Visit Oman: a travel guide for adventurers (canyoning and climbing)

Welcome to this full guide, including travel tips and destination ideas in Oman. This blog post has not been written by us but by our dear friend, Austris, who is an avid climber and adventurer (and also our business partner at Alpiness Coliving). 😉 This article is written for adventure travellers focusing on nature, the outdoors, and climbing. At the end of this page, you’ll find a detailed map that includes all the locations mentioned in this blog post.

Practical info for travelling to Oman : What to know before your trip

Visa and entry conditons 

Depending on the length of the visit, you might need to get a travel visa.

• For up to 14 days, travellers can enter the country visa-free (100+ countries applicable – more info)
• For stays up to 30 days, you need to apply for an e-visa from the Royal Oman Police portal.

There are two types of tourist visas: single entry and one with which you can travel in and out of the country multiple times during your visit. Both visas cost 20 Omani Rial.

Currency and expenses in Oman

The currency used in Oman is the Omani Rial. At the time of writing this article (June 2025), 1 Omani Rial equals roughly 2.5€ or $2.6. Overall, expenses are fairly cheap – a 20-minute taxi ride in Muscat is 2.5 Rial, and an average meal is around 2 Rial. The best way to exchange money is at the airport or withdraw it from ATMS, although most of the vendors accept payment cards. The only places we needed cash were in markets or some smaller restaurants.

Cultural Considerations

Oman is predominantly a Muslim country and has several cultural considerations. Long sleeves and long pants are recommended in public. For women visiting mosques, bring a scarf to cover your hair. Most public establishments discourage entry with shorts.

Oman is also considered one of the safest countries in the Middle East, and during our travels, we only encountered the kindest and most helpful individuals.

Seasonality – best time to visit Oman

The best time to visit Oman is from October to April. Expect clear skies and stable temperatures typical of Oman’s dry climate. On our two-week trip, we only encountered sunny days, with temperatures from 12°C at night to 26°C during the day.

Exception: The Dhofar region (Salalah) experiences the Khareef monsoon from late June to early September, turning the area lush and green. It’s a popular time to visit Salalah specifically.

Transportation – Getting around the country

The best way to get around Oman is by renting a car. Getting around Muscat is possible by taxi, and it’s rather inexpensive, but any further travel requires a car. The best option is to rent a 4×4 vehicle that allows access to more remote areas, deserts, wadi valleys and hiking trails.

To rent the car, we recommend you check on Booking.com for finding the best deals (it allows you to compare most car hire companies in one click). To give you an idea, we paid about 500€ per person for 2 weeks (2000€ total by booking on quite short notice and in high season, it’s possible to get a cheaper vehicle if you go for a slightly smaller one or by booking more in advance). Tip : Renting from the airport is usually a bit cheaper than from the city center.

Mobile Coverage

Lastly, Oman has great mobile data coverage. The best options include using an eSim service such as Airalo (get a 3€ discount using referral code AUSTRI4720) or getting a local SIM card upon arrival at the airport. The main bonus of eSim is that you can top it up as you go, whereas a local SIM card allows you to register in local taxi apps, thus getting cheaper and easier transportation around the capital.

Where to stay in Oman

The main puropose of our trip was to go on camping adventure (we brought all the gear and packed in our rental car). We only spent one night at the Al Murooj Grand Hotel in Muscat on our last night (to freshen up before the flight). In Bimah, we regularly visited Bait Bimah, a travel lodge which is an ideal base for adventures in the area. Since we were camping we did not sleep there, but we ate at their restaurant multiple times and can recommend this place.

If you’re looking for accomodation in Oman, you can check the map below (zoom in to the area of your choice and add your travel dates to find the best options)

The first thing you should do is exchange or withdraw some cash at the airport. For our trip, 80 Rial per person was plenty, but your needs may vary depending on your plans. Next, rent a 4×4 car—this is essential for exploring Oman’s rugged terrain and reaching many climbing areas.

Before leaving Muscat, it’s a good idea to visit a supermarket to stock up on essentials.  I can recommend LuLu Hypermarket in the Mall of Muscat. A must-buy item is a plastic mat (see picture) – those range from 1.5 to 5 Rial and are excellent protection against thorns and sharp rocks under tents when camping. Then the rest of the adventure essentials can be found in the store too – camping stove, gas, food and water.

