The Omani exclave of Musandam is a small and mountain rugged remote place at the very tip of the Arabian peninsula. Not much goes on here and the main attraction for me was the ferry connecting Khasab with the main part of Oman and the opportunity to watch the coastline from the ocean side.
Info box
Routes
The National Ferries Company, MWASALAT, runs ferry service between Khasab - Shinas, Khasab - Lima and between Lima - Dibbas - Shinas.
Depending on the current schedule you can stitch up a ferry trip from Khasab with a stop over in Lima or Dibba and then reach Shinas if you wish to see more of the Musandam towns.
ScheduleFirst things to note is that the website’s time table is NOT accurate. The website could use some upgrades on the quality of the information content. I would double check with the company over email before making any plans involving their schedule.
The direct ferry between Khasab and Shinas, as of the November 2022 schedule, departs from Khasab on Saturday at 13:00 and on Wednesday at 14:00.
Ticket office in KhasabThe ticket office in Khasab is located at the ferry port. Their opening hours are from 7:30 to 15:00 on a daily basis.
You can purchase your ferry ticket here with local and international credit cards. The ticket works as a reservation only and you would need to pick up a boarding pass at the same ticket office 2 hours before departure.
Book your ticketThere is an online form on their website to book tickets, but it doesn’t work. If you need to book in advance and you are not close to a ticket office, you’r best option is to send them an email and cross your fingers for a reply. I wouldn’t get my hopes up as their reply rate on email is bad at best.
Expect cancellationsBased on my gathered experience, the ferry departures are very irregular and prone to cancellations. My departure was canceled due to bad weather. Once a departure is canceled you would expect they would depart as soon as the weather allows it. But this is not the case. Instead, you will have to wait until the next scheduled departure even though the following days have perfect weather. This means you can easily spend up to a week waiting in Khasab for your ferry to leave.
The ticket office is also not able to refund your ticket in cash. They will make a bank transfer to your account which can take days to finalize so there is no way you can verify a refund while at the ticket office. In case you want a refund, apply a lot of patience and be sure to get a direct phone number to a customer representative as they rarely reply to emails.
Optimize your visa strategyI entered the Masundam exclave and Khasab on my 30 days single entry visa. If I wanted to leave Musandam to connect with Shinas by roads, I would lose my visa and would need to apply for another. If you plan to travel to mainland Oman as well, you might want to think twice about your visa strategy.
Most nationalities have 14 days visa free travel in Oman. You can enter the Masundam exclave on a visa free basis and when you reach Shinas, you can do a visa run at the nearby Shinas border where you exit and enter again with your 30 days single entry visa. This way you don’t risk being trapped in Khasab burning up visa days or lose it all together if you give up waiting and decide to travel by roads to mainland Oman.
Small cargo deck can only hold a few vehiclesThe cargo deck is rather small and does not hold much more than 10 vehicles. If you plan to bring your 4 wheeler, make sure there is room for it.
Experiences from the actual ferry rideAt the ferry port in Khasab you go through a security control where your bags are scanned and your passport checked. There are only a few places to sit in the waiting area but everything went pretty fast with the boarding so there was not much waiting. I arrived an hour before departure and I was on the boat 30 min after. From the waiting area I rolled my bike onto the cargo deck and strapped it to a pole.
Be sure to get a window seat. You are not allowed outside on deck to take in the views so the only way you can marvel at the coastline is from inside through a window. Pick a starboard seat (the right hand side facing the direction of sailing) to get views of the cliffs and the coastline. However, you only have the coastline view for the first one and a half hours.
The seating is comfortable and the chairs have an airplane-like tray that folds out from the arm rest. Other seating arrangements have actual tables.
There are small compartment boxes next to the seats where you can stow away your hand luggage.
They advertise free WiFi on the ferry but this is false. There is no WiFi. Also, there is no mobile data coverage either for most of the journey.
A complimentary sandwich and a glass of juice is served. Vegetarian option available. TV entertainment but without sound.
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Hi, I am Dani Kainoa. Summer of 2021, I set out on a journey to explore the world on a bicycle. Join my world biketour and follow my travel blog for stories, reviews, guides and more. Visit my photo journal on Instagram to keep up with more of my adventures.
