The Road and the Miles to Salalah (including GPS co-ordinates)

Kareef season is almost upon us – it should start raining in a couple of weeks from now – and this is the best time to head to Salalah to experience much green-ness, 17 degrees north of the equator and on the edge of the largest sand dune desert in the world.  Please use this post as a companion to my Seven Degrees Southward blog about the journey to Salalah.  It’s a long road and a bit of forward planning can make the journey better less bad for you.  Alternatively, if you have more time take the coast road, which you can read about in my Seaside Saunter to Salalah post.

On the road to Salalah from the UAE there are very limited accommodation options; in the Kareef season (June-September) you will experience desert temperatures of up to 42 degrees centigrade until you are within 60kms of Salalah, therefore camping isn’t going to be very comfortable at that time of year.

There are a few resthouses enroute, but these are extremely basic, so if you can make the journey from Nizwa or the like in one go, then so much the better.  One word about petrol availability – there are many more gas stations than there used to be but it is not unknown for some  to run out of petrol, once your gas tanks are showing less than half, we generally fill up.

Note – since a few more petrol stations have appeared since I wrote this blog, but they tend to be an hour or more apart, then 3 clustered together.

Here are the major stopping places on Road 31.

Adam –  N22.39143° E57.51423° – Petrol Stations, toilets, shops, restaurants, mosques, pharmacy, banks – the last main town til Thumrayt, over 700kms to the south.

next stop in 115kms:

Al Ghaba – N21.37878° E57.25387°.  Toilets, resthouse, shop, restaurant, mosque, petrol station (Shell, Al Maha, Omanoil)

next stop in 194kms:

Hayma – N19.96657° E56.29097°.  This is the last big settlement before you drive into the nothingness of the Wusta region. Toilets, resthouse, shop, restaurant, mosque, pharmacy, garage, tyre shop, petrol station (Shell, Al Maya, Omanoil)

next stop in 115kms:

Al Ghaftayn -N19.61288° E55.51648° .  Toilets, resthouse, restaurant, petrol station (Shell)

Next stop in 70kms:

Muqshin -N19.56297° E54.89548° .  Toilets, petrol station (Omanoil)

Next stop in 60kms:

Qatbit -N19.17620° E54.50300°.  Toilets, resthouse, petrol station (Shell)

Next stop in 120kms:

Sayh Al Khayrat -N18.25790° E54.05800° .  Toilets, restaurant, shop, petrol station (Al Maha)

Next stop in 60kms:

Thumrayt -N17.61275° E54.03253° – Town with shops, toilets, restaurants, hotels, mosques, pharmacy, sanaiya, petrol stations

Next stop in 75kms

SALALAH!