Khasab

Khasab, is also known as the Top of the Emirates, a play of words to define its position – it’s the most “northern” city in the Emirates – and the appeal of this Oman port located in the northernmost exclave of the Sultanate. Sailing on an MSC cruise Dubai,Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas you will notice that Khasab guards the Ormuz strait that separates the Arabian Sea from the Indian Ocean.

Here the cruise proceeds into the Musandam, the longest and most famous fjord of these coasts, with its long inlets dug out of the limestone, that open towards the hinterland through cliffs rising vertically from the clear blue waters, populated by dolphins and a vast varied marine life, which is why it is known as the “Norway of Arabia”.

One of the most fascinating ways to explore these lands is aboard a dhow, typical boats used in the Arab peninsula, nowadays also propelled by a motor, if not rigged with one or more Latin sails. During your visit to Oman, you can choose an excursion to Telegraph Island, the historic island in which, in the middle of the 19th century, the British built an intermediate station of the telegraph that connected Bombay to Bharain.

Khasab is a town founded by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 17th century in the best possible natural port of the area and offers many interesting excursions. One of the most appealing is the Khasab Fortress. 

Now farther from the sea, it has maintained its original charm and… some typical boats of the region which, just as in the military buildings, are decorated in the traditional style of the Musandam peninsula.

Or you can visit the town of Bukha with its two beautiful forts built in the Portuguese period: Fort Bukha, perfectly preserved with its uninterrupted crown of rounded merlons and Fort Al Qala, with its fairfaced stone walls.