Musandam, Oman – A Dubai Getaway That Feels Like an Escape, Not Just a Tour

Crossing the international border and entering Oman is not just a border crossing; it will mean a lot to you. From the UAE’s magnificent highways, you will gradually shift towards the roads of Musandam, where there is no traffic and no frequent signboards. In the coastal area, you will find the narrow and deep inlets named as “Khors,” which are identical to the fjords in Norway. And rocky cliffs can be seen, which are emerging from the sea and modifying the environment there. 

Musandam’s culture and the livelihoods of those people differ from the rest of Oman, as it is an exclave and separated from the Omani mainland by the UAE. Due to this, the culture there is incredibly unique. Most people are doing fishing, seafaring, etc. as their livelihoods, and between rocky cliffs and the sea, you will find tiny villages.

For travelers usually living in urban environments, this transition can be felt as a quite different experience.

The Fjords of Arabia

Musandam’s landscape is significantly different from other Arabic countries, which mostly have desert environments and arid weather. You can see massive limestone mountains/rocky cliffs in Musandam.The coastline here is naturally cut into narrow and deep inlets. These inlets resemble Norwegian fjords. These inlets are called “Khors” by local Omani people.

“Khors” are not identical to or of the same origin as Norwegian fjords. It is different. Norwegian fjords have been created due to the glacier-related activities of thousands of years. Musandam “Khors” are created from tectonic activities and the arid weather in the area. While the process is so much different, the outcome is very much similar. In Musandam, we can see how sea and land interact in different ways than other coastal landscapes in the world.

In the tourism field, tours related to most destinations are scheduled with extremely limited time scales for various activities. There are scheduled times for dining, scheduled times to take photographs, etc. However, in Musandam, you will have a different experience.

A typical journey in Musandam will be spent very slowly, and a dhow cruise lasts around 5-6 hours or even more than that. For a simple lunch onboard, you will receive rice, fish, and fruit. In swimming stops, you will receive more than enough time to swim, and the dhow operators will not interrupt you.

In this destination, organized trips are not urging you to do this and that, and you have the freedom to select what you are doing and spend much time for that.

This calmness and lack of urgency distinguish the Musandam tour as unique from your other tour experiences, and it will be a remarkable memory as an escape from hectic day-to-day life.

Silence as a Luxury

If you are in Dubai, the noise is everywhere, and the silence is a luxury thing for you, and you must spend a lot of money to get hotel rooms in the city or go towards the resorts in the deserts. However, in Musandam, silence is free for all at all times. Fishing villages are incredibly quiet, and you can see children there swimming in the sea and fishermen mending their nets when dhows go near to the villages.

If you stay there overnight, you will witness the clusters of stars very clearly in the non-polluted sky.

At the beginning, this can be quite strange, but this silence becomes addictive if you stay a few days in Musandam.

The Move Towards Silent Environment from Urban City Life

In Musandam, urban city dwellers will lose the things that are fundamentally designing their lives. There are no shopping malls, no nightlife. And internet connectivity is low, paving the way to stop scrolling social media. Two things are mainly visible to you in Musandam. 

Those are the water and rocks. Everywhere is silence, and from the city’s noise and entertainment stimulations, etc., you are moving to an incredible silence at Musandam.

Traditional dhow ships and the journey through those in Khors can be considered major aspects of the travel experience in Musandam. However, sometimes, the term “cruise” is used to explain the journey. 

However, it is misleading. These dhows are not typical modern ships, and you can’t see any entertainment schedules, announcements, etc. The dhow  floating smoothly through Khors without having significant issues.

You can lie on cushions and have a look at passing rocky cliffs and dive into the seawater when the dhow stops and come back to the dhow again without unnecessary hurry. Meanwhile, you see the dolphins emerging from deep water, and lunch arrives when it is ready, and it includes delicious traditional Omani foods.

While it is true that Musandam gives all this tranquility and paves the way to escape from the hectic city life, you must prepare for this visit. Entry permits/visas and travel insurance are needed for all the travelers. If you are self-driving, vehicle-related documents are also needed. 

Accommodations are not that common and mostly below the UAE standards. Many visitors are selecting guided tours offered by travel companies as they do the border paperwork, arrange the accommodations, food, dhow journeys, etc. Arabiers, the authorized travel agency in Dubai, also offers Musandam tour packages  and can book a tour package online.

When you are going to isolated, naturally beautiful places like Musandam via self-driving as a solo international traveler/travel group, you tend to overstay there. Remember that if you overstay in Oman and exceed the UAE visa time, you will be fined by the UAE.