If you’re looking for more Western food items, such as protein bars, breakfast granola, or a wider variety of snacks, supermarkets around Muscat are your best bet. Multiple Carrefours around Oman have typically almost everything one can wish for. The smaller stores have general necessities but might be short on more specific adventure food.

Car loaded with local goodies and necessities, you are now ready to take off and explore Oman!

Camping in Oman

Probably the best way to get around and stay flexible is by camping. Wild camping is completely legal across Oman, and it is safe and culturally accepted. The best practice is to leave no trace, or even better – leave the place cleaner than you found it – take some trash with you on your way out. There are loads of trash bins to dispose of garbage.

There are some official campsites which might come in handy if you fancy a shower or a warm dinner. Otherwise, put your imagination to the test and try to find unique and scenic spots to camp. Camping in canyons, for example, can offer extended morning shade, making it easier to escape the heat. Riverbeds are another good option, as they often have large, flat areas ideal for pitching tents.

Most of the time, we were the only ones in the campsites. However, spots closer to civilisation tend to attract more wildlife, especially cats and goats. They may wander nearby but generally won’t disturb you at night.

When we’re looking for campsites, our go-to method is usually just searching “camping spot” on Google Maps. You’ll find quite a few options near Muscat, with reviews, photos, and some basic info. Just keep in mind, these aren’t your typical Western-style campgrounds – don’t expect electricity, running water, or much in the way of infrastructure.

When we’re out climbing, we like to get a bit more creative. We’ll scan Google Maps in satellite view, looking for flat areas near riverbeds (those spots usually work out pretty well). Here are a few good examples we’ve discovered this way – near Nizwa, base of Jebel Misht.

Sanitary considerations

Outside of resorts and hostels, showers are a rarity, but with some creativity, one can find alternatives. For longer camping trips, I always travel with biodegradable shampoo and some wet wipes (I love the ones Sea to Summit make: wipes & shampoo).

Many mosques in Oman have outdoor taps for washing your face and feet—these can come in handy for a quick refresh. Toilets in Oman are mainly squat pit latrines (holes in the ground) with bidet hoses to wash up.

For laundry, we found that many small vendors near villages and cities offer washing and drying services. Look for places with “laundry” or “dry cleaning” in the name. Washing and drying a bag of clothes usually costs around 2 Omani Rials.

Food in Oman

We mostly camped and cooked our own food, as well as ate nuts and protein bars while climbing, but on a few days, we did treat ourselves to nice meals out. I’d say that half of those took a card, and the other half required payment by cash.

Here are my favourites:

• Local sweets shop, truly great quality, they allow you to taste all of those beforehand – Al Diwaniya
• This one surprised us. It was this run-down looking place on the corner of the street, yet it gathered quite a number of locals. No menus, no one spoke English, no utensils (there is an outdoor tap with soap to wash hands before and after meals), but great tasting food for super cheap prices. If this is on your path, highly suggested – Google Maps pin.
• Our go-to place in Snake Canyon – Bait Bimah. Those guys serve breakfast and dinner in an all-you-can-eat style – delicious local foods cooked on the spot. For dinners, you need to drop by earlier in the day and mention the number of people that will come so they know how much food to cook.
• A surprising thing was there there were quite a lot of kind-of-speciality-coffee places in seemingly random or remote places. A welcome surprise nonetheless. Just Google “coffee” whenever you go somewhere. This one in the Snake Canyon was great – Etlalat Balad Seet cafe.
• Every smaller city typically has local grilled meat restaurants. This one we visited multiple times – Sama Al Sunset Lounge, and really enjoyed both the food and the owner’s warmth.
• Lastly, a great price/performance restaurant in Nizwa serving Indian food is Al Jabal Alakhdar.

