Wadi Shab (Wadi Ash Shab) is located in the Tiwi canyon range of Sur along the east coast of Oman. Taken almost from the set of “Jurassic Park”, the colossal canyon walls formed by millennia of rock erosion are parted by emerald fresh water that descends from high mountains springs and inevitably intersects with the sea. Wadi Shab’s history dates back to 4,000 BCE, where its early origins are believed to be that of a fishing village.

Info for the hike

We will park our cars below the bridge at the start of the trail and begin with the quick ferry ride across. Once across, we will begin the trek which will be about 2 hours one way and a little less back. You have your option of doing the water trail or the dry one, it won’t be until the end of the hike where we will all have to get in the water. You can choose to hang out at the beginning of the pool which is a popular swim spot. If you continue on, it will get deeper. The end point will be the cavern with the 2-meter key hole entrance. This is all deep water so you must be comfortable swimming. Again, life jackets are available. Here you will be able to see the waterfall, use a rope to climb up the cavern walls and then cliff dive back into the water.

Hoping to finish by 1 or 2 PM, we will then drive back back to the Bimmah Sinkhole park. Bathroom facilities are available. Here, you have the option of swimming some more or simply dipping your toes in or taking photos. Once everyone is finished we will begin the drive back through Muscat towards Hatta.

Some reminders:

Even though we are there as experienced guides, it is very important that everyone is responsible for their own safety and making sure that they bring the proper equipment, supplies and understand that like any physical activity, there is a certain amount of risk. A waiver and medical form must be completed before the activity.

We also stress maintaining social distance during the activity for when mouths are not covered and wearing masks, bandanas, or neck gaiters to cover up when in closer proximity to other participants. Please take photos together with these precautions in mind (group pictures only with coverings). Our COVID precautions are simply guidelines, so it’s up to you how strict you want to be concerning others, but we’d highly prefer people within close proximity to have mouth coverings (neck gaiters are great to pull on/off). Please let us know if there are any incidents or risk of exposure you might have had before the trip.

Update us on timings in case you’re running later. We will wait a reasonable amount but will begin the trail if it’s too long of a gap.

Traveling to Oman: Be prepared for roaming packages with your phone if you need access to phone/internet during the trip. There will not be showers available during the camping, so please prepare accordingly (toilets along the way are traditional squat toilet).

After reaching the border, we will first process our UAE exit (35 AED), before crossing over to the Oman side to start visa process (50 AED for UAE residents depending on nationality/200 AED for non-residents ). The lines can be long and the process can be a bit slow, so please be patient (can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours). Both E-Visa and Visa on arrival need to get out before the gates and go into the center to get their passports validated. If you have visa issues, there is a slight chance you may have to head back to Dubai apart from the group. We will try and assist the best we can for those who have carpooled, but it is important to know there is also the possibility of this happening for one reason or another.

Finally, please make sure to read our Terms and Agreement and to fill out the ECC Waiver either digitally or physically and return it to us. You cannot join the activity without completing this.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. See you on the trail!