Muscat to Rustaq and Al Hawqayn Area

Sights: Waterfall, Hiking, Hot springs, Castles, Picnic areas, Mountain views and Wadis

Al Hawqayn has a great area with a flowing waterfall. Depending on when you visit, the size of the waterfall will vary of course. In April there was a small side fall with about 1 meter wide of water flowing. I was in this area mainly for hiking and the view, so we proceeded past the falls and into the boulder and mountainous wadi. The hike is pretty easy if you are able to climb small boulders.

It took us a few tries to find the waterfall area, and lots of questions to the friendly local people in the villages. Eventually, we found the way and it was so worth the trouble! I tried to find exact directions online, because Google maps was not very friendly getting there.

The destination coordinates are: 23.32.56.1 N, 57.20.27.9 E

Directions:

From Rustaq: Go towards the roundabout and turn left at the R.O.P. building (on your right: coordinates are 23.552846, 57.485298) and head towards Al Hazm. Proceed forward and you will pass the Hazm Castle. (definitely a good place to stop and visit! It has some good history, old Omani items, and an audio stick to do a self-guided tour. It’s about an hour’s worth of time) After the Hazm Castle (20.5 KM from the R.O.P. station), keep going on the main road. Along the way, there is an old crumbling watch tower on your left, some piles of rocks on top of the mountains close to the road on the right (I think an old archeological site for something), and some new villas and stores being built. Once you pass a water tower on your right, then you are about to enter the Al Huwqayn village. When you get into the village, you will come to a “T” junction, turn left. Drive a little further through the village, then you will come out of the village to a round-about. At the round-a-bout stay to the right and soon you will see the large parking area for the final stop to Al Huwqayn Wadi and falls.

After parking, there is a set of stairs to lead you down to the wadi. Stay on the right side of the falls (you will be on top of the large fall at the base of the stairs) and you can walk along the filage (water system for the local village) into the wadi for quite a long ways. We found a good spot for camping about a ten minute walk after the falls. It was on the right, a flat area, and above was a cave in the rocks. We were told camping was allowed here.

Hints:

• Make sure you wear very good shoes, there are some slippery rocks.
• There is a small café with some cold drinks and sandwiches if you need some, no hours were posted.
• On Google- it’s spelled Hawaqayn, or the local signs spell it Al Huwqayn and Wadi Huqayn.
• Also in the area: Rustaq Fort, Ath Thawarah Springs (55KM, a small waterfall, small fish, picnic area, and good rock climbing. It’s VERY slippery on the rocks here- wear good water shoes).