Cultural attractions – Things to see in Oman

After a few climbing days in a row, we would take an occasional rest day. During those, we tried to explore some of the local culture as well as the history of the country. Here’s the list of ones I think are worth visiting:

• Oman Across Ages Museum – history, development and a glimpse into the future of Oman. Modern and interactive museum. Opened in 2023, and received multiple awards for the architecture, it’s definitely worth a visit.
• Nizwa sheep and goat market – only takes place on Fridays from 7 AM to 10 AM. Essentially an animal parade for sale. Unique and one-of-a-kind experience.
• Al Hoota Cave – a large cave labyrinth underground, secured and equipped for tourists. For a more thrilling experience, it’s possible to rent gear and an instructor for further cave exploration with scuba diving equipment.
• There are many grand markets across Oman. The most well-known and travelled is called Mutrah Souq (located close to the capital). I would strongly discourage visiting it as it is overcrowded, targeted at Western tourists and filled with aggressive salesmen. Instead, drive to Nizwa and check out the Nizwa Central Souq there. After visiting both, I can say that the one in Nizwa provides a much more authentic experience, a more relaxed atmosphere and generally better product supply, especially for jewellery.
• Note : if you don’t have a vehicle it is possible to combine al Hoota Cave + Nizwa central Souq as a day trip guided tour from Muscat. See on Getyourguide

Adventures in Oman

One of the main reasons to travel to Oman is the wide variety of adventures one can do. From easy hikes to big-wall climbing, Oman has it all!

I have piled together some of the activities we did (or wished but did not manage to squeeze in our two-week trip).

Hiking & Canyoning

Hiking is one of the most accessible activities in Oman, with a huge range of trails. You’ll find everything from wadi (canyon) walks to exposed scrambles along mountain ridges The W6 balcony hike is a particularly scenic one, leading to an abandoned village. Here’s a list of 15 interesting and exciting hikes.

If you’re looking for more adventurous terrain, canyoning is a fantastic option. Mostly hiking down, but at times also swimming and rappelling (lowering yourself with a rope) to get through various canyons. Essential gear includes a harness, helmet, rope, rappel device, and a personal anchor system. On top of that, I highly recommend bringing a 2-3mm wetsuit (long sleeves and bottoms) with you. Despite the warm air temperatures, canyons don’t get much direct sunlight, and spending a couple of hours in wet clothes can cool you down faster than you want. If you wish to do this activity with a guide, check out this tour on Getyourguide.

We loved the Snake Canyon and had a great time doing the longer canyoneering route there. One of our team members did not have a wetsuit, and we were pleasantly surprised that there was a gear rental possible at Bait Bimah – a local travel lodge. Not only are they friendly and can help with gear, but they also provide excellent and reasonably priced dinners (need to be booked 4 hours or so in advance). If you wish not to camp, that’s a great place to spend a night or a few.

Other Activities

If you like activities at higher altitudes but aren’t stoked about getting wet, via ferrata is a good alternative. You still need a harness, helmet, personal anchor system and via ferrata kit. Here is a list of some of the best via ferrata trails in Oman.

If you don’t have the gear or feel unsure about planning some of the tours mentioned above, a couple of organisations provide guided tours with gear and transportation. A great one offering a wide variety of tours is Adventure World or you can check the best tours on Getyourguide. You can also take some inspiration from the offerings they have and embark on adventures in those locations yourself.

Adventures we thought of but did not have time to go on ourselves were caving and snorkelling. Oman has numerous caves and underground cave systems, where the only way in is by lowering yourself down a rope and exploring various water-carved chambers. This one requires more specific gear, such as longer static ropes and jumars, so it might be wise to book a trip with a tour guide company.

Snorkelling looked nice as well, but was out of our way. What we read was that a day trip near Muscat to the Daymaniyat islands could be worth it. It’s a 40-minute boat ride away and there are plenty of companies providing tours, including diving equipment, transportation and even food.

Rock climbing in Oman

The main attraction for our trip was rock climbing. It can mostly be described as adventurous, remote, at times bold and spicy. Most of the climbing is trad or partially bolted trad climbing with a few greatly equipped sport climbing crags and deep water solo spots.

When to visit: The best climbing conditions are mid-November to mid-March.

Conditions: Temperatures during the day hover around 20-24°C, dropping to a comfortable 15°C at night. The low humidity, no rain, stable and reliable weather make it comfortable to climb all day long, even in south-facing crags.

Rock type: Oman is covered almost exclusively with sharp limestone cliffs and rock formations. Be ready to shred your skin, pants and everything that touches the rock.

