beach
The turtles beach
They insist that they promote responsible tourism. The visitor centre is very nice and provides lots of information about green sea turtles. The rooms and food are very basic, but fine for a short stay.
Before the turtle-watching tours, you're given plenty of information about how to behave around the turtles, but once you're on the beach, nobody seems to pay much attention to the rules. During our night visit, we had a fairly small group. People were quiet and didn't use phone torches, but we still weren't comfortable with how close people were getting to the nesting turtles.
Our morning tour was delayed, and we didn't see any turtles. We saw lots of damaged nests, with eggs that had been eaten by foxes and birds, as well as fishermen's dogs running around the beach. It was quite a disturbing sight, and I wouldn't recommend coming here with children if they're expecting to see baby turtles.
During the day, we also noticed quite a lot of rubbish on the beach, which is used by fishermen. I'm sure the reserve has enough money to clean it up at least once a day.
Desert
Bidiyah
Bidiyah - Nizwa
Nizwa
We were looking for a place to stay with a car parking – it is very difficult to find one near the old part of the town. We booked Nima guest house Deluxe King Suite – very clean and comfortable room, with a huge double bed, good AC with many options, (+ a huge fan above the bed if you don’t like AC). Simple but nice, clean bathroom. There was a shared kitchen upstairs the property – excellent to make a coffee/tea, to eat a breakfast. The problem was that there was no parking at the property or next to it — there was only a public car park on the street.
Nizwa souk
Birkat Al Mouz
old town
Quantab Heights
Al Bustan
The Grand Mosque
It looks like a tourist can not enter the grounds out off the tourist visit hours (Mon – Fri 8am – 10am). You can still enter the parking, use the toilets and walk around the mosque.
Main roads in Oman
Oman is an Arab country and quite conservative. So, unless you’re unaware of the local customs or simply indifferent to them, be warned: swimming in long shorts and a loose T-shirt in 46°C heat is far from pleasant or relaxing.
I should add that we visited during the low tourist season. In fact, for most of the time, we were the only white, non-Muslims wherever we went. Of course, you’ll meet kind and even funny people — the very funny and nice older guys from Europcar at the airport, or the kind, young man who ran across the parking lot in the heat just to help me figure out why I couldn’t reverse the car. But generally, people were quite reserved. They spoke mostly to my partner (man) and often looked at me (woman) in a strange way.
The good thing is that you can feel very safe in Oman. You can park your car in the middle of nowhere and sleep in it (Omani men do this all the time, and tourists do the same). There’s none of that pressure you might experience in places like Egypt or Morocco: no aggressive selling, no unpleasant haggling, taking more money than agreed etc.
