Arabian Seatrek

Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive Dubai

Arrive in Dubai at any time and transfer to the hotel. At 6 pm you will meet with your tour leader in the afternoon for a brief meeting followed by an orientation walk through Dubai's Old Quarter. Please, check the hotel notice board for any trip related information.

Day 2 Khasab

After breakfast, we will depart for Khasab (app 2hrs driving) stopping en route in Sharjah.The Emirate of Sharjah, just north of Dubai, occupies an area equivalent to 3.3 per cent of the country’s total landmass. Sharjah has the distinction of being the only emirate to have land on both coasts since, although the main city is situated on the Arabian Gulf coast between, enclaves belonging to Sharjah (Kalba, Khor Fakkan and Dibba al-Husn) are located across the Hajar Mountains on the Batinah (East Coast), bordering the Gulf of Oman.Sharjah City, a bustling administrative and commercial centre with its own distinctive ambience, has some fine restored traditional buildings, together with a wide range of impressive museums. In 1998 the city was designated by UNESCO as the cultural capital of the Arab world for its commitment to art, culture and preserving its heritage.We continue on to Oman passing the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to do border formalities before entering Khasab province. The scenery as we drive along the Gulf of Oman makes want to start sailing right away.

Day 3 Dhow cruise

In the morning it's time to board a traditional boat - dhow, and start to explore east coast of Musandam. Next two nights, you will sleep on board. (Please note that there are no cabins on dhow and we will sleep on deck under the stars) All bed-linen is provided. On board the dhow there is a simple toilet and shower, and fresh water is replenished at each night stop. Supplies of fresh drinking water, food and ice are brought to the dhow regularly by speedboat. Traditional Omani meals, will be prepared and cooked on board.On the way we will cruise by Telegraph Island. Here the first telegraphic message was sent from Karachi to London in 1865.

Day 4 Dhow Cruise

Today we head north up the east coast to Kumzar and Habliyan Beach.Kumzar is the most isolated community on the peninsula and can only be reached by boat or helicopter. Every square metre of available land here has been built upon or used to such an extent that the cemeteries are completely full and now family members are buried beneath the houses. The dialect spoken by the local people here is a mixture of Arabic and Farsi, testimony to the influence of nearby Iran.Passing narrow inlets and sweeping bays we continue to a small group of islands off the northern tip of the Musandam peninsula.Our dhow will moore at Habliyan Beach near one of the largest fjords.

Day 5 Khasab

Our dhow journey finishes in a small bay on the South-East part of the peninsula. We'll drive back to Khasab along the scenic mountain road.In the afternoon you will have time to explore the town almost lost in a wide oasis of date palms. But Khasab is nonetheless home to around 16,000 people – a population swollen in summer by local people migrating along the coastline and descending from their isolated herding existence in the Ruus al Jibal mountains to help with the date harvests.

Day 6 Dubai

This morning, we take a half day trip by 4WD into the lonely, barren interior, driving first up to Jebel Harim, the ‘mountain of women’ (2087m) and the highest mountain in Musandam. From on high at the Khawr al Najd viewpoint, magnificent views of the fjord coastline spread out before us with turquoise blue waters lapping the shores. Keep an eye out for the 'Lock Houses' or Bait al Qofil, the distinctive houses of Musandam, and they are built of local stone with acacia wood and earth/gravel mix roofs. Such dwellings have raised slabs for sleeping, sitting and storing goods and unusually the floor is sunken to around a metre below ground level. Two substantial locks prevent entry by strangers when the household members migrate down to the coastline in the summer for fishing and date picking, hence the name. In the afternoon, we drive back to Dubai. En route, we stop at Bukha Fort before reaching Dubai for our last night dinner.

Day 7 Depart Dubai

Depart Dubai at any time today.