Wonderful Wahiba Sands

Quad Biking in the Desert

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This story begins as the ground opens up in front of me and I plummet twenty feet and land face down in the surprisingly warm sand of a dune that had caught me unawares with its size and the steep drop to the desert floor. I had attacked it gleefully on my quad bike expecting to enjoy a small jump on the far side. Little did I know that the far side fell away like a cliff face. So, as the quad took flight, I let go of the handlebars and fell clear - I figured that holding on could have done me some pretty serious damage. As it was, I fell into soft sand with a slight nick where my ankle had caught the bike on the way off, and the bike ran a few meters along the desert floor before coming to a gentle s...Read More

This story begins as the ground opens up in front of me and I plummet twenty feet and land face down in the surprisingly warm sand of a dune that had caught me unawares with its size and the steep drop to the desert floor. I had attacked it gleefully on my quad bike expecting to enjoy a small jump on the far side. Little did I know that the far side fell away like a cliff face. So, as the quad took flight, I let go of the handlebars and fell clear - I figured that holding on could have done me some pretty serious damage. As it was, I fell into soft sand with a slight nick where my ankle had caught the bike on the way off, and the bike ran a few meters along the desert floor before coming to a gentle stop. This little moment of excitement was the most dramatic moment of my afternoon's quad-biking. However, scrapes with danger aside, it was great fun and one of the most exciting things I have done in Oman.

We picked up our quads outside Al Raha Desert Camp. They were small little contraptions, scarcely a meter long and less than that wide. They were also just 50cc. Their diminutive nature was both a blessing and a curse. As they were so small and so light, they were very easy to control. The controls were also outrageously simple. The accelerator and break were just buttons on the handle-bars - there were no gears or pedals to complicate things. They were also fast, but thankfully not too fast, which, considering my later escapade, probably saved me from a few broken bones and loose teeth. However, as they were quite petite, they lacked the oomph to climb big dunes. There were larger, more powerful quad bikes - of 100cc or more - available. However, even though these were faster and more powerful, they were less maneuverable and far less fun.

We began our afternoon on the quads in cautious fashion. Our camp was on the desert floor surrounded by large dunes. The floor was hard, flat and covered in loose stones. So, for the first few minutes, we fizzed around and honed our riding skills. However, after a few minutes, this began to get a little dull. So, I decided to strike out in search of something a little more exciting. At the rear of our camp, the hard grit of the desert floor rose into a wave of small dunes that lead out into the abyss of Wahiba Sands - beyond the dunes there was nothing for kilometers on end. It was towards this empty expanse of sand that I was drawn.

With my desire to explore the unknown pushing me on, I thrust my quad up the dunes and headed into the unknown. At first, this was slow progress. Its tiny engine had been far more comfortable on the flat desert floor than it was ploughing uphill through soft sand. However, the coughing and spluttering it took to get to the top of the dune was worth it. I was greeted by a wonderful view. The sands swept out in front of me like endless waves in a vast ocean (I realize this is a rather cliched metaphor, but it is really the only way to describe the scene. The only break in the panorama was a thin and wiry tree poking out through the waves around a kilometer in front of me. I set the tree as my target and set off down the dune. The ride down was far more exciting than climbing the dune. The quad picked up speed dramatically and the sprayed up in my wake to fantastic effect. It was all very exhilarating. I really felt as though I were conquering the desert.

So, this brings us to my little accident. Exactly how did I come to be falling through the air having lost control of my quad? The answer makes me look sadly infantile. Pumped on adrenaline and euphoria after my jaunt over the big dune close to my camp, I decided to find yet more buzz. So, I attempted to jump some smaller dunes off to the side of the valley. The problem was that I had not judged the size of the dunes. I thought they were just a couple of meters in height. However, when I passed over the ridge at the top, I found myself faced with the rather large cliff I mention in my introduction. However, despite my close escape, I would recommend quad-biking to anyone intent on exploring the deserts in Oman. Read Less

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Al Raha Camp

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Hotel | "An Authentic Desert Experience"

