Name: Desert Retreat Camp
Address: Bidiyah Of Oman, Al Wasil 421, Oman, Al Ghabbi, Al Ghabbi, Al Ghabbi, 421, Oman
Rating: 8

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Indoor Fireplace

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English

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Barbecue grill(s)

Hiking

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Pets allowed

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At the hotel

Desert Retreat Camp

Al Ghabbi

A truly authentic desert experience wrapped in Omani hospitality. 
The tents are comfortable with solar lights and mozzie nets just in case - although we experienced none. Each tent has its own open air bathroom which is extremely clean and also each tent has a little outdoor seating area - a nice touch. The camp sits at the base of the largest dune in the area and offers shade but also the challenge of climbing to see sunset and sunrise. Meals are good and food is plentiful. What makes this camp stand out is the Omani owner's engagement with his guests  (perfect English), his concern for their comfort and expectations and his obvious care of the environment. Dune bashing, camel rides and star gazing are available but no hard sell. Sitting round the fire after dinner with new friends was special. There were no highlights - it was all wonderful. Thank you Humaid.

Deafening silence; dazzling stars!

We were two couples, from Germany and USA looking for a desert experience.  We were not disappointed. 

The location is incredible and the camp sites are well designed and comfortable.  Homed provided us with warm hospitality, a good meal, a beautiful sunset hike and stargazing afterwards.  The beds were comfortable and clean.  Very quiet.  No bugs and bathrooms good.  In the morning a sunrise hike and a filling breakfast fallowed by camel rides.  

Everything was according to plan and price.  Not about luxury or sitting around staring at phones.  We would definitely do it again and stay longer.  A good trip would be two nights with a day trip to Wadi Bani Khalid for swimming in the heat of the day.  So highly recommended and many thanks to Homed and his capable staff.

Exceeded our expectations!   Would do it again and stay longer.

This desert experience was the highlight of our trip to Oman and exceeded all expectations! The camp is located in a remote location at the base of the highest dune in this part of the desert  The bedoin style tents are both perfectly suited to the environment and very comfortable.  The food was ample and well prepared. The dune driving experience was remarkable as was the camel ride. But what made this experience even more exceptional was the owner and host. This camp is owned and run by a man who is indigenous to the area. And he speaks perfect English! His generous spirit and warmth were very special indeed!

Remarkable Desert Experience at the Base of the Highest Dune with Exceptional Local Owner Who Spoke Perfect English

We stayed with our family of 4 and had a great time. The experience was magical. The camp was surrounded by large majestic dunes in an isolated area of the desert. The host and other guests were very friendly which made for a great atmosphere in the camp. This stay made for a unique, relaxing and fun time !

An Amazing Experience

Charming quiet camp tucked away in the dunes surrounded by gorgeous scenery, lovely hosts, and delicious food. 4WD needed to get to the camp. Climbing to the top of a dune for sunset is a must. The owner is exceptionally helpful and a fountain of local knowledge. 

Spectacular

The main thing to say about this place is that if you want a night in the desert, this is an amazing location. You’re at the bottom of a dune which you can climb with some effort (!) to see the sunset and it’s so quiet and remote that the stars are really clear.

It is probably a little on the pricey side for what you get, which is essentially a bed in a tent. However if that’s what you’re prepared for, you will have a great stay. There’s a lamp in the tent, a seat outside and your own private bathroom with great water pressure and flushing toilet. I’ve seen comments about no hot water but it’s the desert and the water isn’t freezing - more lukewarm and pretty refreshing!

The food is fine - a decent vegetarian selection for dinner (Houmous, daal, veggie biriyani) with meat on sticks and rice available. Breakfast was quite disappointing in comparison - some bread, hard boiled eggs, daal and cereal. 

My main issue came with getting to the camp itself. If you have your own 4x4, you can follow the host from the meeting point at Al Wasil’s Al Maha petrol station (meet at 3pm) - however the host sets off at breakneck speed (70mph) and if you’re not used to driving on sand like us, this was a needlessly frightening and stressful experience - we nearly got left behind several times. 

In terms of activities, they offer dune bashing in the evening and camel riding in the morning. We did camel riding - 20 mins for 10 rials per person. It was good fun and done at 0830 so not too hot - you have to drive over the dunes to get there, so get a bit of dune bashing thrown in! 

Overall this was a good fun night in the desert and a great experience - it’s definitely not luxurious, but if you come with managed expectations, you’ll enjoy yourself.

Rough and ready - amazing location!

This place was extremely crowded when we were there and there were not enough spaces for people to sit. They had you drive out in a "caravan", but as we stopped to go into 4wd at the sand, the driver left us behind and we had to figure out how to get to the camp on our own. When we got there, we were shown our tent and then they left. No one told us what we could do, where we could go, when dinner was, etc. It was very unorganized. The location is great, surrounded by dunes, but still easy to drive to, but the service was very bad and ultimately overpriced

Overpriced, bad service, but nice desert location

We really enjoyed our stay here. We followed the owner into the desert to the camp and appreciated fruit and coffee on arrival after an easy enough drive in our 4x4. The tents were impressively clean and had comfy beds and a few bits of furniture (low table, mirror) along with a few bottles of water. They were really nice, and genuinely better than the photos we'd seen on the website suggested. The bathroom was also super clean, the shower was cold and not very strong but was enough - and you're in the desert! We were especially keen on this camp as it was right by a large sand dune, and watching the sun set from there was a real highlight. Dinner was excellent, lots of tasty main choices along with soup and dessert and ice cold drinks. They then set up a camp fire for the rest of the evening along with tea and coffee available, which was all a really nice and unexpected touch. After a dark night of beautiful stars there was a great breakfast. The whole place was quiet and well run - highly recommended. When you're arriving at the meeting point to flag that the desert retreat camp office faces onto the al-maha petrol station forecourt, which is pretty unmissable on the main road through Al Wasil.

Really lovely stay in the desert

The camp only had two other couples staying the night, but it was perfect to talk about traveling around the campfire and converse with others from around the world. The owner was really nice, speaks great English, and drove us around in the dunes with two others so we could all split the cost for dune bashing. I felt welcomed at the camp and like it was a personalized experience. The short camel ride is plenty, and the camp is located right at the base of the tallest dunes, so you can have fun climbing up in the sand. It did get cold at night, but I had no trouble staying warm because the tent was well insulated and the blankets were warm. The water in the showers isn't heated and there is no power (not complaining - it is a camping experience), but the tents have a lamp. Also, you can follow him out to the camp in an AWD vehicle, like an SUV - it doesn't have to be a true 4x4.

Enjoyable desert stay

Hi

We have spent two nights some days ago. Terrible place with tents where air was entering during nights. They have changed the tent the second night as my fiancee got sick the first night because the temperatures get really low in the night and the tent was not isolated as it should have been. Smelly bathrooms with cold water, no lights even for dinner, no music after dinner as it is written on booking, sad atmosphere as no activity is foreseen. The camel ride lasted 40 minutes instead of 1 hour. All in all you can find a better desert camp for a slight increase in price. I do not recommend this place.

Desert Retreat Camp

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