Things to do in  Oman

We did this on April 1 so the weather is just now starting to get hot. It's a 45-min hike (not walk) each way to outside of your energy spent on swimming in the pools you have to account for a solid 1.5 hours of hiking to/from the pools. With the heat, that can take a toll on people but overall a very nice excursion to see what Oman has to offer.

Ilyas was a fantastic and very professional guide with an amazing depth of Omani history to share. We travelled with our family, with teenage young adult children. I was a bit nervous with the hike - in high summer it can be exhausting with temperatures in the high 30's and the swimming spots are deep in parts. The final "hidden cave" is a bit scary as you need to swim in a narrow gorge. Ilyas was very reassuring and indicated the spots for rest along the way - we always felt very safe. I don't think i would have enjoyed or felt safe on this trip without such a professional guide. The scenery is stunning. Lunch was in a fantastic local restaurant with authentic local fare. Would highly recommend.

Azuz was an awesome guide - he knew the all best areas to go and was an expert dune basher. He was very knowledgeable of Oman, the desert, and was excellent company while we soaked in the views of the desert. Unfortunately, we had some rain spoil some of our planned activities, but we ended up going to an amazing camp site away from the empty quarter and had a great bbq there. Azuz had all the required equipment for the trip and our party had a great time. Would definitely recommend - ended up with some great photos and a ton of memories. The booking agent was also super helpful. Shout out to Sophie for her help.

Saif was our tour guide on the journey. The overall trip was exactly as described and some more. We had an entertaining car ride learning all about Oman on the way to Wadi Shab, including some unplanned stops for karak chai and breakfast en route the destination. Saif helped organize some water shoes etc needed at the actual location (which we'd completely forgotten about). The place itself is beautiful and the waterfall inside the cave is quite incredible. Overall - highly recommend the tour (and Saif!)

We had a great time on this trip. Nabhan picked us up on time and was very friendly and engaged the entire time. He spoke very good English. Although the excursion requires a lot of driving, we loved it because the scenery was so beautiful. Oman is a great place to visit: friendly, beautiful, and totally safe.

The guide was very knowledgeable about the sites and areas visited. He also shared much information about the culture of the Omani people. It was an up close experience meeting the people in their home environments. Also the trip provided many outdoor activities which I enjoyed. I would strongly recommend this tour.

The driver/ guide was kind and nice. He brought me for some local Omani food that includes camel meat. When I told him I wanted to visit Muttrah souq, out of good will he drove me there and assisted me in some deal bargaining for my souvenirs. Thank you!

Abdullah was amazing and really informative. You could tell he knew a lot about history and took the time to explain everything to us - we did nizwa and jebel shams with him. The next day we sorted a tour to al ayn to see the famous beehive tombs as well as balha fort. Our guide was salim. He didn’t know anything really about balha and the fort itself was stunning but it didn’t have any information written in the rooms etc. Oman are in the process of improving this. However, he said little is known about the fort but we went home and googled it and there’s lots of info- salim just didn’t know a huge amount about it which was sad because we paid 130 for this tour. However, he was v competent taking us to al ayn to see the tombs. I think maybe just work on providing more information and improving knowledge - the rest was great

Khalid was kind and helpful. It was a bit awkward for 5 adults in a Toyota Camry - with one woman. But we all made the best of it. He was conversational and interested in exchanging information. He was willing to answer questions posed to the best of his ability. His English was good. We would have enjoyed a more enhanced conversation of the history of Oman and the Arabian peninsula. He seemed to be informed regarding the current economic situation and lifestyle of the Omanis. It was helpful to have brief tour of the major highlights during our first visit.

Thank you for an amazing day tour into the Oman desert. We enjoyed the cave pools and drive into seeing local life in the desert. We had the opportunity to try coffee and dates - a must! A very comfortable vehicle with air conditioning and Wi-Fi available. A knowledgeable driver and tour guide whose first language is not English but was excellent. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Wadi Shab is a gorgeous hike and lives up to the pictures. A couple parts take some agility, but it’s a “doable” hike through the valley and past a couple small-plot farms. The driver was good, but if you are expecting a guide, lower your expectations. Basically, you get on a bus, plug in your audio guide headphones, and start cruising. The driver does not really explain the itinerary for the day or what you are about to see. He just points you in the direction of the trail and off you go. Same with lunch and the sinkhole. It’s a nice way to see a different side of Oman though.

This is a convenient way to visit Nizwa and Jebel Shams for a day as a solo traveler. The very friendly guide used his own car which was comfortable and convenient. He also knows the route very well so the risk of getting lost was not a problem. The guide was also very friendly and knowledgeable and was able to answer all the questions I had. I also felt safe the entire time I was on this trip. I highly recommend visiting these two must-see locations if you ever travel to Oman!

We had an amazing day with Hamood al Kulaiby!! He is a great travel guide and driver and really took care that we had an unforgettable day in the Omani mountains! He picked us up by the hotel, right on time, and we then drew to Nizwa, stopping at some location along the road for pictures. In Nizwa we visited the souk and the fort. We then proceeded up in the mountains and canyons were we had lunch at a local restaurant before enjoying the stunning view from the top! On the way back we stopped to see a plantation and the fascinating irrigation system. What we mostly appreciated about this tour and Hamood was to see how much Omani people love their country! Thanks for this great experience!

