Cruises from Salalah

Salalah is located on the southern coast of Oman, on the Indian Ocean. It is the main town in the region and the mountains surrounding it turn emerald green in the summer. Salalah owes part of its fame to the Frankincense trees that grow here and in all of Oman; Haffa Souq is the best place to buy the aromatic resin.

The climate is very mild, with little change year round. Daytime highs rarely reach 90°F, averaging from the upper 70’s to the upper 80’s F. Nights are cool and comfortable, with temperatures ranging between the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s F. April through June are the warmest months and the average rainfall is less than one inch per month, all year round.

Sunbathers and swimmers alike will enjoy the white sand beaches and now there is also the new resort area of Salalah Beach. This sprawling resort community covers an area of 15.6 million square meters or just over 6 square miles. However, only 9.0 million square meters or approximately 3.5 square miles is going to be developed, which will leave long stretches of natural splendour untouched.

Oman, as a whole, is a birdwatchers paradise with over 480 species of birds to be seen and in the winter months a remarkable variety of migratory birds pass through. The coastal areas have vast flocks of terns and gulls and numerous raptors, especially near Muscat and Salalah. For a short period, White Storks and even European Rollers rest here for a few days during their migration.

If you prefer marine life to bird watching, Oman is an excellent choice. There are five different species of sea turtles in the local waters and major nesting grounds for Green Turtles and Loggerheads. For the whale watcher, Oman has perhaps the only resident population of Humpbacks in the world. Other sea creatures that can often be seen range from Blue whales to dolphins. It is almost impossible to sit at the beaches for long without a dolphin sighting and some come to within a few meters of shore.

The coastal waters around Oman have a unique species of coral and a large variety of fish and it is a wonderland for snorkelling and scuba diving. Because of the changes in water temperature during the summer monsoon, Salalah has a remarkable combination of cold-water kelp and tropical coral.

There is also a wide variety of vegetation, which is partly due to the vast difference in climate and terrain between the mountains and the desert. In places the vegetation is sparse, but some of the most exotic plant life can be found here. There is the famed Christ Thorn tree, Desert Rose, Dragons Blood and date, all of which grow in the surrounding area and of course Salalah is well known for its Frankincense. There are also several varieties of medicinal plants, which are still used alongside modern medicine.

Salalah also has the nearby Rub Al Khali desert, the largest sand desert in the world. You can schedule a single day excursion or an overnight trip to enjoy the quiet solitude, crowned at night by a majestic canopy of stars.