Contributed by Amanda & Mark Church – Farrell (NZ)

SY Balvenie

Oman – Cruising Notes

01 – 10 March 2008

On Feb 21, 2008 we took to sea from Uligan in the Northern Maldives and arrived in Oman after 9 days. We had a good passage with fair winds always in front of the beam and only the last day as we closed on Oman did we get unfavourable wind and choppy seas. Balvenie arrived at the port of Salalah in good shape so after catching up on some sleep we did not have too many boat jobs to do and became tourists for a change.

Exploring Oman by Land

We shared a hire car with cruising friends for about 30 USD a day (organised through Mohammed onshore in the harbour) and drove all over this corner of Oman. Most of the country resembles a lunar landscape with a few dust blown towns dotted around but very interesting and very different from anything we have seen before. One day we drove east to Mirbat on the coast, we felt sure this is where “Saving Private Ryan” was filmed as whole parts of the town looked totally bombed out, just as the film set was. We did not discover the reason for this as Oman has not been in any recent wars. On the way back we drove inland to a couple of nearby “wadis” (lush areas where water gathers). It was nice to see some greenery in this very dusty landscape.

The following day we went west towards the Yemen border. This is an amazing road, newly built with an incredible switchback section that is a serious feat of engineering. We stopped at the Mugsail Blowholes, which although the sea wasn’t blowing up through them, the updraft of air was enough to blow Mark’s cap off!!

Next day we went north and drove up onto the huge desert plateau. It is miles of nothingness, rubble and more rubble. We are convinced Apollo 11 landed here and not on the moon, looks just like it did on TV.

Local Salalah Info.

The people have been very friendly and we have experienced incredible hospitality and enjoyed some local food. There are very few Western tourists here so everyone wanted to know where we were from and why we had come!! We didn’t see too many women around, it is very Muslim and any women we saw wore the full burqa with full veil also. There were a few coalition warships from the US and UK in port, they patrol the “pirated” waters between Somalia and Yemen.

We found a little haven of “normality” – the Oasis Club – which is like an English pub for the ex. pats and is the only place around that sells alcohol close to the port area. We generally ended up there for a cleansing ale after a sandy dusty day travelling and now I know first hand what having a throat as dry an Arabs sandal really means. A great spot in downtown Salalah for eating was the Balbeck Lebanese, yummy, it’s on 25th (I think) July Street. Lulus supermarket was as good as anywhere and the fruit and veg shop next to Lulus was ok, just let him know you want his best ones and out they come!!!!

Anchorage Info.

16 56.23N 54 00.30E

4.5m average depth, sand over very hard-packed base. Very tight anchorage with poor holding, boats dragging in light winds, sheltered but in commercial port.

Cruising Info.

Weather

We had strong winds closing in on the coast but fine while there. Boats ahead had sand storms/gales and very rough seas.

Security

Secure as restricted port area, felt safe everywhere.

Phone/Internet

Local SIM card available, worked in Yemen also. Wi-Fi at Oasis Club (pay) also at Brownies Cafe in town (free).

Checking in and out

Check-in relatively easy but can take time before cleared off boat. Cost OMR15 for boat, OMR12 for one-month visas for the 2 of us, can pay by credit card.

Money

OMR1 = USD2.60 (01 Mar 2008). ATM machine on way into town and in town. Most also despatched USD or Rials.

Tours/Getting Around

Remote port location, taxi to town more expensive than car hire for a day. Only place walkable is Oasis Club. Hired car for USD30 per day, interesting countryside like nothing we had seen before and easy to drive on deserted good quality roads.

Provisions

Excellent, can’t get pork products at Lulus but there is a big cold store by naval base that has some, and of course, can’t buy alcohol to take away and only Hilton, Oasis and another big hotel sell it to drink on the premises and not cheap. There is another Lulus in Aden if you forget anything.

Fuel and Water

No diesel at anchorage. Diesel jugs taken in hire car to fuel station and filled by us (sorry cost not recorded but cheap). Water on dock to fill jug.

Amanda and Mark on Balvenie

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