The Ultimate Guide to Camping in Oman (2024)
Yes, we know, bloggers often over-hype destinations and activities to add a bit of excitement to their articles and to sell them to their readers.
We try our best to avoid this, but guys, seriously, Oman is a campers’ paradise!
This is partly because camping is ingrained in Oman’s local culture (yes, we’re talking Bedouins), partly because visitors can essentially wild camp anywhere they choose and partly because Oman is so bloody beautiful.
Mix this all together and you’ve got one hell of a camping destination!
Looking to do some camping in Oman yourself? Here’s all the information you need about camping in Oman.
Oman Travel Resources
- Getting there: search for flights to Oman
- Where to stay: find a guesthouse or hotel
- Guidebook: pick up a copy of Bradt’s Oman
- How to get around: rent a car or 4WD
- Travel insurance: get travel insurance for your trip
- Money: get a Wise travel card to save big time in Oman
- Tours: explore the best tours in Oman
Is It Safe to Camp in Oman?
Camping in Oman is 100% safe. Oman is a very safe country with an exceptionally low crime rate.
On our 3 week Oman camping trip, we once met a local who said you could sleep using one million dollars as a pillow and nothing would happen to you! That shows just how rare crime is in Oman (and much of the Middle East).
As Oman is an absolute monarchy ruled by a sultan, people tend to toe the line when it comes to following the rules and are deterred by strict punishments.
During our 3 week Oman road trip, we found the locals to be very welcoming and not once did we ever feel threatened or unsafe. We had multiple offers to visit people’s homes for dates and coffee.
Read next: The Wadi Damm Pools – Oman’s Hidden Gem
The biggest safety consideration while camping in Oman is the threat of flash flooding. This is no joke as many of the best camping spots are in wadis (river valleys).
Therefore, it’s critically important to always pay attention to the weather forecast and to look out for local weather warnings.
Also, never, ever camp in a wadi if it’s raining. This is very important as each year people die in flash floods.
As a reminder of just how serious this is, just after we left Oman, flash flooding wreaked havoc on the country, killing many people.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Wadi Bani Awf
Camping in Oman: Practicalities
Okay, now that we’ve got you excited to go camping in Oman, it’s time to get you prepared. Here is all the practical information you need for an amazing camping trip in Oman.
Camping Equipment in Oman
An awesome thing about camping in Oman is that there are so many places to pick up camping equipment and supplies, so even if you don’t have a lot of gear yourself, you can find pretty much everything you need in the country.
Upon arriving in Muscat, your two best options for camping equipment are Carrefour and Lulu Hypermarket (both have multiple locations).
We went to the Lulu in Bousher, next to the Muscat Grand Mall and were able to find everything we needed there. They have everything you could think of from tents to coolers to fire starters.
We were also pleasantly surprised to find a decent range of camping supplies elsewhere throughout the country.
As camping is such a popular pastime in Oman with locals and tourists alike, you can often pick up things like camping stove fuel from petrol stations.
This applies to both the butane canisters that work for traditional camping stoves and the isobutane canisters for hiking stoves – we found both varieties everywhere.
There’s no need to stock up excessively. It’s very convenient!
Read next: The Essential Guide to Visiting Wadi Tiwi
Food For Camping in Oman
There is also no shortage of places to stock up on your food supplies across Oman.
Our personal favourite is Lulu Hypermarket. It’s a massive (and we mean massive) supermarket chain that can be found throughout the country.
At Lulu, you can find practically anything imaginable including delicious pre-made food, sporting equipment, electronics and camping supplies (see above), plus a whole heap of stuff that you’d never have any use for. Lulu is honestly one of the best supermarkets we’ve ever been to.
While you can’t find Lulu’s in smaller cities and towns, there is no shortage of other local supermarkets that are well-stocked with supplies.
Even many petrol stations are well stocked with lots of items, should you be in a pinch.
