We are back from our Salalah road-trip and what a trip it was! Amazing, in short. We drove in total 4280 km and we have seen and experienced so much - we will need some time to process it for sure.
Dhofar is the largest of the 11 governorates in Oman. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen. The largest city, as well as capital of the Governorate, is Salalah and it is also the birthplace of Sultan Qaboos, the previous ruler of Oman who created the modern country we know today. Historically, the region was a source of frankincense, producing top quality and since frankincense has been traded on the Arabian Peninsula for more than 6,000 years, this region always has been an important trading center.
The usual perception is that it is not really worth to visit Salalah during winter since the famous waterfalls are not there - most of them only appear during the khareef season, between July and September. Khareef is basically a type of monsoon and in Arabic it means "autumn" - pretty cool to have autumn during the summer :).
So is it true, is it really not worth to visit Dhofar during the winter? Partially yes - most of the waterfalls are not there indeed. You will not see the lush greenery you probably saw in magazines although it is still quite green. But you will have perfect weather, the most amazing beaches (what btw you cannot enjoy during khareef due to strong currents and waves) and you can enjoy the clear skies. So our conclusion is that it is absolutely worth to visit Dhofar in the winter!
Here are the top picks from the trip, the things we enjoyed the most or we were the most surprised of:
1. Beaches are beautiful and diverse. You like perfect white sand with palm trees? Check. You prefer rocky coastline to snorkel? Check. You are up for romantic hidden beaches? Check. You like camel-dotted beaches? Check. Basically you cannot come up with a combination we cannot suggest a beach for in Dhofar! And the best part - there is a good chance that you will have the beach all to yourself! Our absolute favorites were Hafa beach and Fazayah beach where we camped two nights. Read our ultimate guide here!
Fazayah Beach
2. The trees - I never understood the pejorative meaning of "tree huggers". Hugging trees are great! They are solid, calm, majestic, strong, the epitome of life. And Dhofar has a few special species besides the well known frankincense trees: the baobab and the dragon blood trees. Lets say these types are the small sisters of the famous Madagascar and Socotra versions, non the less it was a special experience to see them - more about these wonderful creatures
here!
Baobab tree
Dragon blood tree
3. The history - Arabia and the tale of the 1001 nights are not complete without frankincense. The best quality frankincense is produced in Dhofar and it has been a super important commodity in the ancient times as well. The port of Khor Rori with the ruins of Shumhuram date back to the 1st century BC or the lost city of Ubar at the entrance to the Empty Quarter, the vast Rub Al Khali desert - it is a miracle how people could build such a city thousands of years ago in one of the most unhospitable places of the earth? They did but eventually the city sunk into the sand and was only re-discovered in 1992. Read about our chase of the history
here!
Shumhuram
Ubar
4. How industrial waste can turn into tourist attraction. There is an abandoned ship anchored close to a vertical cliff wall - it is quite a dizzy experience to look down :). The drive there is challenging, if it was not for Finn, we would had turned around. The other site is much easier to reach, on the beach of Dhalkut, you can find the remains of an old helicopter. More about beaches
here!
5. Jabal Samhan is the highest point (2100m) in Dhofar and it is also the home of a nature reserve, the last refuge for the endangered Arabian leopard. The nature reserve and thus most of Jabal Samhan is restricted area and permit is needed to visit or camp - we tried to find out how to get a permit as we really wanted to hike there but could not find any info online. The viewpoint (1300m) is worth to visit and Tayq Sinkhole and Cave offers a great hike - you can read about it more
here.
Jabal Samhan view point
Tayq Cave
6. Wadi Darbat - this is the main tourist attraction in Salalah. If you have seen picture of lush greenery, steel blue water and waterfalls - that is most likely Wadi Darbat. It is true that during the winter the waterfall is much smaller and the greenery is less lush. But the famous travertine curtain is beautiful, there is still some water in the falls and because it is much less you can trek to much more places , e.g. to the top of the travertine curtain! You can read more about our day
here.
The travertine curtain
On top of the waterfall
7. Old Hafa waterfront - this might be a little controversial. Hafa waterfront is an old village behind Hafa beach - now partially being demolished. Based on what I could find on the internet, they started to demolish the buildings in 2015 in order to develop a waterfront promenade and residential district. The old buildings, even in their current state are beautiful. The details, the architecture, the soul and the atmosphere... I really do not understand why it could not be preserved instead? The Hafa souq is in makeshift buildings, there is nothing enchanting about it - one can just imagine the magic it could be to have a souq and small restaurants with the views of Hafa beach in these stunning buildings. More pictures are
here!
8. The hotels - we stayed in Anantara and Souly Ecolodge. Both were amazing! Despite being a luxury hotel, Anantara managed to maintain coziness and personal touch. Souly - well, it is a whole different world there. Lets just say that Alma asked us to return for her birthday - this is what she wishes for as a present :). Read our reviews
here!
Souly ecolodge
Anantara - view from our room
+1. Oryx Sanctuary: it is not in Dhofar, but it is a great stop approximately half way through from Muscat. We did not know what to expect really, especially knowing that they lost their UNESCO World Heritage status. It turned out to be an amazing visit though! The oryx was on the verge of extinction and now the sanctuary has more than 800 of them, most of them roaming around freely in nature reserve which is 2800 sqkm. More about our visit
here!
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