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Have booked a hotel in Muscat this weekend, and instead of flying have decided to drive.

Whats the best (quickest way) - via Fujairah or Hatta? Is there a mapf of the routes available somewhere? Are there any mentionable areas to stop by on the way? We've been told it wll take around 4-5 hours...

Any advice would be great thanks

Thank you for visiting the travel forum, come again.

thanks fayz

is that your map?

does it take longer than 5 hours?

Bleakus wrote:does it take longer than 5 hours?

maybe if you're driving a Nissan Patrol that is older than you are and can't go over 80kph , normally it is about a 4 hour drive but apparently bushra21 made it in 2.5 if you search there is another post about Muscat.

because of personal life changes, I’ve postponed but I wanted to organize a Dubai Forums camping/road trip to Salalah in September, a great way to spend Eid if someone else is willing to organize.

DeeDee wrote:thanks fayz

is that your map?

I wish, my penmanship isn't that good, the map is courtesy of surfersofdubai.com

http://www.surfersofdubai.com/map_dubai_to_muscat.htm

Hey fayz you still haven't answered "what's house boating - in Oman"

What's the distance in kilometers?

383 Km, 238 Mi, 207 Nautical miles.

Concord wrote:Hey fayz you still haven't answered "what's house boating - in Oman"

Best fun you can have for a weekend, get a group together your own boat, own cook, fishing, snorkeling, etc. but completely the other direction from Muscat, go toward Khasab

^ how much does it cost to rent? Does it come with cook, captain, etc.?

We should so do an outing on something like that.

^ian^ wrote:We should so do an outing on something like that.

I was thinking same. Did some research. Boat holds 40!

Ridiculously cheap, 5 of us rented a boat, including captain, cook, and all food and non-alcoholic beverages for something like 1,100 a head, 3 days on boat, 1 in a hotel, a tour of the mountain regions including the highest peaks and a tour of the previously inhabited rock caves. I’ve had some wicked trips road trips in this region but by far this was my favourite one, highly recommend it.

DeeDee wrote:Are there any mentionable areas to stop by on the way?

The border crossing ...

Nizwa is interesting to visit but not the quickest route. Sohar about halfway on the coast maybe. I'd just carry on to Muscat though. About 4 hrs.

bonk wrote:

DeeDee wrote:Are there any mentionable areas to stop by on the way?

The border crossing ...

Nizwa is interesting to visit but not the quickest route. Sohar about halfway on the coast maybe. I'd just carry on to Muscat though. About 4 hrs.

cool, thanks guys

fayz wrote:

Bleakus wrote:does it take longer than 5 hours?

maybe if you're driving a Nissan Patrol that is older than you are and can't go over 80kph , normally it is about a 4 hour drive but apparently bushra21 made it in 2.5 if you search there is another post about Muscat.

because of personal life changes, I’ve postponed but I wanted to organize a Dubai Forums camping/road trip to Salalah in September, a great way to spend Eid if someone else is willing to organize.

I would like that, let me know if someone will organize

is there any interesting sites going to salalah? how long will it takes? how many hours? whats to see in salalah?

panaghoy wrote:is there any interesting sites going to salalah? how long will it takes? how many hours? whats to see in salalah?

1. Not much on the way.
2. 12-15 hrs.
3. Trees and beaches.

Go in the summer, it's green but cloudy. Go in the winter, it's warmer than Dubai and sunny.

Do we (UAE residents) really need a visa to enter Oman, I mean farther Oman like Muscat and Salalah (by road or air)? Or it depends on the passport?

I went to Hatta few times and I believe I passed Oman region (seen on the map), no one held/check for passports etc.

I went to Al Ain and went through Al Buraimi (Oman) when coming back to Dubai. Stopped by police around the border, but they let me go without checking (maybe Dubai plate is Ok?).

But farther than that, I'm not sure.

Visa to Oman is required unless you are GCC national, I think you just wave ID card then.

Visa at Oman border easy for some nationalities, probably the same as the list for UAE. Oman visa run might help.

Going to Hatta you drive through Oman but no passport & visa office until after Hatta. Similar setup with Al Ain/Buraimi.

Well, we did the drive, but god wouldn't do it again. So bloody boring and lots of useless drivers out there. The road is ok though and its an easy drive. Nearly ran over some camels!

There are 2 border crossings - leaving UAE (after Hatta) and then you drive for a bit, then enter Oman. Leaving UAE is fine takes about 10 mins.
You have to get out, get your passport stamped and pay 20AED or something - Im on an Aussie passport & UAE resident visa so no hassles there. Then got to the Oman entrance and had to get out again and wait in a small-ish queue to fill out a form and another stamp (and another 20AED) on the passport. Took about 20-30 mins all up. No hassles at all. On the way back, just a stamp (and another 20AED) when you leave Oman, and they just wave you in at the UAE entry gate when you flash your resident visa as you drive past.

I love Muscat, but wouldn't do the drive again! Tiring and boring! We did it in 5 hours boths ways (left Dubai at 8am-ish Fri, arrived around 1 in Muscat) - yes we did the speed limit