View from the Camp Photo - Al Raha Camp, Ibra, Oman

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I live in the town of Rustaq, where the desert of Northern Oman meets the foothills of Jebel Sham. The place is isolated, sandy and windswept. There is no way to reach Rustaq other than by driving through 50km of scantily populated and featureless desert. However, despite these credentials, I never really felt that Rustaq was giving me a truly authentic 'desert' experience. It does not quite do enough to stir images of Peter O'Toole and Alec Guinness in Lawrence of Arabia. There are not towering sand dunes and the panorama is nowhere near sweeping enough. Therefore, to satisfy my desert cravings, my friends and I decided to visit the Al Raha Desert Camp.Al Raha is situated near the town of...Read More

I live in the town of Rustaq, where the desert of Northern Oman meets the foothills of Jebel Sham. The place is isolated, sandy and windswept. There is no way to reach Rustaq other than by driving through 50km of scantily populated and featureless desert. However, despite these credentials, I never really felt that Rustaq was giving me a truly authentic 'desert' experience. It does not quite do enough to stir images of Peter O'Toole and Alec Guinness in Lawrence of Arabia. There are not towering sand dunes and the panorama is nowhere near sweeping enough. Therefore, to satisfy my desert cravings, my friends and I decided to visit the Al Raha Desert Camp.

Al Raha is situated near the town of Al Ghaarib at the edge of Wahiba Sands, a giant area of sand dunes that spread across 80km of central Oman. The scenery does evoke images of what I would term 'real desert'. The sands sweep for miles in every direction with a soft haze of heat and drifting sand creating a wonderfully soft panorama. Al Raha is located 22km into Wahiba sands and can only be reached by 4X4 or camel – the 4x4 is by far the quicker and most comfortable of the two options. The journey from the end of the paved road to the camp takes about 30 minutes by 4X4 and is great fun as it provides the chance to do a little dune bashing on route. On our trip, my friends and I left our car in a small car park at the end of the paved road and hitched a lift with a local who operates a type of four-wheel drive taxi service.

The camp itself is an interesting place to stay, but, its major selling points are some of its facilities and the activities it provides rather than comfort. Accommodation comes in the form of several small and basic cabins. These have plain concrete floors, a bed and a bathroom. There is no TV, no kettle, no mini-bar, no chairs and not even towels in the bathroom. However, on the plus side, they are very neat and very clean. I was also surprised to find that each cabin came only with a fan rather than an air-conditioner. I figured that this would make the place unbearable at times. So, I asked the manager if this was the case. He quickly explained that the camp closes in the summer when the 50 degree heat is just too much for most tourists.

Even though, the accommodation was scarcely more lavish than a prison cell, Al Raha was a very nice place to spend some time. Part of this was the social aspect. The focal point of the camp is a large wooden platform bedecked in carpets and cushions, where all the guests can relax and enjoy free tea, coffee and fruit, or, perhaps a little shisha – Arabic pipes that come with flavoured tobacco. I certainly found reclining against a cushion with a shisha in hand whilst staring at the stars - which coincidentally have a wonderful clarity when seen from the desert – utterly relaxing. In the day, Al Raha keeps its guests busy with plenty of exciting desert activities such as quad biking, sand-boarding and camel riding.

When visiting Al Raha, timing is important. The ideal schedule would be to arrive late in the afternoon (3pm for example) and to leave before 11am the next day. The main reason for this is the heat. We visited in November, and even then, the afternoon son was torturous, meaning that doing anything in the afternoon is next to impossible. By 3pm the weather is beginning to cool, which means it is possible to squeeze a couple of activities in before dinner. It is, then, best to rise early to get other things done in the morning. The manager warned me that if I wanted to go sand-boarding, I should do it before 10, otherwise the sand would be too hot to touch and falling down would not be a pleasant experience.

A night at Al Raha costs 17O.R per person. This price includes both dinner and breakfast. The dinner was very good featuring a buffet serving Omani and Indian cuisine. Breakfast was truly awful. It had a few boiled eggs, a bizarre and rather frightening rice dish and some less than tasty sausages. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 3, 2010

Al Raha Camp
Ali Bin Zaher Bin Salem Al-Hajari, Oman
Ibra, Oman

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Wadi Bani Khalid

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Attraction | "A True Oasis"

