Oman - Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula - page 262

Jerry Hadwin's Adventure Trekking in Oman, with good maps, directions and safety pre-
cautions. Their Muscat-Sidab route is a one-hour walk that could be added, for those en-
ergetic walkers, onto our walking tour ( Click here ) .
The Ministry of Tourism OFFLINE MAP ( 24 588700; www.omantourism.gov.om ) has developed a
set of walking tours and a booklet describing some great routes across Muscat and bey-
ond. Brown information signs mark the trailheads of some routes. One, the C38 from Al-
Riyam Park to Mutrah (a walk of 2km taking about 1½ hours), is an option on our walk-
ing tour. Be prepared for rough conditions in remote territory on all trails: stout walking
shoes, water and a hat are essential at any time of year, even on the shortest route.

Horse Riding
There are two horse-riding schools in Muscat that are open to the public: Al-Sawahil Horse
Riding ( 95 177557; [e-mail]) and Qurm Equestrian School ( 99 832199) .

Water Sports
Water sports in Muscat include diving and snorkelling. There are also boat trips around
scenic Bandar Khayran and the nearby rock arch. Stars of the show are the highly popular
dolphin- and whale- watching trips. Kiosks along Mutrah Corniche advertise these boat
rides for OR15 for a two-hour boat trip, leaving at 8.30am, noon, 1pm and 3.30pm every
day from Marina Bandar al-Rowdha.
Eurodivers ( 24 737293; www.euro-divers.com ; Sidab St) offers diving and snorkelling from Mar-
ina Bandar al-Rowdha. The marina itself offers a full range of boating amenities, and has
an excellent on-site restaurant, with an outdoor terrace, called the Blue Marlin ( Click
here ) .
Other companies operating from the marina offer dolphin boat trips (for two hours leav-
ing at 8am and 10am), glass-bottom boat trips (Sea Tours Oman;

99 425461; www.seatoursoman.com ) ,

sunset cruises and a two-hour semi-submersible boat trip (

97 307877; www.alkhayran.com ; per trip

8am, 9am, 10am & 11am May-Sep) for a close-up of the coral gardens without getting OR25;

wet.

Courses
Muscat isn't a great place to learn Arabic, as many people speak English proficiently and
relish the chance to practise.
For the determined, however, Polyglot OFFLINE MAP ( 24 666666; www.polyglot.org ; off Wadi
Aday roundabout, Ruwi; per course OR140) runs 10-week courses in six different levels of Arabic