Discussion
Anyone been?
Is it worth a visit? Some say yes, others say its covered in litter and a disappointment.
How is it to get to? There is very little written on it, but I assume it involves quite a bit of off-road?
And is there a decent amount of water in the pools year round? Or will they be dissapating around this time of year?
Some photos on google great, so somewhere I'd like to try and maybe camp nearby.
Is it worth a visit? Some say yes, others say its covered in litter and a disappointment.
How is it to get to? There is very little written on it, but I assume it involves quite a bit of off-road?
And is there a decent amount of water in the pools year round? Or will they be dissapating around this time of year?
Some photos on google great, so somewhere I'd like to try and maybe camp nearby.
Unless it's reopened in the last couple of months the area arouond the pools is currently closed. (my Mum wanted to visit in Feb when she was out)
I took the other side of my parents there in Feb of 2012 and we were all thoroughly disappointed.
The pools are tough to find (even with the special map pack for sale at Hatta Fort Hotel), they are covered in litter, there's not much water in them and what there is smells bad.
We only found one pool that we could swim in, it got deep so quickly that it's only for strong swimmers. We also walked for miles to try and find a waterfall like we'd seen in the photos, we could see where one used to be but failed miserably to actually find a working one lol
It's a fair amount of offroad, a little technical in places but I did it fine in a Grand Cherokee with offroad tyres, no lift required.
In short, I'd say don't bother, there's much nicer offroad spots and much cleaner camping available not much further on into Oman itself.
I took the other side of my parents there in Feb of 2012 and we were all thoroughly disappointed.
The pools are tough to find (even with the special map pack for sale at Hatta Fort Hotel), they are covered in litter, there's not much water in them and what there is smells bad.
We only found one pool that we could swim in, it got deep so quickly that it's only for strong swimmers. We also walked for miles to try and find a waterfall like we'd seen in the photos, we could see where one used to be but failed miserably to actually find a working one lol
It's a fair amount of offroad, a little technical in places but I did it fine in a Grand Cherokee with offroad tyres, no lift required.
In short, I'd say don't bother, there's much nicer offroad spots and much cleaner camping available not much further on into Oman itself.
I've been there twice, and both times returned with a gash in a tyre on the LR2.
Not really that taxing off road or to get to. You basically drive through a few back streets in Hatta town until the road ends and the gravel starts. Rock along for a while and then you find the pools - as has been said, not really that impressive.
Grab a copy of the Explorer off road book for something a bit more interesting - and easy to do in a standard 4x4 without extra training behind the wheel. Wadis are much better than the pools and should still have some decent water in them after the rain of late.
Not really that taxing off road or to get to. You basically drive through a few back streets in Hatta town until the road ends and the gravel starts. Rock along for a while and then you find the pools - as has been said, not really that impressive.
Grab a copy of the Explorer off road book for something a bit more interesting - and easy to do in a standard 4x4 without extra training behind the wheel. Wadis are much better than the pools and should still have some decent water in them after the rain of late.
They are building a road through the middle of the pools at the moment, so while it has reopened, it is a little difficult to find your way through.
We went last weekend and found a really good, big pool, probably the one shown on google images, and had a great hour jumping off a 3m high rock into beautiful water. I waymarked it on my harming if you'd like the coordinates?
Worth a trip if you have visitors but expect rubbish and graffiti I am afraid.
Rich
We went last weekend and found a really good, big pool, probably the one shown on google images, and had a great hour jumping off a 3m high rock into beautiful water. I waymarked it on my harming if you'd like the coordinates?
Worth a trip if you have visitors but expect rubbish and graffiti I am afraid.
Rich
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