Wadi Bani Khalid 1 Photo - Wadi Bani Khalid, Oman, Middle East

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The decision to visit to Wadi Bani Khalid was very much made on the spur of the moment. We were speeding along Highway 23 on our way from Sur to Al Raha desert camp in Wahiba Sands. The road was flat and void of any traffic. As a consequence, I had my foot to the floor and we were zipping a long at pace. So, when my friend Bob called out, "Wadi Bani Khalid, that place is supposed to be amazing", we were already past the sign and the turning. There was nothing else for it, but to perform a massive u-turn in the middle of the road. Thankfully, as we were in the middle of nowhere, there were no other cars in our path. However, even though the decision was spontaneous, it proved to be one of the best I ha...Read More

The decision to visit to Wadi Bani Khalid was very much made on the spur of the moment. We were speeding along Highway 23 on our way from Sur to Al Raha desert camp in Wahiba Sands. The road was flat and void of any traffic. As a consequence, I had my foot to the floor and we were zipping a long at pace. So, when my friend Bob called out, "Wadi Bani Khalid, that place is supposed to be amazing", we were already past the sign and the turning. There was nothing else for it, but to perform a massive u-turn in the middle of the road. Thankfully, as we were in the middle of nowhere, there were no other cars in our path. However, even though the decision was spontaneous, it proved to be one of the best I have made in Oman thus far as Wadi Bani Khalid was a real treat.

The sign told us that Wadi Bani Khalid was 29km from the main road. However, in no way did this prepare us for the spectacular journey we would experience. There are plenty of roads in Oman that offer drivers spectacular scenery. Imposing mountains and sweeping deserts are ten a penny. The trip to Wadi Ban Khalid though, proved to be on a different level to anything I had encountered before. The first fifteen kilometers or so were standard Omani fare - haggard, rocky desert off-set by imposingly dark volcanic hills. But, as we moved closer to the wadi, the local geography seemed to up the ante. The desert disappeared and the hills became genuine mountains. I had been happily scooting along in fifth gear doing well over 100kph, but gradually this began to change. Almost imperceptibly at first, the road began to steepen. Then, gradually, I had to move down the gears as slowed to a crawl on the way up the mountains.

The higher we climbed and the slower we drove, the better the view became. As we neared the top of the mountain, I had the chance the glance back over my shoulder. The valley behind us fell away sharply into a deep chasm that looked and felt like a giant ax wound inflicted on the side of the mountain. It was all I could do to remain focused on the road. After we wound our way through the mountain pass, we found ourselves greeted by similarly impressive terrain. The road down the other side of the mountain was steep and windy, which meant I had to drive extra slow to avoid losing control. Doing so would have involved plummeting hundreds of meters to the valley floor below.

Thankfully, we descended from the mountain pass unscathed and made our way along the valley bottom to Wadi Bani Khalid. Upon arrival, I was astounded to find a traffic jam. For the past 200km the roads upon which we had traveled had been deserted. We had scarcely seen any other cars on the road. Where they had all come from was anyone's guess. The road into the wadi was thin and there seemed to be very little sign of any organized parking system. So, we left the car by the side of the road and began to walk towards the wadi. On the way we encountered scores of local families and Indian families both going to and leaving the wadi. The majority of them had brought huge picnics, some so big that the family had needed to enlist the help of local children who were ferrying things up to the wadis using either wheelbarrows or donkeys. As we were traveling light, we overtook most of these families as we pushed on.

Wadi Bani Khalid was stunning. If you were looking for an image to supplement a dictionary definition of the word 'oasis', you could simply snapped a picture. For the 200km we had traveled that day we had scarcely seen any greenery. The desert was rocky and barren populated with the occasional windswept tree and the mountains were dark and arid. Wadi Bani Khalid was made up of a series of pools flanked by deep green palm trees. The water in each of the pools was clear and warm, and was full of families swimming. The majority of these were Indian as Omani women rarely leave any part of their body save for face and hands open to the sun. The place almost felt like the beach. There were palm trees, plenty of sand, clean water and lots of families taking a dip. As the afternoon sun pounded down on us, I slipped on my shoes and went for a little paddle. The water was wonderfully tepid. I could scarcely believe I was in the middle of one of the most arid regions on earth.

