Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
step. This is the biggest and most established of Hilf's three budget hotels and it has a
reasonable in-house restaurant.
Masira Island Resort$$
RESORT
( 25 504274;
www.masiraislandresort.com
; Cross-Island Rd; r OR75; )
This attractive, land-
scaped resort is a 10-minute walk across soft sand to the water's edge; turtles nest on the
beach. The restaurant is the only place on Masirah for international cuisine and there's a
bar. You need your own transport to reach the hotel.
Eating & Drinking
Under the guise of the ubiquitous coffeeshop, you can find Indian, Chinese and seafood,
in addition to the usual Arabic fare, peppering the main street through Hilf. Ask at your
hotel for current recommendations as the restaurants change as quickly as the expat staff
marooned on the island. For Turkish kebabs, Shatti Masirah Coffeeshop, between the
crossroads and Masirah Hotel, is an old favourite.
Basic provisions can be found in the souq in Hilf. Abu Shabeeb is the most compre-
hensive supermarket in town but if you require any 'must-haves', bring them with you.
Information
Limited information about the island is available from the hotels. Alternatively, try asking
in
Explore Masirah
( 98 186161, 25 504442; 8am-9pm) next to the Serabis Hotel -
Masirah's first and only tourist operator.
Getting There & Away
Getting to the ferry terminal at Shana'a is theoretically feasible by public transport but not
practical as there is no direct service from Muscat and unhelpful connections mean that
you can easily get marooned in the interior without a hotel. It's incomparably better to
drive; consider hiring a car in Sur and making a round trip from there if you don't fancy
the long slog from Muscat.
A left turn off the Sinaw-Duqm road at Mahout leads, after 18km, to Hijj (also known
as Hay). Shana'a is a further 45km away along a sealed road. Turn right across the salt
flats (which turn a stunning red when the algae is in bloom) at a sign saying 'Hijj 43km,
An-Najda 13km'. Muscat to Shana'a takes about five or six hours by car. Alternatively,
take the stunning new coast road across the edge of the Sharqiya Sands - the closest you
