Explore Oman With OmanTripper!
Whether you are looking for a relaxing tour to see Muscat, or a trekking tour with a professional guide to navigate some of the windy paths of Al Hajar Mountains, well I like to say that you should look no further than OmanTripper! I started the blog back in 2013 to help people find places to explore and visit in Oman, and if you haven’t guessed already from my content over the years, I am extremely passionate about showcasing the beauty of Oman, and introducing you to our amazing cultural and natural attractions, and hopefully also giving you taste of the renowned Omani hospitality. With the blogging and answering numerous queries from visitors to Oman, I ended up also offering my services for tours and guides in Oman.
You can head over here to learn more about me – but the essentials: I am a licensed tour-guides in Oman, fluent in both Arabic and English (with a smattering of words learned in a couple of other languages), highly educated, and most importantly: very passionate about what I do. I offer tours and adventures because I enjoy them, not because I need to – which will hopefully make a big difference to your experience.
My philosophy is to offer the best possible tour for your requirements, so for private tours I also like to discuss your requirements and expectations in advance to be able to offer you the best possible itinerary! But this also means that since I offer tours based on availability and timing while balancing a demanding full-time job, I also rely on a number of trusted and reliable affiliates to lead tours designed by me – these are friends and other guides whom I fully trust to conduct tours on my behalf.
You can check out OmanTripper on TripAdvisor listing for independent reviews:
Tour Timings and General Guidelines:
- Tours typically start at 7 am with return anywhere from 5-7 pm – these can be adjusted based on trip requirements
- Pick-up and drop-off from Muscat
- Transport is in a comfortable and air-conditioned 4WD
- I will be your guide, driver, trekking companion and local-customs adviser
Tour Samples
Most of our day-trip tours start and end in Muscat; multi-day camping and trekking trips can be arranged per your requirements.
Below are examples of some of my most popular trips:
- Mountains & Castles of Dakhiliyah: Explore the Grand Canyon of Arabia in this packed day-trip. We will be visiting the Dakhiliyah (محافظة الداخلية), or interior, region of Oman, famous for its history, castles, forts and of course the mesmerizing mountain chain of Al Hajar Mountains (جبال الحجر). In this trip you will get to experience everything that the Dakhiliyah is famous for, starting off with exploring one of the most beautiful castles in Oman, then a stop for lunch at a traditional restaurant before driving up the highest mountain in Oman with views of Oman’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon, and finishing off with a stop at an old Omani village before heading back to Muscat
- Sharqiyah Wadis: A full-day tour packed with activities starting with a visit to the gorgeous Wadi Shab in the Sharqiyah region (محافظة الشرقية). We will take you from Muscat and guide you through the wadi all the way to the swimming pools and stunning cave. Suffice to say, pack your swimming clothes for this trip. After a fun-day in the wadi, we will drive through Wadi Tiwi before stopping for lunch in Tiwi then heading to Bimmah Sinkhole where you can kick-back and rest your feet in the calm waters of Bimmah Sinkhole (if you’re lucky you might get some pedicure from the fish nibbling on your feet).
- Wadi Bani Awf Crossing: Explore the beauty of an Omani mountain village along with the extreme thrill of one of the most stunning (and toughest) off-road drives in Oman in this trip through Wadi Bani Awf. We will start early morning at Muscat, enter Wadi Bani Awf from Awabi and start with trekking the ‘little’ Snake Canyon (~2hrs round-trip), then continue to the main Snake Canyon (light walk only – we won’t be doing the adventure path) before visiting the beautiful village of Balad Sayt where will see panoramic views of the village from its old castle. We will have traditional lunch at a local home before continuing on for a couple more photo stops and making our way through the steepest drive up to the Eastern Mountain (الجبل الشرقي) where we will stop to enjoy the view before descending down to Al Hamra and driving back to Muscat.
- Wadi Al Sahtan Adventure: An overnight trip to this stunning valley in Al Rustaq – we will start the trek through a stunning old village, passing through its farms and irrigation channels and go up through the plateau overlooking the valley where all the villages can be seen. We will carry our camping ear, but will also have donkeys carrying additional supplies for our camp-site – tracing the ancient donkey-route traversed through these mountains for generations.
Besides the above, below is an idea of some of the other tours/adventures/treks we can take you on:
- Wakan Village & Nakhal: You will get a chance to explore Wakan, with its pretty terraced gardens located at 2,000m elevation. After that, we will visit Nakhal where we will visit the Nakhal Fort and Ain Al Thawarah (عين الثوارة).
- Jabal Shams Peak Trek: ~26km round-trip over 10-14h depending on your fitness level, quite a tough trek that also requires us to overnight at Jabal Shams
- Balcony Walk and Via-Ferrata at Jabal Shams
- Tahery Cave Trek
- Canyoning in some of our amazing wadis, such as:
- Snake Canyon (Snake Gorge) Adventure at Wadi Bani Awf: anywhere from 3-5 hrs duration
- Wadi Ta’ab: A proper Canyoning trip that is quite tough with some really big drops (~50m or so)
- Umq Beer: Another tough Canyoning trip that requires overnight camping and will take anywhere from 10-14 hours to complete due to the endless pools you have to swim through