Welcome to BuyAssociation.co.uk

Gulf States: Masirah Island excursion - Ubar Luxury Travel

Masirah Island

I recently visited Masirah Island for a few days. For those that don’t know, Masirah is in the middle of nowhere. About four hours’ drive south of Muscat through desert and gravel plains, to be exact. At the moment, the temperature in Muscat is around 40 degrees Centigrade which means that most of life is conducted with severe air conditioning restrictions. Masirah is certainly a breath of fresh air in comparison. It is more like 25 degrees and with bracing winds feels even cooler. What is more, the skies have clouds. Coming from the UK, this should be no surprise to me, but the routine of Muscat has made me accustomed to clear blue skies aside from the odd dust cloud.

The route down to Masirah is reasonably arduous, especially if you are driving alone, as I was. It is made more arduous when neither your route reading abilities nor your map are up to much. I blame the 100km detour entirely on my map omitting the rather important town of Mahoot at which point I was supposed to turn left but continued straight. Nevertheless, I reached the ferry in time. Not that there is a specific timetable. When the ferry is full, it leaves. Services start at 3am which I thought a little optimistic and end at 3pm which is about when I got across.

Masirah is extremely sleepy. The major business here is fishing. This is not done on large trawlers but on small, open boats with outboard motors. The fishermen set out early and return in the afternoons, facing an extremely challenging environment of high temperatures, winds and waves. The boats are pulled ashore by a car and a bit of rope. As a Land Rover owner, I was pleased to see that there are plenty of Series II and Defender Land Rovers pulling boats ashore and transporting the fish to the processing plant.

British influences

There are a few other activities that Masirah has, is and will be known for. The first is the military air base at the North of the island. This was originally developed by the British (hence the Land Rovers) and is now used by the Americans as a feeder to their operations in Iraq. The old cars and basic fishing activities provide fantastic contrast to the fighter jets carrying out practice manoeuvres overhead.

There is also a nascent interest in kite boarding (a paragliding kite and a short surf board strapped to your feet). With this kit and the right conditions (which Masirah has) and the display of surfing waves and launching into jumps that are tens of metres high is fantastically dramatic.

The third activity for which Masirah has gained a pinch of fame is birdwatching. Together with Barr Al Hickman, a sandy peninsula surrounded by mudflats around 900km2 in area, the middle of Oman provides a pit stop for birds migrating between Africa, Europe and Asia. It therefore provides great opportunities to see huge numbers of birds and a wide range of species. As a novice birdwatcher, I was able to spot around 25 species in a single day.

Ubar Luxury Travel

Eric is based in Oman and is currently setting up a luxury travel business. Contact him at eric@ubarluxurytravel.co.uk

More pages

Page 1: Masirah Island

Find your perfect villa rental with Villas4You over 500 villas across 20 destinations

The best deals on car hire in the UK, USA, Europe and beyond Alamo has the car you need at the price you want!

Travel insurance from £2.99 - Columbus Direct for instant worldwide travel cover

Discounted Airport Parking - available across the UK