Practicalities before

Climbing gear

Bring all your climbing gear with you, as climbing hardware is generally hard to find—or simply unavailable—in Oman. While you might be able to source some basic items from local sports shops or through Facebook groups for climbers coming to or leaving the country, don’t count on finding everything you need locally.

Route information

“Climbing in Oman” guidebook is the go-to resource for route details. Additionally, a great source of information can be obtained in the Facebook group “Climbing in Oman“.

Also, there is one (at the time of writing this post) climbing gym in Muscat, Oman, where some local climbers can be met, also they have a small shop for some essential gear – carabiners, ropes, ATCs – Climbing Wall Muscat. The gym is small, but the owners are friendly and helpful.

We also found a paid app with a medium quality mobile app, which it had routes that we did not find elsewhere – might be worth checking out – Rakkup.

Where to climb in Oman

Oman offers everything from solid and well-bolted sports routes to adventurous big wall climbing. There are many unclimbed walls for true adventure seekers. Our primary focus was trad climbing on the trip. We spent the first week around Nizwa, climbing shorter and longer routes around there. We particularly enjoyed Nizwa Towers, cleaning and opening a few new lines there.

For a bit of sightseeing and more chill activities, we went to Snake Canyon. Alongside canyoneering, there are some awesome bolted lines in between canyon walls offering all-day shade and pleasant temperatures.

And don’t miss Bait Bimah dinners! Some of the best price-performance meals we had!

Our main objective of the trip was to climb Jebel Misht which boasts more than 20 routes on the face, ranging from 500m to over 1000m in length. With a 4×4 car, we were able to drive relatively close to the mountain and set our base camp there. After a cosy night in tents and an early start, we set off. Roughly a 1h45 approach took us to the base of the cliff. We planned to climb the route “Make Love Not War” in 2-3 days, hauling up a bag of water, sleeping bags and some food. Unfortunately, near the end of day two—about 2/3rds up the wall—a falling rock hit my back, forcing us to rappel down. 

Jebel Misht proved to be more challenging than expected, with suboptimal gear protection, occasional loose rock, and a few gear decisions we’d change in hindsight. Despite the setback, lessons were learned, we got back relatively in one piece, and were overall happy with the adventure we had.

Overall, remote, challenging and at times cryptic climbing that demands a lot of experience and skill to navigate efficiently.

If you’re interested in more detailed information or want to hear about our experiences, feel free to reach out via direct message.

Final climbing tips and tricks for Oman:

1. Longer multi-pitch route descents: I found that flipping crack gloves (with rubber on top of the palm) tremendously helps for scrambling down, pushing off the sharp rock. A pair of thin leather gloves would be great too.
2. Ropes with added core protection: In Oman, these ropes, like Mammut Core Protect, absolutely shine. I managed to partially cut two ropes, and I was happy that I had the aforementioned Mammut ropes.
3. Gear placements on trad routes are not always good. Be ready to run it out, place suboptimal pieces and have gear for retreat if needed. Generally, a full rack plus a few micro cams is plenty. We took a double rack on Jebel Misht “Make Love Not War” but barely used half of it due to sparse placements.
4. Route finding: Route descriptions are sometimes vague, topos are not always clear, and approaches might not have been travelled in years. Sometimes scouting in advance can be beneficial, as well as planning some extra time for route finding, often makes sense.

Overall, whether your a casual hiker or an avid climber, Oman’s geography offers everyone the adventure they are looking for. If you’re not sold yet, I’ll end the blog post with a few sources for inspiration. Thanks for tuning in, and see you out there!

• [VIDEO] Rock Climbing in Oman | National Geographic – YouTube

• [VIDEO] Crooked in the Front – Episode 2: Bubble Boy – Vimeo
• [PODCAST] Sultanate Ep 011: Rock Climbing in Oman with Read Macadam – Link
• [VIDEO] Valley of Giants – A Bouldering Odyssey in the Sultanate of Oman – Vimeo
• [VIDEO] Climbing in Oman, Jebel Misht French Pillar – YouTube

Map of the places to see in Oman

Here is a little map on which you’ll find all places mentioned in this blog post.