Things to Do in Sur, Oman

Quick facts: Here, a tradition of wooden shipbuilding over 100 years old is preserved, recognized by UNESCO as intangible heritage. Every year, local craftsmen build one or two traditional dhow boats here, using the same tools as a century ago.

Highlights: In one hall stands a 400-year-old ship, reconstructed down to the smallest details, found in the nearby deserts. More than 3000 hand-forged copper nails are embedded in its hull, and each plank is joined without a single modern screw.

Quick facts: The tower rising above the gate was used not only for defense but also as a windmill for grinding grain. The fortress walls are located just a few meters from the water, and during low tide you can see crabs sunbathing on the rocks around it.

Highlights: In the inner courtyard of the fortress, original clay cannonballs still stand, stacked in piles since the 18th century. They were never used; the defensive strategy relied not on firepower but on the layout of the walls so that the enemy would get stuck in narrow passages.

Quick facts: Shipbuilding docks, which have been part of the landscape for hundreds of years, still operate using traditional methods. Local craftsmen build dhow ships by hand without any blueprints, relying only on knowledge passed down from generation to generation.

Highlights: Unlike many places in the world, ships here are built without any metal frame, using only wooden planks joined with ropes. The process takes from 9 months to 2 years, and each ship can carry up to 200 tons of cargo, even though it does not contain a single nail.

Quick facts: On the walls of this tower, traces of Dutch cannonballs from 19th-century sea battles are still visible. Three times a day, the opening and closing of the city gates of Sur, connecting the old town with the ocean, is controlled from here.

Highlights: The tower still houses an original 18th-century mechanism that controls the massive iron gates. In the evening, when the sun sets over Sur Bay, the guards sound a trumpet signal and the gates close ceremoniously, just as they did 200 years ago.

Quick facts: This fortress stands on a rocky base 8 meters high, and its walls reach a thickness of up to 2 meters. A unique mixture of sorghum, water, and lime was used in the construction of the fortress, ensuring extraordinary strength.

Highlights: After walking along the 360-degree observation path at the top, the entire city of Sur and the winding coastline open up before you. As the wind blows through the ancient shooting slits, a soft humming sound can be heard, as if the fortress were speaking. A secret escape tunnel once operated here, leading directly to a water source.

Quick facts: This fortress stands on a 20-meter-high cliff rising above a wadi valley. Its walls are up to 3 meters thick, and inside it hides underground tunnels that led to secret water sources.

Highlights: Looking from the tower, you see the only place in Oman where the desert meets the ocean, a sight for which photographers would give half their equipment. On the fortress walls, ancient inscriptions left by Portuguese sailors 400 years ago are still visible.

Quick facts: Al Kamil Fort stands out for its square structure and massive wooden gates, which recall the times when Oman's trade routes were defended here. The fortress retains its original shaft well and several rooms where soldiers lived with their families.

Highlights: Though it looks modest from the outside, inside hides a well 12 meters deep, carved directly into the rock. Imagine a hot Omani afternoon and the cool wind blowing through the openings in the fortress walls, while in the courtyard stands an ancient traditional aflaj-type irrigation wheel.

Quick facts: Just an hour's drive from the city center stretches nearly 15 kilometers of endless sand. Here you can watch turtles crawl out of the ocean to lay eggs, which several hundred females do every year.

Highlights: From June to August, you can see bioluminescent plankton here, which glows blue-green as the waves crash onto the shore. It is one of the few places in the world where this natural phenomenon is so bright and easily visible to the naked eye.

Quick facts: Hidden deep in a rocky canyon, the waterway leads to a cave with a crystal-clear lake where you can swim. Along the way, you will have to climb over a few boulders and swim through several natural pools to reach this natural wonder.

Highlights: Deep inside the cave, when the sun's rays penetrate through an opening in the ceiling, the water ignites in a bright blue color, as if an underwater flame were burning inside. The water temperature remains cool even on the hottest summer days, and the stalactites protruding from the rocks resemble an underground cathedral.