Dune sunsets
Gold and orange.
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A sand desert in Oman's Eastern Region, formerly called the Wahiba Sands after the Bani Wahiba tribe. It stretches about 180 kilometres from north to south and 80 kilometres from east to west, covering 12,500 square kilometres. The desert was shaped by the south-west monsoon and the northern shamal winds, and its long dune ridges run north to south, some reaching 100 metres high in the north, their colours shifting from gold to orange as the sun moves. A 1986 Royal Geographical Society expedition documented its wildlife: some 16,000 invertebrates, 200 species of other animals and 150 native plant species. Visitors come to watch the sunset from the dunes, ride camels and spend the night in desert camps. There is no entry fee. Most visitors enter from Bidiyah on the inland Muscat-Sur road; driving on sand needs a four-wheel drive and experience, so many use the camps' transfers, per visitor guides. Winter is the best season, and nights are cold.
Gold and orange.
A night under the stars.
Across the sand.
Eastern Region; visitors usually enter from Bidiyah
Yes, for driving on the sand, along with experience, which is why many visitors use the camps' transfers from Bidiyah, per visitor guides.