Samail - oasis with rich history

March 17, 2021

Samail - oasis with rich history

Samail is one of those typical communities nestled in a wadi bed what you can find many here in Oman. This however somehow felt special - while driving around we did have the feeling as we were transported back in time a couple of decades. Life seems here to be slow and pleasant.

There is a lot to see in the wadi

- There are lush gardens, spotted with old mud-brick houses and ruins adorned with beautiful details.

- Here you can find the tomb of the first ever Muslim in Oman, Mazin bin Ghadooba - he met Prophet Mohammed and he also built the first mosque in the country which was restored in 1979 and is still there and functioning.

- There is a restored fort, perched on top of a hill - quite a sight! Unfortunately it was closed when we were there. Also you can find many watchtowers all around the wadi.

The area also offers some off-road driving - there is a man-made lake not too far from Samail. The drive there is not too interesting but the lake is pretty - water levels were quite low when we visited. According to the pictures on google maps people do swim in the lake - we did not. There are also warning signs - guess the lake is deep and better to be safe than sorry. The lake is certainly not worth a visit on its own, but it is a nice daytrip to combine with Samail village and wadi. To drive to the lake you need a 4WD and you can find very good description how to reach it here.

Location: type Samail in google maps and all the interesting sights are marked. We roamed around the area marked as Subhiyah to see the gardens and some old houses. The lake is marked as Samail lake in google maps, but do not follow the directions - check out the link I shared above for the right ones.

The scenic fort