Sur
This tour lasts approximately eight hours.
You will be picked up at an agreed time from your Muscat hotel by an experienced
local Omani guide. You head south east out of Muscat towards Qurriyat, a small
fishing village located on the Arabian Gulf coastline, its name meaning
‘villages’. Here you can view the three forts - Qurriyat fort built 200 years
ago; Al Sahel fort on the coast, and Dagh fort built during the Portuguese
occupation. After a stroll around this town you head down the coast to Sur.
Sur was famous in the shipbuilding world for making boats called the
boums, the baghalas, the ganhja, the battil and the dhows. Unfortunately
these are not all made today but along its waterfront are vessels under
construction which will be used eventually for harbour cruises and fishing. If
you listen carefully you can still hear the familiar sounds of an old hammer
driving in the long iron nails. After a stroll around this town we head back to
Muscat stopping at Wadi Tiwi and Wadi Shab, where you are able to
explore the wadis, clamber over rocks and swim in the pools. Our final visit is
to the Bimah sinkhole; a spectacular limestone crater with blue-green water at
the bottom deep enough to swim in. You will arrive back to Muscat in the late
afternoon.