Driving In Oman: Essential Tips For an Epic Road Trip

But these epic places to visit in Oman are pretty spread out and, save for the bus between Muscat and Salalah, Oman doesn’t really have public transportation. 

This is why you need to rent a car to fully experience the best that Oman has to offer.

With a car, you can set your own itinerary and choose what you want to see and when. You have full control and flexibility over your time in Oman.

You can go on an epic Oman road trip – the best possible way to experience this magnificent country. 

And if you really want to crank up your travel plans, renting a car allows you to go camping in Oman. This country has the best camping we’ve ever experienced! 

Get all the information on camping in Oman

We contacted dozens of small local car rental companies in Muscat, which were all so expensive. Their prices were 15 – 25% higher than what we could find on Discover Cars. 

Plus, when going through an online platform like Discover Cars, you can look at the rankings of each provider, to ensure you’re getting a car from a reliable and trustworthy provider.

Trust us, there are more than enough dodgy car rental companies out there. 

Pro tip: Only choose suppliers with a rating of 8 or higher.

If your driver’s license is in either the Arabic or Roman alphabet, you do not need an international driver’s permit to drive in Oman. 

Read next: How to Visit The Sugar Dunes: An Epic Hidden Gem in Oman

Strictly speaking, no, you do not need a 4×4 for driving in Oman. The main highways are of excellent quality and can be driven on by any type of car. 

However, that said – if you want to experience the best that Oman has to offer – then yes, you need a 4×4 in Oman. 

Oman has some of the best off-road tracks we have ever come across – and that’s after living in the Australian Outback and spending a year overlanding Africa! 

There are incredibly scenic roads, leading to incredibly scenic places, which are – you guessed it – incredibly scenic places to camp. 

Many of Oman’s off-road routes require a good 4×4 with high clearance.

When we say high clearance 4×4, we mean a proper 4×4 such as a Toyota Fortuner, Nissan Patrol or Land Rover Discovery and NOT an all-wheel drive (AWD) such as a Toyota Rav-4 or a Nissan X-Trail.

This is because an AWD vehicle is considerably less powerful than a genuine 4×4 and has less clearance, meaning a greater chance of running into issues and extra skill required. 

Related: The Essential Guide to Visiting Wadi Tiwi

Before going to Oman, we had read online that an AWD would be sufficient for most of Oman’s off-road routes. This was incorrect and terrible advice.

We had a small AWD and while we were able to do most things we wanted to do, this was only due to Zandy’s extensive experience off-roading. Even then, we struggled in some areas and had to cross a few things off the list as well. 

If you want the full Oman adventure experience, please take our word for it – go with the 4×4!

One of our biggest tips when choosing a car is to note the daily limits. 

In Oman, daily mileage on car rentals can be very low – often around 200 km/day (which is not a lot). If you can find a car with 250 km/day, you’ll have more room to play with. 

With Full Coverage, you’ll be covered for the deductible on damage and theft, plus repair costs, towing, taxi rides after an accident, lost keys, lockouts and even admin fees tied to damage or downtime. 

Considering that Oman is one of the world’s biggest off-roading paradises, get the peace of mind that Full Coverage brings!

Personal anecdote: when planning our Oman road trip, we asked a friend who had been to Oman for some tips. His exact words were: ‘get the insurance on your car rental. Because you’ll have lots of opportunities to f**k it up’. Wise words, Jonny. Wise words. 

Head over to Discover Cars to begin planning your epic Oman road trip!

The highway conditions in Oman are fantastic, with smooth asphalt, wide lanes and roomy shoulders.

Potholes are practically non-existent and outside of Muscat, there is very little traffic. There are also a crazy amount of speed cameras, so watch out!

The off-road tracks vary, but many feature pretty rocky conditions that require a decent amount of clearance. While some are well-graded and can be conquered in an AWD, the best ones are pretty rough and narrow. 

One thing that we really noticed in Oman was the steepness of the roads. Oman has the steepest roads we’ve ever come across – we’re talking crazy gradients here! 

We were baffled at how steep some of the roads could be.

While these were mostly off-road routes, some were paved – like the road to Jebel Akhdar (which by the way, is not nearly as bad as it’s made out to be). 

Important: if you plan on doing any off-road exploring in Oman, brush up on your 4×4 driving techniques beforehand. If you think you’ll visit the Wahiba Sands, please understand safe sand-driving techniques. 

As Oman is very large and sparsely populated, there are many areas without mobile reception. Make sure to have maps.me or another offline map downloaded to use in these areas. 

We used maps.me and as always, it worked a charm. 

If you are going to be off-roading, get your hands on the Oman Off-Road Explorer – this is the bible!

Your gas is almost always pumped by an attendant and tipping isn’t customary. Credit cards are widely accepted for fuel payments. 

Overall, gas stations are generally pretty frequent. The one exception is on the long (and boring) highway between Muscat and Salalah.

There’s a very long stretch with few stations – be careful here! We came within 10 km of running out of fuel. Seriously!

That said, the drivers in Muscat are truly horrible and you need to drive on high alert in the city. We narrowly avoided multiple conditions due to some truly erratic driving styles. 

Oman is also still a very rural, pastoral country, so when driving you need to watch out for goats and other livestock. 

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