The dhows, with their slanting triangular lateen sails, conjure up images of exotic ports like Muscat and Zanzibar, of merchants blown across the Indian Ocean by monsoon winds, of pearl divers, fishermen and smugglers. Although still used for trade along the Gulf, Oman and Horn of Africa coasts, dhows are a relaxing way for travelers to enjoy a day on the water and just cruise through the protected khors, or finger-shaped coves of Musandam Peninsula in Oman.
Although everyone’s experience is different, there are at least three highlights among the multitude of daytime pleasures.
- The physical landscape of Khor Ash-Sham
- pods of dolphins
- Snorkel and swim in the crystal clear waters
The seventeen kilometer long inlet of Khor Ash-Sham is a mysterious place of quiet grandeur. Long claws of rocks jut into the shimmering waters and the formations look like petrified monsters from the deep, or from some prehistoric world, while towering mauve, ochre, and rust-colored limestone rise 3,000 to 4,000 feet into the air. . When a haze of heat or dust, brought by southerly winds from the Empty Quarter, hangs over the area, the landscape looks like something out of The Lord of the Rings, and when the sun sinks into the sky of the late, there is an almost sinister feeling. over the darkened and gloomy heights. Five tiny isolated stone villages of fishermen and herders scattered along the khor, perched precariously at the foot of hillsides regularly hit by rockfalls, are the only signs of human presence in this stunningly desolate land.
For most people, the appearance of the dolphins is the highlight of the day. They appear as if summoned by an unseen force out of nowhere and, for about forty minutes, play first on one side of the dhow, then dive below and reappear to romp on the other. They are quite a challenge for avid photographers.
Each dhow has its own supply of snorkeling gear and there is an extended break to enjoy the aqua waters of tiny Telegraph Island (Jazirat al Maqlab), a famous landmark. It was once the site of a five-year British telegraph station, established in 1864, to protect the first telegraph cable that ran from India, through Musandam to Basra in Iraq. The island’s waters are teeming with groupers, snappers, stingrays, turtles and hundreds of small, compressed disk-shaped butterfly fish that peck at coral polyps with their slender snouts. As they drift in and out of the rock formations, their intricate patterns and vivid hues catch the diffused shafts of sunlight penetrating the shallow turquoise waters.
In addition to these highlights, there are many pleasures: the delicious food conjured up by the captain, the possibility of dragging a fishing line behind the boat, watching the great flocks of floating and perching birds and the changing colors of the cliffs, or allow yourself the silence of the khor and the gentle movement of the dhow to bring you into a meditative state.