Wadi Bani Khalid is a great day out. First of all, the journey there is truly impressive. Second, it is visually stunning. Clear green water off-set by sand, mountains and palm trees is quite a sight. And finally, it is a wonderful place for families to relax and take a swim. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 28, 2010

Wadi Bani Khalid
Sharqiyah region
Oman, Middle East

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Sandboarding - All About the Friction

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Preparing to Board Photo - Oman, Middle East

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My history with extreme sports is rather chequered. It began in 2001 in the Adirondacks in up-state New York whilst I was a student in Albany. My friends and I spent Spring Break in a cabin out in the woods hitting the slopes at surrounding ski resorts by day and hitting the beers by night. It was, for the most part, a fantastic trip. Sadly, for me, it did not end so well. On our final morning on the piste, with several cans of beer still swilling around my system from the previous evening, I failed to take a sharp bend with appropriate caution and propelled myself face first into a tree. As a consequence, I headed back south with a broken nose and a face covered in lacerations. Since that trip, my sk...Read More

My history with extreme sports is rather chequered. It began in 2001 in the Adirondacks in up-state New York whilst I was a student in Albany. My friends and I spent Spring Break in a cabin out in the woods hitting the slopes at surrounding ski resorts by day and hitting the beers by night. It was, for the most part, a fantastic trip. Sadly, for me, it did not end so well. On our final morning on the piste, with several cans of beer still swilling around my system from the previous evening, I failed to take a sharp bend with appropriate caution and propelled myself face first into a tree. As a consequence, I headed back south with a broken nose and a face covered in lacerations. Since that trip, my skills on the slopes have certainly improved. I am now, at least, no longer a danger to myself and others around me. Over the decade that has passed, I have skied and boarded in both China and Korea with few problems.

When I moved to Oman, I presumed there would be little chance for me to hone my skills on the piste. In a literal sense, that proved to be true. There is very little snow in a country where winter temperatures rarely drop below 20 degrees Celsius. However, I was surprised to learn that Oman has its very own equivalent of winter sports – extreme desert sports. And, whilst these do not translate exactly with their winter counterparts, there are several clear parallels. Skis and snowboards can still be used, but instead of snow-covered mountains, Oman's slopes are giant sand dunes.

The Al Raha desert camp offers plenty of extreme sports options. There are quad bikes, 4X4s and dune buggies, all of which are tremendous fun. However, with my winter sports precedent, the activity I was keenest to try was sand-boarding. To explain this particular 'sport' in simple terms, sand-boarding is essentially snowboarding on sand. All the equipment and principles are the same. You clip your feet to a large board and head downhill. On the surface, aside from swapping snow for sand, the two sports appeared to be identical. However, when I hit the dunes, I soon found that this was not actually the case.

The main differences between snowboarding and its sand-based equivalent centre around speed and gradient. When I first experimented with snowboarding in the US, I found even the gentlest of baby slopes to be a major challenge. So, in the desert, to play things safe and avoid any nasty injuries, I headed to a less than imposing looking dune in the hope of acclimatizing gently. This plan proved wholly futile as whilst on the ski slopes the snow is hardened allowing the board to skim along and speed, the dunes are soft creating much more friction. Therefore, on the baby slopes, I succeeded only in sinking into the sand and moving glacially down the incline.

This rather dis-spiriting experience taught me that whilst the smooth surface of the snow – and the lack of friction – is the key to snowboarding, the salient factor in sand-boarding is gradient. Therefore, in a moment of Newtonian inspiration, I realized I had to let gravity assert itself. So, I slung my board over my back set off to climb the steepest and tallest dune I could find. This proved to be no easy process. The sands were very soft, meaning I repeatedly lost my footing and slid back down. After 15 arduous minutes, I had gone 30 meters and was barely half way up the dune. I decided enough was enough and strapped on my board. The dune was infinitely steeper than anything I would ever have considered skiing or snowboarding down. Consequently, I was a little nervous. Thankfully, I needn't have been. The soft sand had two effects on my board. First, it covered the edges ensuring it was difficult to lose balance and fall over. Second, the added friction made for an effective break, preventing me careering out of control. These made for a remarkably smooth ride down the dune.

