Dibba Musandam Oman – Explore the stunning Omani enclave
Dibba Musandam is a little bit of paradise within easy reach of the UAE. So if you’re looking for a tranquil escape with some adventure, this is one for you.
I went on two different tours with Muhammed of Enjoy Musandam. He’s from the area, knows all the best spots and helps you create a trip you’ll not forget. He has two or three dhows but if you don’t have him on your trip, he has excellent staff too. You can find him on Instagram and Facebook.
Dibba Musandam – Activities
If you take a Musandam dhow cruise, you can also go hiking, beach camping, fishing, snorkelling, kayaking, paddle boarding, banana boats, swimming, speed boat trip to the white caves, barbecue, mountain safari, visiting old villages…
Dhow Cruise
The dhow cruise takes you from Dibba Oman port up the coast to the beach of Haffa. Along the way, the scenery of the Arabian Sea and the high cliffs, with their stunning formations and colours, is breathtaking.
There are even some areas where you can dive in and come up inside a small cave.
Once near the beach at Haffa, you can swim, snorkel, paddleboard or kayak in the beautiful turquoise water. On the beach, you can camp, picnic, barbecue, or relax and soak up the surrounding beauty. You may also find the local goats coming to greet you.
During your Dibba Musandam trip, you’ll get a tasty buffet lunch, tea, coffee, juice and fruit on the dhow cruise. After that, you can sunbathe on the roof or chill on the majlis cushions on the lower deck. There are toilets and showers on board for your comfort.
Search dhow cruises and activities at Dibba Musandam
Dibba Musandam Trip
Tents will be ready for you on the beach if you choose to stay overnight or you can sleep under the stars on the dhow. As night falls, you’ll see the glow of your campfire and the bio-luminescent life in the sea before you.
There are two ways to reach the beach – by boat or hiking from the wadi over the mountain. The people living in Haffa and other coastal villages like Lima get to their homes by boat. Children go to school by speed boat, and building materials, drinking water, etc are all delivered by dhow.
If you want to take the banana boat ride on your Dibba Musandam trip, you’ll go further out by speedboat so you don’t disturb the fishermen in the area. Try not to fall in like me!
The speedboat will also take you to the magnificent white caves of Dibba Musandam. Looking at the weather-worn swirls of the limestone, you might feel like you’re on another planet.
There are two large caves; one has a pebble beach you can go on if you don’t mind wading through the water. The pebbles range in size, rock type and colour.
Back on land, you can go on a trip through the wadi behind the mountains, passing a dam, farms and abandoned villages to the road above Zighy. From there, you can look over Zighy Bay and climb higher for a view over the wadi.
A restaurant attached to Six Senses Zighy Bay sits on this clifftop. Non-residents can also make a reservation for dinner and paraglide off the clifftop. (Probably better to paraglide before dinner!)
Further along the road, you’ll reach a point where you are in a huge canyon. Can you spot the tiny person in the last photo?
You can see a compilation of videos here
Do I need a visa for Dibba Musandam?
There have been recent changes at the Dibba side. Before you could only enter with a permit rather than a visa, which your hotel or tour agency could arrange in advance. Then, more recently, you could just pay AED 30 to enter with your Emirates ID and passport, or orange card and car registration card (you must be the owner of the car.)
But more changes have come about more recently still! On 26 February 2025, a new border control was announced. It’s not yet clear if you get a full visa and can exit from the Khasab border rather than having to exit by the same border. I’ll update as soon as I have more info.
GCC nationals require only a passport or national ID and can exit from any border.
To see more on Dibba and much more on other parts of Musandam, see my post Musandam Oman – Norway of the Middle East at my travel blog In Scotterati Footsteps. (Includes other Oman posts too.)
Hotels in Dibba Musandam
There is currently only one hotel in Dibba Musandam – Six Senses Zighy Bay – Book Zighy Bay
But you can also book Bandar Hafa private rental – See more on my stay there on this post.
Check hotels in nearby Dibba Fujairah
Musandam Oman – About
Musandam Oman is an enclave to the north of the United Arab Emirates and was a very strategic point for many years (and indeed still is) as it sits between the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea which leads to the Indian Ocean.
Telegraph Island, a popular stop off point for cruises from Khasab, is where the British set up a telegraph point to aid communication at the time.
Security is quite tight in the area to prevent illegal immigrants entering by sea and proceeding to mainland Oman and the UAE.
You may notice the coast guard vessels around the Musandam coastline and sometimes helicopters. There is a military presence on Jebal Haram too.
This also means that only GCC Nationals can cross from the Dibba area to Rawda and on to Khasab. Wadi Bih is also only accessible to people having permits to go there if they have land or have a relevant reason to go.
Other things to see in Musandam Oman
Dibba Castle
Dibba Beach – beautiful long beach of around 2.5km, at the northern end, there is an old village with ruined houses built from rocks of different colours.
All around you’ll find old houses and abandoned villages. There’s an interesting one at Hajer not so far from the UAE border.
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See options for organised trips and activities in Dibba Musandam.