Quad Bikes

The rough terrain and dunes of Oman’s remote areas attract all kinds of motor sports enthusiasts. If you’re into motorbikes, quads or dune buggies, and you have your own, it’s easy to take yourself and a few friends for a fun day out – you don’t run the risk of bumping into anyone else and you can explore at will. The Bausher Sands, just outside Muscat, are very popular and a great place to fly your bike or quad off a dune. If you don’t have your own quad, you can rent one at many of the hotels and beach resorts. Unlike dune buggies, quad bikes have no roll cages and therefore extra care should be taken. Where possible get training and wear protective gear to make the most of your thrills-and-spills adventure.


Off-Roading


With vast areas of virtually untouched wilderness in Oman, wadi and dune bashing are activities many residents enjoy immensely. Most off-road journeys are on existing tracks to protect the environment from any damage – the sandy dunes and rocky wadis support a surprising variety of flora and fauna that exist in a delicate balance.


Dune bashing, or desert driving, is one of the toughest challenges for both car and driver – it’s also a great deal of fun once you’ve mastered it. The golden rule is never to go alone. If you’re new to this activity it’s essential to go with an experienced off-roader. Driving on sand requires very different skills to road driving. Useful equipment to take with you includes shovels, strong tow ropes, a pressure gauge, foot pump or compressor, matting or planks of wood, a full tool kit for the car, a spare tyre in good condition, a car jack (with an extra piece of wood to prevent it from sinking in the sand), extra petrol and plenty of water for both cars and passengers.


If you don’t think your driving skills are up to scratch, you could try dune bashing through any of the major tour companies. All offer a range of desert and mountain safaris.


Driving in the wadis is usually more straightforward. Wadis are (usually dry) gullies, carved through the rock by rushing floodwaters, following the course of seasonal rivers. The main safety precaution to take when wadi bashing is to keep your eyes open for developing thunder storms – the wadis can fill up quickly and you will need to make your way to higher ground smartly to avoid flash floods.


It is always advisable to go off road with at least two vehicles. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be glad of an extra pair of hands and a tow. Although it requires marginally less skill than in the desert, when you drive in the mountains and wadis you still need to use your common sense and forward planning (you need to think ahead about choice of gears for the hills and river crossings).


Close to Muscat are the Bawshar dunes. Although this is a small area, it has numerous criss-cross tracks through the sand that provide you with an easy introduction to this challenging sport. When you’re ready for more serious stuff, head for the Wahiba Sands, just over two hours from Muscat, for endless stretches of undulating desert. Or try The Empty Quarter (Rub Al Khali), which is spectacular in its seclusion, remoteness and the impressive size of the dunes.


The Hajar Mountains offer amazing drives through rugged mountain scenery. You’ll pass remote mountain villages and freshwater rock pools as the rough tracks take you to incredible views up to 3,000m above sea level.


The better-known wadis are often over-visited, especially by tour companies. This is not necessarily because they’re the best but because they are the easiest to get to. If you are more adventurous and are prepared to travel further, you can find some amazing, almost untouched places.


For further information and tips for driving off road, check out the Oman Off-Road Explorer. This fabulous book features 26 detailed routes (along with detailed maps and GPS points), stunning satellite imagery, information on outdoor activities, striking photos and a useful off-road directory.

 

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