Since arriving in Oman, one thing that has continually astonished and surprised me is the sheer number of easily accessible, quality places available to explore. I’m talking about truly amazing, beautiful and seemingly remote spots. I come from one of the largest countries in the world. We have some truly astounding places there as well, but what’s the difference? If it’s amazing and accessible, it’s also teeming with people. If you want beauty and seclusion in Canada, you have to work for it. You have to hike, climb, kayak or 4×4 for hours to escape the crowd. Here in Oman, it’s a different story. Within an hour of leaving my house in Muscat I could: be hiking past an ancient abandoned village in the mountains with absolutely no indications that you are near the city; find a desert island and have it completely to myself; or be sitting on a mountain top with a view of the coastline completely free from towns, villages or any other signs of human intervention.
Those are just a few examples of things in close proximity to Muscat, so you can imagine the potential if you’re willing to drive or 4×4 a short distance.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were sitting around on a Wednesday night (Thursday and Friday is our weekend) wondering what to do for the weekend after our previous plans fell through. We thought, “Hey, let’s go camping on a desert island!” The following morning we enjoyed a little lie in before packing up the camping gear and food. We stopped for a leisurely lunch at the marina, where we met up with our camping friends before hopping in our boat and heading out to sea.
First, we headed straight out from Marina Bandar Al Rowdha about 10km off-shore where the ocean floor plummets well beyond 1,000m deep. During the winter, this is a great place to see pods of female sperm whales cruising along the surface or, if you’re really lucky, you can spot a lone male sperm whale, which is a spectacularly mammoth creature and a rare sight. Unfortunately, as it turned out, luck wasn’t with us that day, so no whales. But as we headed towards our destination, a pod of bottlenose dolphins appeared! Slowly cruising alongside the dolphins, we were fortunate to have a few of the more playful ones launching in and out of the wake and bow riding close enough touch. Then after about 45 minutes, the dolphins became bored with us and continued on their way, so we did the same.
After arriving at our destination in Bandar Khayran, we took our friends to one of my favourite snorkelling spots for a quick dip before setting up camp for the night. This particular snorkelling site, as it happens, is a shark nursery where it’s possible to see baby black tip reef sharks most of the year. Luckily, it was breeding time. So as we hovered motionless in the water, we saw up to 10 sharks, some of which were nearly three metres long. It was incredible to see these beautiful creatures in such close proximity. They were certainly aware of our presence, but didn’t seem to mind as long as we stayed where we were. Sadly, these types of encounters have become shockingly less frequent in recent years as Oman is one of the major exporters of shark in the Middle East.
As the sun dipped on the horizon, we decided to head off to find our home for the evening. Bandar Khayran is a series of small islands and shallow inlets with a number of coves and sandy beaches fringed by mangrove forests. The mangroves provide a nursery for many fish and bird species throughout the year, and the beaches are important nesting grounds for hawksbill turtles during the winter months. Most of the area is very well protected from the rough seas, thus providing smooth water all year round, making it a popular place for camping and water sports. But even on a weekend, we had no problem finding an empty beach on our own little island to set up camp. We watched the sunset, ate supper and chatted the night away in front of the fire. My wife insisted that we don’t bring the tent and camp out instead on the deck of the boat under the stars. This seemed like a great idea, and it was, but I do admit to a little griping and moaning on my part about leaving the warm fire to put my cold, wet bathing suit back on before completing the lengthy swim back out to the boat for bed. However, the evening stars as we drifted to sleep were the pay off and worth the chilly swim. The following morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and finished our trip with a few hours of wakeboarding before heading home. Not bad for a last minute trip.
Bandar Khayran can be accessed by both road and water. There are several companies who offer a variety of trips from evening dinners on the beach to snorkelling, diving, camping combinations. This area has been designated as an environmental tourist location. As with all the places we love to use as our playground, leave it as you found it for future visitors to enjoy. This means the “leave no trace” policy, ensuring that you pack away any garbage and don’t take any souvenirs from Mother Nature. As we like to say in Canada, get out there, have fun and “keep your stick on the ice.”
Darryl MacDonald
