04Experiences
Experience
Wadis and rock pools
A wadi is a valley that fills with water when it rains, but some of Oman's wadis hold water all year, turning into green pools between the rocks. On the Gulf of Oman coast, the town of Tiwi sits between two of them, Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi. Wadi Tiwi, about 40 kilometres north of Sur, is a canyon that has been lived in for at least a thousand years; water flows in its upper reaches even in drought, small pools are scattered along it, and falaj channels water its palms, bananas and terraces. Wadi Bani Khalid, in the Sharqiyah, has wide pools, big boulders, springs and the Muqal Cave. Just off the highway to Sur is the Bimmah Sinkhole, a turquoise lake in a limestone hollow about 600 metres from the sea, with stairs leading down inside a fenced park. Go early in the morning, wear shoes that work on wet rock, and respect the farms and homes in the villages. Never enter a wadi when rain is expected: the channel can fill with water in a very short time.
- about 40 km
- Wadi Tiwi from Sur
- about 600 m
- Bimmah Sinkhole from the sea