I boarded for just under an hour and was exhausted. This was not caused by the activity itself, rather from repeatedly hiking up the dune. I must admit, the ratio of effort to pleasure was not particularly well balanced. However, it was certainly easier and safer than snowboarding. Read Less

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Into the Sands

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Attacking the Dunes Photo - Oman, Middle East

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It is almost impossible to explain to someone who was not in the car with my friends and I just how worried I was as the sun began to set over Wahiba Sands. We were on our way to the Al Raha Desert Camp, which is situated about 25km into the vast expanse of dunes that make up Wahiba Sands. And, we were lost. Once the sun had set, there would be no chance of us finding the camp. Therefore, we knew we were on the clock. We had driven almost 300km from Sur via Wadi Bani Khalid and were very close to our destination. Unfortunately, as there are no detailed maps of Oman and for some reason there are very few road signs. We sped along the desert highway in the direction of the desert town of Ibra, knowing t...Read More

It is almost impossible to explain to someone who was not in the car with my friends and I just how worried I was as the sun began to set over Wahiba Sands. We were on our way to the Al Raha Desert Camp, which is situated about 25km into the vast expanse of dunes that make up Wahiba Sands. And, we were lost. Once the sun had set, there would be no chance of us finding the camp. Therefore, we knew we were on the clock. We had driven almost 300km from Sur via Wadi Bani Khalid and were very close to our destination. Unfortunately, as there are no detailed maps of Oman and for some reason there are very few road signs. We sped along the desert highway in the direction of the desert town of Ibra, knowing that the camp was illusively close,, even though it felt so distant and remote.

It was only by pure luck as I pulled into a filling station to gas up and ask for directions that we saw signs for the town of Al Ghaarib, the closest point of civilization to Al Raha. We took the turning and followed the road towards Al Raha. We soon saw signs informing us that Al Raha was 20km away. Feeling encouraged after the earlier panic, we sped on towards our goal. However, just a few kilometres later we hit a major problem. The paved gradually began to become a little sandy, before being enveloped by the sweeping dunes of Wahiba Sands. I am an adventurous driver and I have taken my little Toyota Yaris on several precarious journeys in Oman, but there was no chance we could go any further.

At the point where the dunes met the road, there was a small parking lot. So, I pulled the Yaris in and got out to survey the situation. With the sun falling over the desert, it did not look too good for us. Thankfully, after a few minutes a large 4x4 came whipping out of the sands. The driver asked us where we were headed – I presume he already had a fair idea we were going to Al Raha as there is nothing else within the next 200km. When we told him our destination, he said he would be happy to drive us there and bring us back ... for a small fee, of course. With no other realistic choice, we left the Yaris in the parking lot and jumped into the 4x4.

My three friends jumped in the back and I took the front seat. The first thing we noticed was a giant crack across the windscreen that suggested our driver was not the most cautious of chaps. This initial supposition proved to be 100% correct. As soon as we hit the sands he put his foot to the floor and had us speeding along at an alarming rate. We carried on in this manner for about 12 kilometres. The speed and the sand spraying from beneath the wheels made it feel rather exotic and exciting. However, as we got further into the sands, the dunes began to get larger and the driving a little more frightening – or a little more exciting, depending on your disposition.

As the dunes got steeper, the driver saw no need to slow down and drive more carefully. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying flying over them at pace – the reasons behind the giant crack in the windscreen suddenly began to become very evident. As he sped up, the driver continually seemed to look across at me and glance over his shoulder at those in the back. As I was very much enjoying the ride, I was smiling. He seemed to be spurred on by this. We soon began to realize that he was gauging our reaction to see how fast we were comfortable going. So, to heat things up, I yelled out "faster". This had us moving at even more breakneck speed and occasionally bouncing around as though we were about to lose control.

It was very very nerve-wracking, but tremendous fun. However, the highlight came when the driver turned to me and shouted, "Allah" (Arabic for God). I was not sure what he meant, but nodded my head enthusiastically in agreement. He then swung the wheel hard to the left and accelerated towards a 100m high sand dune. We hit the dune with a thump and then accelerated up it as fast as we could. The higher we got, the the slower we went and the more the wheels began to spin. As we neared the top, it felt as though the driver were about to lose control and the 4x4 would flip over. It was all very dramatic. Just at that point, he turned the wheel hard to the right and we flew down the dune at pace with the driver whooping and hollering as we went.

We finally drew into the camp as the sun set over the dunes. It had taken around twenty minutes to get to the camp, but it was one of the most exciting drives of my life. Read Less

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