Wahiba Sands desert

Impressions & useful tips for getting to the desert

by Melanie

The journey to our accommodation "1000 Nights Camp" and the possibilities there are worth a blog entry of their own.

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Beautiful light in the dunes of the Wahiba Sands

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Table of contents

1. Preparing to go to the desert

2. Directions to the accommodation

3. activities in the camp

   
   

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1. Preparing to drive the desert

To get to your desert accommodation by car, you will need a four-wheel drive vehicle to be able to drive on the sand.

Most accommodations offer the following service to safely transport all guests to the accommodation, however this service must be booked in advance:

• Transfer without own car from Bidiyya - chargeable

• Escort service where you follow a guide in your own car - free of charge

In order to drive in sand, the tire pressure must be reduced. This can actually be done at any gas station. And since the gas station in Bidiyya is the starting point for the trip into the desert, it is actually a good place to reduce the air pressure there. But at the Shell gas station, the air pressure device was defective in December 2024. We were told that it was too early anyway and that we would do it in a few kilometers. So that's what we did, in a small workshop, where we had to pay 1 OMR.

TIP: If the device is working again, you can also let the air out yourself at the gas station. On the way back, unfortunately, we couldn't find a gas station nearby where the device was intact and we had to go to a workshop again for 1 OMR.

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2. Directions to the accommodation

Since we chose accommodation deep in the desert and there are no roads with road signs, we were given directions. Unfortunately, we couldn't do much with that and so we used the escort service. But you have to be at the agreed meeting point at 12:00 punctually. This means you're pretty inflexible.

Therefore, our TIP: You can definitely find your way to the accommodation on your own if - as soon as you arrive in the desert - you always drive along the left side of the power line and also use the description for orientation.

We found the way back without any problems and were able to ride a little faster than on the way there. This is certainly a lot of fun, especially for the men.

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3. activities in the camp

The camp offers many activities, but you don't need to book anything to experience the desert. You can easily walk into the dunes and maybe take a board with you to "surf" down the dunes.

Since the light is beautiful in different ways at different times of the day, we can really recommend going to the dunes several times.

We actually wanted to go into the dunes in the dark to see the starry sky in total darkness. But we were advised against it because you can no longer see the camp two dunes further on and you could lose your bearings.

I also had a bit of respect for the animals there, so we didn't do it and only walked a few hundred meters in front of the camp so that we wouldn't have all the light from the camp.

Starry sky in the Wahiba Sands - taken with the iPhone

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If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or comment on the blog entry.

Have fun in the desert.