Also, be sure to hit up Lebanese bakeries for delicious baked goods like spinach pies, zataar pizzas, etc. They’re cheap and delicious!
Pro tip: get your fruit and veg at speciality fruit and veg shops – it’s much cheaper than at the supermarket. And always bargain!
Water
Drinking water can be easily sourced throughout Oman. Many public spaces, particularly mosques, have purified water coolers where you can refill your bottles.
When we arrived in Muscat, we purchased 4 x 5L water jugs and then went about refilling them at public water stations as we went. This method worked really well for us and we highly recommend it.
How much water do you need when camping in Oman? As a general guideline, we used around 10L per day. This was for all our drinking, cooking and cleaning.
Since water sources are pretty abundant, you don’t have to carry too many bottles.
Also, in Oman, the water you find is mostly filtered. If it’s in one of those silver blocks (like in the photos above), then it’s cold and filtered and safe to drink.
If you get it from the ablution block, you may want to filter it (locals told us to). As always, we used our Steripen to filter this water.
Pro tip: maps.me and iOverlander are great resources for finding locations to refill your water containers
Rubbish
Oman has an abundance of public rubbish bins where you can dispose of your waste. Again, this is great, because you don’t have to carry around tons of stinky garbage bags.
We were really surprised by the number of rubbish bins, which can often be found in the most random of locations.
Sadly, despite the abundance of these bins, many popular camping spots are often littered with trash. It’s really unfortunate.
Don’t be part of the problem – see more on leave on trace while camping in Oman below.
Toilets
As practically all the best Oman camping sites are informal, wild camping locations, you’ll need to be prepared to do your business outside.
Yes, we’re taking dirt squirts and bush poops.
Here are a few toilet tips for wild camping in Oman:
- Pack a small shovel or trowel and dig a hole approximately 4 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches deep. We use the Deuce Backpacking Potty Trowel and it’s great. If that ground is too rocky, do your best to dig a hole and once you’re done, cover your business with rocks. Also, take your toilet paper with you and then put it in the bin. Yes, it sounds gross, but soiled toilet paper in the wild is even grosser.
- If you end up using wet wipes, make sure that they are biodegradable and then bury them in a hole 6 to 8 inches deep or place them in a bin. If they’re not biodegradable, put them in your rubbish bag.
- Be selective with where you go to the bathroom. Move away from places where people would normally walk and avoid waterways to prevent cross-contamination.
If you’re looking to use a public toilet, most mosques have one available.
Public toilets in general are pretty widely available, but often don’t have toilet paper.
Campfires
Campfires are allowed in most Oman camping sites.
Firewood can be purchased at many petrol stations and many Oman camping spots have plenty of deadwood lying around that can also be used.
The only place where we really couldn’t find any deadwood was Jebel Shams – so stock up on firewood before heading up the mountain.
Be fire smart: always put your fire out when leaving your campsite, create a fire barrier using rocks to keep it contained and never cut down living trees to use as firewood.
Ice
Ice is readily available at most supermarkets and petrol stations. It’s commonly 500 baisa per bag (around $1.30 USD).
We never had any issues finding ice during our trip.
Wild Camping in Oman
As we said before, Oman is a wild camping paradise! You can pretty much camp anywhere you’d like. Wild camping in Oman is not only legal but very common and accepted.
In fact, when we were at Wadi Al Arbiyeen looking for a camping site, we started chatting with a local farmer. We asked him where we should camp. He pointed to many places around us and replied, here, here, here and even here’ (while pointing at his field).
Generally, the only places that you can’t wild camp in Oman include private residences, places with fragile ecosystems (such as sea turtle nesting locations) and any place that is signposted “No Camping”. But we only saw one such place throughout the entire country.
So yeah, almost the entire country is your playground and it’s pretty bloody awesome!
Oman Camping Tours
Want to try some camping, but don’t want to organise everything on your own? No stress!