My tour of Oman was one of the highlights of my recent cruise. The reason why is Afaf Al-Abdullatif. She is one of the brightest smartest tour guides I have ever had an any tour overtaken around the world. She has a masters degree speak multiple languages in her English is perfect. She has a passion for country and she shows it he becomes infectious. My wife and I were absolutely overwhelmed by the quality of knowledge and dedication and going the extra distance that she did for us. She showed us the basic tour items but went the extra distance showing us more. I plan on coming back to Oman just because of her. Anybody to have her as your guide has just won the lottery.

Pick-up 8am to 8.30am Prompt, at 8am Only one other passenger, Enoch from HK. Whilst filling up with petrol, some random Omani guy clambered on board and he and the driver spoke loudly in Arabic. Almost drowning out the English audio. Turns out he's a tourguide in training. We should have been told. Good infrastructure in Oman. Dual carriageway through the mountains. First stop, walked up an incline to view a palm tree grove and abandoned 500yo village. Present day village name translates to "The Cool of the Bananas". Some Zanzibar architectural influences. IZWA SOUQ One hour in Nizwa. "No time to see the Fort (5 rials), yet there is always too much time for coffee, food-tasting and the set lunch ! Lunch was far too much food, which we wasted. I realise that the two drivers needed a break JABREEN CASTLE BAHLA CASTLE Bahla was home to the "Djinns" (Genies). A beautiful day ended in a rainy drive back to Muscat.

My fiancee was set on doing this while I was a bit skeptical only because we're not the chatty types. I am glad we did it. Start to finish this was well organized, professional, intimate and authentic. We were picked right on time by one of the co-founders and driven to the host's house. We spent 2 hours with the family and were picked back up and dropped to our hotel. The family spoke English very well, was very well educated and well traveled. We enjoyed meeting with them and conversation was easy, flowing and engaging. Learned a lot about Oman and the culture. The food was well prepared, simple and diverse (veg, meat, apps, rice, bread). We enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it.

Muscat is a beautiful, pristine city, well worth visiting. We arranged a half day tour with a local guide who met us from our ship and took us on a whirlwind tour. We visited the highlights including the Grand Mosque, the Royal Opera House and the Muttarah souk. We also drove up the mountain for a panoramic view of the city. Considering the short time we had to visit, our guide, Sultan gave us the best possible experience. If you have an opportunity to visit Oman, take it. It is very clean, the people are friendly and the architecture most interesting.

This is a good tour. We are 2 Americans on a cruise in February 2019. When we exited the port the company had a sign with our name. We got on a bus with about 20 other people which drove us about 10 min to the Dhow boats. The boat was average. It had an upstairs and toilet, and comfortable seats. Only about 13-15 people on the boat with us, and it’s fairly large so it was not at all crowded. The guides were great. They kept following dolphins which jumped out of the water every once in a while. We also saw a lot of jellyfish. The guides knew which part of the sea to go to so that we could swim away from the jellyfish. One woman hit her hand on a rock while swimming and the guides (2 on our boat) helped her bandage it. Lunch was average. Overall a great day. I highly recommend this tour. Note that there’s almost nothing else to do in Khasab of any value. A small town, mosque and Souk but I don’t know what we would have done with our day if we hadn’t taken this cruise. Also it’s interesting to see the Iranian smugglers all rushing out of the harbor around 5-6 pm, on speedboats and driving erratically to confuse the police, who were out there but didn’t seem to chase any or care. This tour was very well organized and we had a good time.

My friend and I booked the 2 day tour of Nizwa, Wahiba Sands and Wadi Shab as part of our time in Oman. We had an unbelievable experience. Our guide met us at the hotel on time, was personable and willing to answer all of our questions. When we asked to stop to see an abandon village he said no problem at all. Our accommodations in Wahiba Sands far exceeded our expectations. We had our own private room that was a free standing room/bathroom with air conditioning - not attached to any other rooms. They had a communal sitting area with tea and snacks available. Our buffet dinner included live music. The sand dunes were beautiful. The hotel offered activities such as camel rides at an additional cost. We were able to get to Wadi Badi Khalid before any of the crowds and enjoy swimming in the Wadi by ourselves. We were able to hike through Wadi Shab and see the sink hole before making our way back to Muscat. We had a great experience and only wished we had more time to have added Jebel Shams to our tour! As a critique- we were not informed of where our hotel in Wahiba Sands was before departure. It would have been nice to know a head of time. Also the hike for Wadi Shab is more treacherous than advertised. I would make sure people are prepared with good walking shoes if they plan to participate.

With some initial difficulty during confirmation as to where exactly to meet the driver we arrived at the port gate the same time as our driver Ali. Car was very clean and comfortable Ali's English was excellent as was his driving. His knowledge of Muscat and Oman generally was very good and he provided some interesting facts about the places we visited. We were never rushed to complete the tour in the allotted time he was quite comfortable to stay at each stop for as long as we wished. For someone like ourselves calling on a cruise it was an ideal way to see what Muscat has to offer we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and can highly recommend it.