C for Coastal Highway from Sur to Muscat

Sur, a city of about 120,000 people is located around 150km from Muscat, the capital of Sultanate of Oman. Sur is the capital of the Sharqiya region in this Jewel of Arabia.

Sur – Muscat Coastal Highway

The calm blue waters of the Arabian Sea

While Oman is famous for some of the best road trips on the planet, this coastal highway from Sur to Muscat is up there to rival the best.

Taking a pit stop

You will find the Eastern Hajar Mountains rising up on one side and the calm blue waters of the Arabian Sea on the other. Some of the attractions en-route include Wadi Tiwi and the Bimmah Sinkhole.

Bimmah Sinkhole

History of the Bimmah Sinkhole

The Bimmah Sinkhole was formed due to a collapse of the surface due to the dissolution of rocks such as limestone, carbonates and salt beds.

Bimmah sinkhole is a great place to go for a swim

Hawiyat Najm Park surrounding the Bimmah Sinkhole

In order to protect the sinkhole and slowly develop it into a tourist spot, a park was built around it and also a stairway leading to the bottom of the sinkhole so that tourists could easily go for a swim. The sinkhole is just about 0.5km away from the Arabian Sea.

We couldn’t visit Wadi Tiwi due to the heavy rains from Cyclone Nilofar which had just crossed Oman’s coast.

All in all, this journey along the highway with its winding picturesque roads is surely one for the bucket list.

Leaving you with two short videos from the trip

Note: This experience is part of the 5 day trip organized for three bloggers by Ministry of Tourism, Oman & Indiblogger from 25th October to 30th October 2014.

Linking to Microblog Mondays

I am participating in the A To Z Challenge for the second time this year and I am penning travelogues.