Al Sawadi Islands

We’d been in Oman two weeks and hadn’t been in the water once — wadis, forts, mountains, but nothing you could actually swim in beyond a canyon pool. A friend in Muscat mentioned Al Sawadi almost as an afterthought, the way locals mention things that are obviously good but not obviously marketed, and we drove out along the Batinah coast the next morning without any real expectations.

Nine Islands, Barely Any Crowds

Al Sawadi is a cluster of nine small rocky islands sitting a short boat ride off the coast, roughly forty-five minutes northwest of Muscat. None of them are inhabited, and most are little more than bare rock rising out of the sea, but the water surrounding them is some of the clearest and most accessible snorkeling on Oman’s northern coast. We arranged a boat through a small operator by the marina — no advance booking required, just a conversation and a price — and were in the water within the hour.

The reef around the largest of the islands holds a genuinely good variety of fish — parrotfish, angelfish, the occasional turtle gliding past without much concern for the snorkelers overhead — and the water stays shallow enough near shore that it works for people who aren’t confident swimmers. Lia, who gets nervous in open water, said it was the first time in Oman she actually relaxed in the sea rather than gritting her teeth through it.

The Fort and the Marina

Back on land, Al Sawadi has a small restored fort worth a half-hour stop, and a marina that’s steadily grown around resort development in the area without yet feeling overbuilt. We ate lunch at a simple seafood place near the water — grilled kingfish, rice, a stack of flatbread — while watching fishing boats come in with the morning’s catch.

When to go: Year-round for the boat trips, though March through May and October through November bring the calmest seas and best visibility. Summer months are hot but the water itself stays swimmable.