Dhow cruise
Between the mountains.
Robert Haandrikman — CC BY 2.0 · Jc8136 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jc8136 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Robert Haandrikman — CC BY 2.0 · Robert Haandrikman — CC BY 2.0 · Xiaotong Gao — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Riyadh Al Balushi — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Riyadh Al Balushi — CC BY-SA 2.0
A long, fjord-like sea inlet in the Musandam Peninsula, walled in by bare rocky mountains plunging into the water, which is why Khasab is nicknamed the «Norway of Arabia». It can only be reached by sea, on the traditional dhows that leave from Khasab harbour. The British survey team that mapped it in 1820 named it the Elphinstone Inlet, after the then Governor of Bombay, Mountstuart Elphinstone. It was formed by the Arabian plate sliding beneath the Eurasian plate. Inside the inlet is a small island known as Telegraph Island, or Jazirat Al Maqlab, where a repeater station for the British telegraph line between India and Europe stood from 1864 to 1868, under an agreement with the Sultan of Muscat, Thuwaini bin Said, before it was abandoned; its ruins still stand. Dolphins are often seen on inlet cruises. Half-day and full-day cruises leave from Khasab harbour, often with swimming and snorkelling, priced by their operators. Winter is the best season; summers are very hot.
Between the mountains.
An 1864 station's ruins.
Often seen on cruises.
Musandam Peninsula, east of Khasab; reached by boat
By boat only, on half-day or full-day cruises from Khasab harbour, priced by their operators.