The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter
About 1,500 km across the Rub al Khali in a convoy of Land Cruisers, with a mountain start in Jabal Akhdar and a beach finish at Alila Hinu Bay.
Tell us your trip details and we'll put together a complimentary Stradora Expedition Pack for the journey.
11 nights through Oman
Twelve days across Oman, guided, with guests driving a convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers from Muscat through the Jabal Akhdar mountains and about 1,500 km of the Rub al Khali, ending in Salalah.
The Oman Expedition was set up by Alila Hotels Oman and the Canvas Club private camps to join the country’s north and south through the sand desert in between. The operator says 95 percent of trips to Oman cover less than 10 percent of the country. The crossing follows no predefined route. The leaders plan it from satellite images and the shape of the dunes, and the group is not expected to meet other vehicles or people. Departures follow the lunar calendar, starting on the new moon, so the night sky is at its darkest. The operator calls it a genuine expedition with real uncertainty, and asks applicants to introduce themselves first.
The programme opens at The Chedi Muscat, then spends three days around the Alila Jabal Akhdar, with the Via Ferrata, hikes and mud villages. At the Canvas Club North Camp in the Sharqiyah sands there is driving training on sand. Early desert days include the Khaluf sugar dunes by the sea, then about 350 km of transit to the northern edge of the Rub al Khali, a crossing of its northern and southern sections, and dunes the operator puts at over 300 metres. The expedition ends at Alila Hinu Bay near Salalah.
Teams run as four cars with up to three people each, twelve guests at most, and drivers rotate. The operator supplies V6 automatic Land Cruisers, Garmin navigation with a printed roadbook, two-way radios, an Iridium satellite phone, camping gear, recovery equipment and a chef. There is no mobile reception from day three to day eight. Guests may ship their own 4WD instead. The Canvas Club page lists the price from 14,885 euros per person, plus flights.
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (2 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (3 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (4 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (5 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (6 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (7 of 8)
The Oman Expedition: Muscat to Salalah via the Empty Quarter (8 of 8)
Photography and film: the operator
What's included
- Hotel and camp nights as per the itinerary (The Chedi Muscat
- Alila Jabal Akhdar
- Canvas Club camps
- desert tents
- Alila Hinu Bay)
- Toyota Land Cruiser V6 automatic for self-driving
- drivers rotating
- Garmin navigation and printed roadbook
- 2-way radios and Iridium satellite phone
- camping gear
- recovery gear
- chef and expedition meals
- expedition leaders
Not included
- Flights
- use of the Iridium satellite phone (charged at Iridium rates)
- full inclusions list not itemised on the pages
Ready to drive it?
11 days, from £12,594pp
