Oman tour, people & landscapes
3 hours in a day Single Supplement applies (£300), contact us for details
Description of Oman tour, people & landscapes
Discover a wilder side to Oman. This nine-day tour has been designed to give you a real adventure in a country that most travellers associate with luxury hotels in Muscat and glamorous desert experiences. After time in Muscat, head out, first into the dunes and then into the mountains, before returning to the coast for island snorkelling.
A highlight of this trip is visiting the sugar dunes at Al Khaluf, where you’ll camp in a white desert right next to the Arabian Sea and wake up for a spectacular sunrise breakfast. This is a less visited area of the country. By wild camping here and in Wahiba Sands, rather than staying in permanent tourist camps, this tour can take you away from the crowds and instead you might bump into nomadic Bedouin families.
Your trip continues with the famous ‘balcony walk’ at Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman, which is found in the Jabal Akhdar Mountains. Here you’ll also discover Wadi Ghul, also known as the Arabian Grand Canyon. After time in the mountains, you’ll return to the coast to snorkel the coral reefs of the Daymaniyat Islands.
On this brilliant adventure you’ll be in excellent company: accompanied at all times by a knowledgeable English-speaking Omani guide, and travelling in a group of no more than 12.
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Reviews
2 Reviews of Oman tour, people & landscapes
Reviewed on 18 Nov 2024 by Kelly Clark
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Jebel shams, snake canyon, snorkeling, Nizwa
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Used a lot of plastic bottles along the trip instead of having just a big jug of water to fill up our individual water bottles. We went to a women’s center and there was
nothing to buy which was disappointing.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
I would consider using this operator again, however there are a lot of things that need to change. Spend more time at the sights instead of rushing around them. Have better chairs for the desert -super uncomfortable. Have a driver that spoke English so he could be used as a second guide. Have a guide that is not
argumentative at times. Help the guide to be a better tour leader.
Read the operator's response here:
We’re thrilled to hear that Jebel Shams, Snake Canyon, snorkeling, and Nizwa were highlights of your trip. It was lovely to see the beautiful photos the group
shared throughout your journey—myself and the entire team loved following along with your adventure!
That said, we were disappointed to learn that single-use plastic bottles were used during the trip, as our standard practice is to provide large refillable water
containers. Sustainability is a core value for us, and we’ve already addressed this issue with our team to ensure it does not happen again.
Regarding your experience at the women’s center, we understand your disappointment at not being able to purchase anything there. We’ve shared your
feedback with the local organisation and will work with them to enrich this experience for future travelers.
We’re sorry to hear that some aspects of the trip didn’t meet your expectations. Improvements like spending more time at key sights, providing more
comfortable desert seating, and enhancing the skills of our team are priorities we’re actively addressing.
It’s wonderful to know you’d consider traveling with us again. We’d be delighted to welcome you back for another adventure! Thank you once again for
your valuable feedback—it helps us grow and improve.
Kind Regards, Rachael
Reviewed on 04 Mar 2024 by Stephen Rubin
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Listening to and talking to the Omani people
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Just do it
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I am sure the Omani people benefited from meeting people from other parts of the world
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Great
Responsible Travel
Planet
Clients on this adventure have the option to visit the Sidab Women Association, which empowers women in Oman through environmentally friendly projects that benefit all participants.Along the way we stop at local souks and encourage our travellers to support the local traders which continues the preservation Oman’s heritage. We ensure that all of our tour guides and drivers are local individuals, offered good working conditions and fair pay. We endeavour to use locally purchased supplies throughout the trip as well as all local accommodation.
This adventure includes two nights wild camping both in the 'Sugar Dunes' and also in the Wahiba Sands - an incredible way to connect with nature. We are meticulous in taking any rubbish with us and leaving the desert as we found it at both camps.
The Daymaniyat Islands are the jewels of Oman, a protected group of nine islands, abundant with marine and bird life. The islands with their crystal clear waters offer fantastic snorkelling among the most beautiful corals and colourful fish you can find in the Middle East. We visit the island towards the end of out trip and all monies go back into protecting the conservation of these stunning islands.
Finally, we are very proud to have partnered with Water-To-Go, specialists in personal and expedition water purification, instantly, and on-demand. Their unique, 350L water bottles incorporate advanced filtration technology to convert even the dirtiest water to drinking water as you fill up.
Being able to produce safe drinking water from sources off the beaten track, of sometimes dubious quality, offers incredible benefits to our adventure travellers and eliminates the need for single-use plastic bottles. We subsidise this product to make it more accessible to you.
People
On this trip we support local communities in the Wahiba Sands Desert giving our travellers the opportunity to purchase handicrafts made by the locals. Buying local handicrafts helps the local trade and allows the Bedouins to support their families.We use local guides to explain cultures and the way of life to our travellers which enables them to earn a regular living from the visiting tourists. The benefit for our travellers is that by using local guides, they know and understand the local Bedouin people, which enables our travellers to get a better insight into the way of life and cultures and traditions of the local tribes.
Throughout out tour we stay in independent locally owned hotels and additionally we stay in a locally owned Wahiba desert camp which employs local people to help run it. It is furnished and decorated using regional furniture and materials and provides locally sourced food and traditional entertainment to help support the local community. All waste from the campsites is taken away and recycled, leaving no evidence left of any travellers staying in the desert.
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