Me and some of my friends planned to visit Oman for the Eid holidays. We started our planning at the beginning of Ramadan — made an itinerary, booked tickets and hotels, and arranged one driver for sightseeing. All set, and the date came.
On March 29th, we started our journey from our office in DIP and met my friend (who is not working with us) at Union Metro Station. By the way, we were 4 people on this trip — Sabith, my childhood friend, and my colleagues Rahul & Dino.
We were going to Oman by bus. The bus was departing from Sharjah and heading to Muscat, the capital of Oman. Our plan was simple — we had 3 days to explore Muscat and visit as many places as we could in that time.
The buses are operated by Mwasalat, and to be honest, the service was very bad. The condition of the bus and the comfort level were very low, and the journey took almost 9 hours. That’s when we thanked God for booking our return by flight.
If you are a UAE residence visa holder and an Indian passport holder, you don’t need a visit visa for Oman. You will get a 14-day free on-arrival visa at the border. All you need is a bus ticket worth 100 AED and a border fee of around 32 AED. If you are planning to stay more than 14 days, it’s better to apply for an e-visa — or you can get it at the border as well (check this with someone else too).
We reached Oman at 1:30 AM, had our dinner, and took a taxi to the hostel we had booked. You can use taxi apps like OTaxi; the prices are reasonable. And one more thing to remember: in Oman, only locals are allowed to drive taxis, so all taxi drivers may not speak English fluently, but they can understand and manage basic communication.
We reached our hostel around 2:30 AM, and the host said, “Sorry, we gave your room to another guest, and we don’t have any other room available today.” We were screwed. We had our booking confirmation, and they didn’t inform us about the change — and in the middle of the night, we were stuck.
We tried calling a lot of hotels and hostels, but nobody answered. Of course, it was 3 AM in the morning. After 30 minutes of trying, someone answered and said, “You can come, we have one room.” We booked another cab and went there, but that room was not good, and again we were out on the road.
While walking on the side of the road, we saw one luxurious hotel and thought, let’s ask the price — if it’s affordable, we can stay, or we can wait until morning. Thankfully, the price was reasonable and the rooms were amazing. So we booked it and took a short nap.
Day 1: Wadi Shab, Sinkhole, and Beaches
Next morning at 10 AM, our driver came with a Fortuner. He was a very friendly person and took us to the first location — Wadi Shab, nature’s wonder. In the UAE, we’ve visited a lot of wadis, but this one really changed our view of wadis. It’s almost a 2-hour drive from Muscat. We reached there around 12 o’clock. There’s no entry fee, but you need to pay 1 OMR for the boat to cross the lake. If you’re not a good swimmer, you can rent a life jacket for 1 OMR.
After reaching the other side, you start hiking — it’s almost a 30-minute walk to reach the main point of the wadi. From there, you need to go through the water to reach the cave and the waterfall. These are the main highlights of this place. If you’re visiting Wadi Shab, don’t miss this spot!
After spending some time there, we headed to our second location — Bimmah Sinkhole. It’s not that adventurous, just a pool inside a park. If you wish to swim, you can, but we didn’t spend a lot of time there.
We visited some nearby beaches and came back to Muscat, had some food and Omani Halwa, and ended our first day of adventure.
Day 2: Eid Day – Wadi Bani Khalid and Wahiba Sands
Day 2: It’s Eid in Oman. Among the four of us, Sabith and I are Muslims, so we went for Eid prayer with our driver, took some Eid pics, came back to the hotel, had breakfast, and started our second day.
Our first destination was Wadi Bani Khalid, which is almost a 3-hour drive from Muscat. We reached there around 1:30, had lunch, and went for hiking. This wadi is totally different from Wadi Shab — it’s more like a big pool, and more people were camping, cooking, and enjoying their time. We spent some time there, took photos, and headed to our second location — Wahiba Sands.
It’s a beautiful desert with a lot of locals. While going to the desert, you can see the real Omani culture and their wealth. We booked a desert ride and our driver was a master at work. He came with an old Land Cruiser, and the ride was totally fun and a new experience. After enjoying the sunset, we headed back to Muscat and ended the day.
Day 3: Grand Mosque, Dolphins & Return
Day 3: We woke up, checked out from the hotel, had breakfast, and visited the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The architecture was truly breathtaking. We spent some time there, but unfortunately, we couldn’t go inside the mosque — it closes after 11:30 AM. So if you’re visiting, make sure to go early in the morning.
From there, we headed for dolphin watching. There is a fee for the boat — we paid 7.5 OMR per person (price may vary). It’s almost a 2-hour ride, and you can see a lot of dolphins and enjoy the boat ride.
Then we visited Muttrah Souq and Fort, came back to Muscat, had some food, went to the airport, said goodbye to our driver, and flew back to Abu Dhabi.
We visited Oman with zero expectations and were amazed by what we experienced. A lot of people asked us, “Why Oman? What’s in Oman?” and told us not to waste our time and money. But for us, it was the best trip.
If you have only a few days and you’re in the UAE — you can visit Oman without thinking twice. You won’t be disappointed — I guarantee it!
The best time to visit is the same as the UAE — October to April. Food is cheaper compared to the UAE, people are very kind, and it’s a calm and peaceful country.
Just make sure you arrange your own ride, because there’s no public transport to most tourist locations.
🙏 Thank you for reading (if you did).