There are tons of great options for Oman camping tours. There are Oman camping tours for 4 days, all the way up to a 14-day tour!
Where to Go Camping In Oman
There are essentially four different kinds of locations to go camping in Oman:
Beach Camping in Oman
With over 1700 km of coastline, and access to both the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, Oman offers limitless opportunities to camp on some absolutely stunning beaches.
Yes, you can literally drive up to a random beach, find a spot that you like and pitch your tent. It’s that simple!
Important things to note for beach camping in Oman:
Mountain Camping in Oman
If you’re anything like me, you may be surprised to hear that there’s an abundance of mountains in Oman.
Yes, there are a lot of them, particularly in the northeast, where the highest mountain Jebel Shames comes in just a tad over 3,000m.
Oman’s mountains make for an epic camping backdrop, especially in the shoulder season of April and November when it’s often too hot to camp in lowland locations.
Wadi Camping in Oman
Spend just a couple of days in Oman and you’ll soon become very familiar with wadis.
What are wadis, you ask?
Wadis are valleys and ravines that are often fed by underground springs and act as water catchments during the rainy season. These catchments then turn into incredible desert oases and provide a series of irrigation channels through the incorporation of ancient techniques called aflaj.
Exploring these wadis was one of our favourite things to do during our Oman road trip.
Oman has hundreds of wadis that are accessible to explore and camp in. Many of them also have permanent water sources where you can swim and cool off during a hot day. Hello, paradise!
Just remember: wadis are prone to flash flooding during rains, so never, ever camp in a wadi bed if rains are in the forecast.
Desert Camping in Oman
Desert camping in Oman really is the quintessential Arabian experience. We’re talking endless, expensive sand dunes, epic sunsets and meandering camels off in the distance. Yeah, it’s pretty romantic.
Oman offers many opportunities for a world-class desert camping experience, most notably at Wahiba Sands.
While there are plenty of lovely wild camping sites in the desert, there are also many established camping spots too.
Useful Oman Camping Resources
Top Tips for Camping in Oman
- Have a good set of earplugs. You never know who’s going to end up camping next to you and a good pair of earplugs will help to mitigate any disruption.
- Always carry extra water with you, just in case. As Oman is a desert country, it’s good to be over-prepared. After all, you never know what is around the corner.
- Bring a Steripen. With this bad boy, you never have to worry about access to safe drinking water.
- Ensure that you have good travel insurance. We personally use and recommend SafetyWing. We’ve used a lot of travel insurance in our lives and they really are the best.
- Ensure that your rental car is fully covered in the event of a mishap. Many of the best spots involve driving on rough roads so a lot can go wrong. However, as rental companies charge high fees for the premium, we use rentalcover.com, which covers car protection for a far cheaper price.
- Bugs and mosquitoes are surprisingly prolific, so having a bright lantern or other centralised light source is helpful to keep them out of your face.
- Bring mosquito repellant from home. This is surprisingly very hard to find and expensive in Oman.
The Importance of Leave No Trace
As the majority of camping in Oman revolves around wild camping, following the principle of leave no trace is of the utmost importance.
We witnessed far too many instances of people not cleaning up after themselves. This kind of behaviour really pisses us off as it’s disrespectful to the environment, the beauty of the location and to others who are out there appreciating these spaces.
It’s a privilege to be able to enjoy these spaces. Let’s not mess it up by being an inconsiderate asshole.
Also, by not cleaning up after yourself, you jeopardise wild camping in Oman. As a truly sad example, New Zealand used to embrace wild camping (or, as they call it, ‘freedom camping’). However, after years of rubbish being left behind, it is now outlawed.
It’s not just picking up your own rubbish – we always encourage everyone to leave each campsite cleaner than how you found it. Bring an extra bag and pick up extra rubbish. It’s a small price to pay for what you’re getting in return.
The Best Time to Go Camping in Oman
The best time of the year to go camping in Oman is during the winter time from December – February. During this time, temperatures will be in the mid-20s (celsius) during the day and the mid-teens during the night.
