Most visitors will start their journey from Dubai, so we will use this as a reference point. If you are coming from Abu Dhabi Airport add 1 more hour, or 1. Dubai to Khasab is approximately 2 hours , but as an international border crossing is required, the journey can take 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours or even longer on popular holiday weekends.
Dubai to Dibba is shorter, kms and about 1 hour 45 minutes. The west coast crossing into Musandam if you are headed to Khasab is via the Al Darah border post , at the northern tip of Ras Al Khaimah emirate, literally where the mountains start touching the ocean. This is not a full border crossing post, only a small police station checkpoint.
You must have pre-arranged permission to access the border crossing at this point, either via your accommodation or tour provider. Some day trips to Dibba may leave from the UAE side and not touch land, preventing the formality of border crossing on a day trip. The mountains have housed extremely isolated communities for centuries and many coastal villages can only be reached by boat.
Some Bedouin communities are still today closed for non-Omanis. The highest mountain is Jebel Al Harim with an altitude of 2, meters above sea level. Most of the roads are still gravel or dirt roads and only the major highway from the UAE border to Khasab is perfectly built for the increasing traffic. Omanis in the region have for centuries developed close trading ties with Iran. The Iranian city Bandar Abbas is just 65 km or 1.
Locally, Khasab is known for smuggling by Iranians in and out of Musandam. This trading is only illegal for Iranian traders as Oman has a free trade zone and regulates the trade in its port.
Today Iranians in general sell cattle, sheep, goats, spices and other agricultural goods in exchange for TV sets, computers and other electronic goods. You can watch the trade in Khasab harbour without major restrictions. The tourist season runs from late October until April. The tourist swell is usually limited to the weekend Thu-Sat , when UAE residents arrive with their families. During these days, reserve hotels and tours in advance to avoid problems. Also when cruise ships arrive in Khasab, facilities like transport will be stretched to the maximum.
Arabic is the national language and is spoken by locals. The tourism industry depends on migrant workers who speak English with a varying degree of proficiency and dialect.
Most Omanis in Musandam only speak limited English and you need to speak basic Arabic to get by in every place outside of Khasab. The E road from Ras Al Khaymah is well sign posted to the Omani border, once crossed the check post, roads are beautifully made cutting across the mountains.
Breathtaking views indeed. There are also major construction works directly on the Omani side of the border, so expect loads of trucks. The whole trip should be done in about During peak holiday seasons, Emirates and other Gulf airlines offer charter flights from Dubai to Khasab. An entry visa is required if you are entering from the United Arab Emirates. The emigration offices on both sides of the border are painfully slow and require travellers to fill out forms.
The process to get a UAE exit and Omani entry visa usually requires minutes on normal days but during holiday season in the United Arab Emirates, it can take up to four hours. If possible, team up, so that one person queues while the other fills out the immigration forms each for every person! Also note that only the Omani immigration building offers restrooms. If you travel with a group party of six or more then the driver might receive a token that you have to hand over at the last border check to do a quick head count.
Don't leave without handing it over to the border police. The Omani visa costs 20 Omani rials or UAE dirhams for most nationalities and can be bought directly at the border. Pete Aldwinckle, who has been rock climbing in the region for the past nine years, said it had made him and his friends think twice about crossing the border. Amy Subaey, the organiser of UAE Trekkers, said her group would no longer arrange hikes into Dibba after the red tape she had encountered. Trekkers usually spend the night camping.
Now they must book and pay for a hotel breakfast the next morning to provide proof for police. Ms Subaey said getting all of the passport copies and money for the hotels made it too much work. They had a hotel booking but not the right paperwork, something Ms Subaey did not know was required.
She said UAE Trekkers probably would not offer another trip to the area until next year. View Dibba border crossing in a larger map.
Mr Aldwinckle said there were about 60 rock climbers who regularly went through the Dibba crossing, but as the months became cooler more would be affected by the new rules. Businesses in Oman are also feeling the effects and have had to deal with extra paperwork. But foot traffic has all but vanished and only those who hold tourist visas are exempt from the rules.
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