coastal road to salalah, oman
 

i did this trip in march and noticed that there was not enough clear information on the coastal route to salalah, had a few surprises with petrol and when the road ran out, being on a gsxr 1100. if anyone needs any info feel free to message me.

Muscat to Salalah
 

would love to have some information on the trip,, I am planning on going down there during Eid... have been down as far as Al Ashkara but thats it,, how much gravel road is there and do you have a route map?? rgds

sorry i dont have a route map, but i started the costal road from ras al had and headed down towards masirah. i asked so many people along the way about the tarmac road and got many different answers, in the end i just went and was in for a surprise. after you reach al ashkara continue down the road, its newly paved and you will be fine with gas. but about 30 km from masirah the road ends, at that time march 09, i actually reached the part where the contractor was still paving the road, after that i rode on a gravel terrible road, i think by now they must have finished it and you will not have any problems.

you will then reach Muhut and head down to Duqum, after duqum head down to Rima where you will get to a small roundabout, take a right on that roundabout and head towards Nimir. when i reached nimir i was near out of fuel, this is the tricky part, there is a gas station in the area but its not a typical gas station that you come across, its actually a pump for the oil field contractors in the area, if it wasnt for some truckers who lead me there i would have missed it. ask around and you will be fine.

after that its a newly paved road all the way to thumrayt then down to salalah.

The road(s) from Musacat to Salalah was badly damaged in a cyclone a few years ago and is under reconstruction in areas, or it was when I was there last year by 4x4.

Gas stations were few and far between from memory. I carried 75 litres in jerrycans. GPS is necessary.

We got as far as Ras al Jinz and stopped there for a while.

Oman is the best place I have been to in the ME.

Great road and a good adventure if you bike it all the way. GSXR 1100? wow.

Some pics:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...28madpilot.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...adsuprises.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...damagewadi.jpg

Got lost round here

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...ingawayout.jpg

You can camp most places

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...hallfresco.jpg

You may want to take a look at my track log and POIs Index of /GPS . Note that a) I was a newbie to GPS then, so things may not have been labelled correctly and b) any tracks older than 2007 are not mine. Other than that if it's not coloured it is sealed.

There is no 'coast road' for much of the distance. But once in Salalah I do recommend the scenic h'way N along the coast. I even saw dolphins playing within spitting distance of the road. It's a day trip and the military prevented me from proceeding once the tar ended.

Cheers,
Peter.

Tried it on Monday
 

I was down working in Mukhaizna and decided to take the coast road back from there to Muscat... Drove from Haima to Duqm and then up to the road that goes to Masira island,, took the track up the coast to Ras Al Rays.. 25 km of washboard and twisty's , In the land cruiser it was no problem but would certainly be difficult on a road bike.. loose sand in quite a few places especially when real close to the Wahabia sands.. talked to some guys building the new road and they seem to be fighting a losing battle with the sand.. either the new road gets covered with sand or blows away.. very windy down there this time of year.. Trip from Mukhaizna to Muscat took 10 hours..will try it on the GSA during Eid and i know there will be no problems, but I wouldn't want to take that road towards the end of the day.. better stay in Al Ashkara overnite and hit it in the morning..