The shoulder seasons of November and March are also pleasant but it can be quite hot at times. You should expect mid-30s in the day and mid-20s at night.
During our trip, we camped from late March to mid-April. There were a couple of hot, steamy nights but overall, it was very doable. During those really hot periods, it’s a good time to retreat to the high mountains of Jebel Shams or Jebel Akhdar or seek out a fresh wadi pool.
If you’re going to be camping in Oman during the hot period, we HIGHLY recommend bringing a small, rechargeable fan. We had one and it was a lifesaver!
What Kind of Car Do I Need for My Oman Camping Trip?
To go camping in Oman, it’s pretty intuitive that you’ll need to rent a car!
While it is possible to get to many Oman campsites with a 2WD, most of the best campsites require a four-wheel drive (4WD).
There are a lot of conflicting reports on this topic, but trust us, if you really want to experience the best of camping in Oman, pay a bit extra to get a 4WD. You won’t regret it.
Pro tip: use Discover Cars to find the best deals on rentals. It’s what we used for our Oman car rental.
On the topic of 4WD’s: not all 4WD’s are created equal. We rented a Suzuki Grand Vitara which is an entry-level 4WD. While we could access most sites, in hindsight, we should have rented something more robust like a Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero or Nesion Patrol.
If you’re a novice flour-wheel driver, then a small 4WD is probably fine. But, if you really want to get to some hard-to-reach and absolutely epic camping sites, then a bigger 4WD would be more suitable.
You should be able to get a 4WD starting at $70 USD/day. There are also some companies out there who rent out an entire camping set-up equipped with rooftop tents and all the camping gear you’ll need. Just bear in mind that they can get quite expensive!
Essential Supplies For Camping in Oman
Here’s our list of what we think is essential, or at least very helpful, for camping in Oman.
We’ve split our list into things to buy before going to Oman (as they’ll be easier to find) and what to buy once you’re in Oman.
Camping Supplies To Buy Before You Go to Oman:
- Mosquito repellant
- Foldable blanket – while this one is very pricey, a cheaper one can be sourced online easily on eBay
- Rechargeable fan (if camping during the hot season)
- MSR MugMate Coffee Filter
- Water sandals (for the wadis)
- Dry bags (for the wadis)
- Good headlamps
- Tent – preferable, but cheap models can be purchased in Oman
- Sleeping bag – preferable, but cheap models can be purchased in Oman
- Sleeping pad – preferable, but cheap models can be purchased in Oman
- Blow up pillow
Camping Supplies to Buy in Oman:
- Lantern (for keeping the bugs out of your face)
- Camping chairs
- Little brush to clean the car – the car will get so dirty!
- Gas stove. A good one can be purchased for around 5 or 6 OMR. We have our own hiking stove, then we got this one so we could have 2 burners (which was very helpful).
- Gas stove fuel – cheap and widely available.
- Cooler. We paid 6 OMR for a decent 20L.
- 2 x pots (or just 1 if you only have 1 burner)
- Utensils
- Cooking spoon
- Tub for dishes and the occasional bush shower
- Good knife
- Cutting board
- Mug and bowl set
- Wet wipes (for cleaning yourself)
Where to Stay in Muscat
It’s definitely worth spending at least one night in Muscat before you head out on your Oman camping trip. This gives you time to load up on supplies, get organised and see the sites there.
While Muttrah is beautiful, it’s quite far from the rest of the city and there are no big hypermarkets around. We only recommend staying there if you have lots of time during the day to do your shopping, or as an additional night.
Otherwise, staying in Muscat central is more convenient for getting organised to go camping in Oman.
Here’s where we recommend staying in Muscat:
Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments Ghala Muscat
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you buy or book anything through them, we’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us run this website and create comprehensive guides to help you get off the beaten track. We only recommend products and/or services that we use ourselves and trust.
