Musandam: A Day Trip to Oman

When I travelled to Dubai last month, I wanted to take one day to escape the bustle of the city. Even though I love travelling to new metropolises, I’ve never really been a fan of big cities; I much prefer being in the middle of nature. As you can imagine, this is a little hard to find in such a big and diverse place like Dubai. Prior to my trip, someone had recommended checking out Oman, a bordering country, and going for a day-trip to Musandam. After a few Google searches, I quickly realised that this region is pretty unique because it is home to Oman’s breathtaking fjords. These are often called the “Fjords of the Middle East” and compared to those that can be found in Norway.

Musandam Dolphin Tour - Oman — Musandam (Oman)

A Dolphin Day Trip

Trip Details

Company Name: Musandam Tourism LLC

Tour Name: A Day with Dolphins (Khasab Day Trip)

Cost: 350 AED per person (includes transfers, activities & lunch - does not include Oman visa which costs 85 AED per person)

Duration: 6am hotel pick-up / 7pm hotel drop-off

*We organised everything with the company via Whatsapp. We had to send them a copy of our passport and a deposit to confirm the tour. Then they sent us the detailed information about pick-up time and the name of our driver.

6:00 AM - pick up time

Our driver Mr. Ansil came to our hotel lobby in Deira to pick us up. We just had time to grab a quick coffee to go at the hotel restaurant so we were still pretty tired and hungry.

6:30 AM - Pit Stop

We asked our driver if he could stop somewhere for us to get something to eat, which he did at the next gaz station we drove by. The road to get to Musandam is pretty straight forward, it consists of a highway almost the entire time and there are many gas stations along the way.

8:30 AM - Oman border

Once we arrived at the border, we had to get out of our car and prepare our passports + credit cards. There is usually a little waiting line so expect to spend at least 15 to 30 minutes there. Now, just when you might think you’re good to go, you’ll quickly realise that there is a 2nd border to cross. That’s where you actually have to fill out a visa entry form and wait in line again to pay the entry fee.

9:30 AM - Arrival in Musandam

We arrived in Musandam around 9:30 and went straight to our dhow (traditional boat). We waited about 30 minutes for everyone to arrive. The boat was pretty big, and wasn’t full at all. I believe we were approximately 20 people onboard which was a good thing because we had lots of space to just sit wherever we wanted. We obviously chose to sit in the sun at the front of the boat 🤪

10:00 AM - Meet & Greet + Departure

After everyone arrived, we left the harbour to start exploring the fjords. Musandam peninsula is quite large and there are many creeks and fjords everywhere. The scenery is absolutely fantastic; you won’t know where to look.

11:00 AM - Nadifi

Nadifi is a tiny village located in between two fjords. The crew explained a little bit about the place’s history, and told us that there are kids who live in this little village. These kids have to go to school in Khasab and they take a small boat everyday to get there.

11:30 AM - Quanah

This place is another small village nested in the fjords. We quickly stopped the boat to snap a few photos before heading to our next destination.

11:45 AM - Dolphin Watching

On our way to our next stop, we saw some curious visitors. Indeed, a few dolphins came nearby to say hello and swam around the boat for a while.

12:00 PM - Telegraph Island

This tiny island is well-known in the area because it is the most beautiful spot to do some snorkeling. Unfortunately, the visibility under water wasn’t great that day, so we just swam around and saw some little fishies and lots of stingless jellyfish.

1:00 PM - Lunch

While we were all doing some snorkeling, the crew prepared a delicious lunch buffet which was ready when we returned to the boat. It was composed of different sorts of salads, hummus, chicken, rice, veggies and pita bread.

1:30 PM - Departure for Sibi Island

After everyone had finished their plate, the crew started cleaning everything and we headed to our next stop.

2:00 PM - Sibi Island

By this time, the sun was high up in the sky and we were all really hot, so we took the opportunity to jump off the boat a few times and swim around. Sibi Island is another great spot to do some snorkeling.

3:00 PM - Shimm Island

We passed by another tiny island, and on our way there we saw pods of dolphins. They followed our boat for quite a long time and we really enjoyed this magical experience. They kept jumping out of the water and it seemed like they were playing and dancing in the waves.

4:00 PM - Back to the Harbour

We arrived back to the harbour around 4pm and our driver was waiting for us. We quickly left the place because we didn’t want to arrive in Dubai too late.

4:45PM - Border control

This border control went much faster than the one in the morning because we only had to show our passports. We didn’t have to pay for anything.

7:30PM - Hotel Drop-Off

Despite all the crazy traffic, we managed to get back to our hotel not too late. We were exhausted so we just took a shower and ordered room service before going to bed!