There is no middle ground in Musandam - you are either up or down, standing on its highest heights or looking into its murky depths. So, apart from the obligatory mountain safari, you cannot spend time in Musandam without at least one day out on the ocean, staring up at the cliffs and down into the water below ...
Omanis are proud of their history as a seafaring nation - it was apparently an Omani who showed Marco Polo how to get to China - and they have lots of different kinds of boats which they still make by hand. In Musandam, the boat of choice for exploring is called a dhow, which is really beautiful to look at and seems stable in the water (although I haven't tested it in a storm like the one that was looming when we went out ...)
There are loads of little fishing boats too, and a good number of smuggling boats which very blatantly race between Musandam and Iran - 45 minutes on a good day I hear. The authorities really don't seem fussed about this, I think they claim to keep an eye on it and step in when things more harmful than cigarettes and TVs are being off-loaded, but i have my doubts ...
But despite all this choice, I ended up spending most of my time out at sea on a classic dive boat - a couple of big off-board motors, some uncomfortable benches, a bunch of smelly divers and the peninsula towering above us ...
I had a ball snorkelling, but unfortunately a mix of poor visibility and not charging up my camera means that I don't have any photos of the most fabulous bits. But here's a little taster of the colour and marine life out there - can't wait to go back for more ...
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