As Salalah received its first drizzle of Khareef season for year 2019, people like me and others residing in Salalah are super excited. Living in Salalah since 2013, whenever I share it with people in my home country and with friends in other parts of Middle East, they are simply amazed at how every year the wadis and mountains turn green when monsoon starts. This is an unusual phenomena in the Gulf.

The temperature in Salalah drops to 20 degrees Celsius during Khareef each year when it’s around 50 degrees in other parts of Middle East, resulting in influx of tourists from within Oman and other parts of the world (particularly those who are residing in the Gulf) to escape from the heat and to have a quality family vacation.

The beauty of Salalah transformed me from an Engineer to a story teller. I have started travel blog TravelwithHussain, where I am promoting Salalah’s amazing landscape, its places to visit and what are the activities to indulge when you are here.

Plan well for the Khareef Season

There’s so many places to visit in Salalah in Khareef and some activities that you must do. For experiencing better, plan beforehand. Do the following:

Make the list of the must see attractions and tourist places, my bucket list for Khareef is mentioned in this post and will help you

• Book flights (In 2019, there are direct flights from Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat) or Bus Ticket from Dubai and Muscat or come by driving your own vehicle
• Book Hotel / Resort Accommodation online
• look for renting a car or Booking sightseeing tours (You can book the sightseeing tours on TripAdvisor)
• For the expats in Gulf, they need to apply Oman visa online at ROP website. Visa usually comes within 48 hours.
• Pack some light jacket, good pair of shoes (the ground will be slippery due to mist), umbrella, decent clothing and mosquito repellent.

I would highly recommend you do this as early as possible and to avoid last minute disappointments. Khareef is the peak season for Salalah and the demand for all of these goes high.

Things to Do in Salalah in Khareef

Like each year this khareef also, there are some places to visit and activities to do in my bucket list and if you are planning to visit Salalah, you can also put these in yours for an amazing and memorable family holiday. Below are the things to do in Salalah in Khareef.

1. Experience the Waterfalls at Dhofar

Although, there will be many waterfalls across the mountains due to the rains, but some of them must be on your list to visit like mine – Ayn Athum, Ayn Khor and Wadi Darbat’s. Ayn Athum and Ayn Khor are seasonal waterfalls and appear only in Khareef season. The flow of water from the top to the small spring down with amazing green mountains around make it a fairy tale type scenery. Book Trip to Ayn Athum

The waterfall at Wadi Darbat was not there in all the Khareef seasons since I am in Salalah. This stunning waterfall is a result of rains last year due to Mekunu. Since then, the waterfall is present and is now more than a year old without disappearing.

2. Boating at Wadi Darbat Lake

How can you visit Salalah and miss peddling the boat across the most visited lake of the Dhofar region? Wadi Darbat is one of the most popular destination and a must visit all year round.

Located on Qara Mountain, this valley offers boating and kayaking activities to the visitors along with experiencing the nature. Kids can do kite flying here while adults prepare barbecue.

A perfect place ideal picnic in the mountains, as called Jabal in local language, for the entire family. Book Trip to Wadi Darbat for boating and seeing waterfall

3. Soak in Mughsayl Blowhole

Mughsayl Beach offers an array of activities for the visitor including walking on the white sandy beach, which is foggy during the Khareef season. No doubt, Blowholes are the best attraction on the western side of Salalah City.

The water jet from the blowholes can get above 20 meters when the sea tides are rough. These blowholes are accessible via stairs from Marneef Cave, which is also a great place to see the beach from an altitude. For wheelchair and strollers there’s a ramp too.

It’s a great sight to see kids getting soaked up from the blowhole jets. Adults get soaked too. Book Trip to Mughsail and Ittin

4. Trek on Ittin Mountain

The trek on Ittin Mountain (also known as Ittin Cave Park), is an amazing paved trek with stairs and ramps with bird’s eye view to the Salalah City from the mountain. The place also has cave and greenery which is hard to miss.

Nearby, the Tomb of Prophet Ayub (Prophet Job) is located, which is also to be visited when on Jabal Ittin.

5. Take Hot Air Balloon Ride

For the first time in Oman, there will be a Hot Air Balloon festival, which will be in Salalah this Khareef. Like others, I am also looking forward to it. Let’s see Salalah transforming to Cappadocia this season. It will be an amazing site to see the balloons going up with green mountains at the background and the clouds over it.

6. Observe Cloud passing Below you from Jabal Samhan

Well this place is not on the list of all the visitors as it is a little far on the eastern side of Salalah, but it’s worth a ride. From Jabal Samhan, around 4000 feet high – the highest mountain in Dhofar, you can see the clouds movement below you, if the weather is cloudy, which will be for most of the Khareef.

On the way to Jabal Samhan view point, you can also see the sinkholes at Tawi Attir and Taeq. Book trip to Jabal Samhan

7. Visit Taqa Castle

A 19th century castle located in Taqa Wiliyat, is a piece of history which can be visited on the way to Darbat or on the way back to Salalah after the boat ride. An Omani flag on the flag post, can be seen from outside the castle, made up of Taqa stone and limestone. The interior of the castle will take you back in the history.

Entry to the castle is via a nominal entrance fee. Read More about Taqa Castle and Places to Visit in Taqa

8. Get on the Time Machine – See the Old Frankincense Route

If you are a history lover, visiting the places used for Frankincense trade in the past is a must. The Frankincense grow at Wadi Dawkah, the inland trade was done via Uber / Shisr and were shipped via the ports at Al Baleed and Samhurum. These are now open air archaeological sites along the Arabian Sea with a nominal entry fees.

The indoor museum at Al Baleed, “The Museum of Frankincense Land”, hosts Artifacts excavated from archaeological sites, model of ships and other archaeological heritages of Dhofar region.

The frankincense is sold at Haffa Souq or Al Hosn Souq, a traditional market near the Royal Palace of Al Hosn. This old market in the city also sells perfumes, traditional garments and souvenirs.

9. Pray at Sultan Qaboos Masjid

Sultan Qaboos Mosque, named after the Sultan of Oman, is the largest mosque in Dhofar and a landmark for Salalah city. If you are Muslim, you can visit and pray in this mosque. The non-Muslim visitors can see the mosque from outside any time of the day and can visit from inside every morning till 11 am except Friday. Book Salalah City Tour

10. Eat Delicious Cuisine

With amazing sightseeing and variety of activities, Dhofar offers great food too. My recommendation would be to eat Muthbe, Shuwa and Ma’ajeen.

The local Muthbe grilled meat – chicken or lamb – is cooked on stone, near the Ittin Mountains. You can order a full goat cooked on the stones, without being cut into pieces and eat with mandi rice.

Shuwa is meat cooked underground. The meat is marinated with various spices and wrapped in leaves before being cooked in an underground sand over for a day or two.

Ma’ajeen, a distinct taste food, are salted and air dried strips of beef or camel, before being fried in fat.

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Let me know how was your tour in Salalah via Facebook, Instagram or by commenting on the post. See you in Salalah!