Khorfakkan Travel Guide

We were invited for lunch at the Oceanic Hotel which is on the eastern side of the Gulf. The hotel itself caters for all kinds of water sports. It is very popular with Arabs who come for the weekend.
The buffet is very good indeed, and the view very nice.Highly recommended.

Favorite Dish: Don't really remember but everything was good.

Driving away from the Gulf, heading east to Khor Fakkan is a trip to be recommended. You travel through a number of the smaller emirates , through mountains until you reach the eastern coast.
Khor Fakkan itself is the site of a port which deals with container vessels as well as dhows.
Only reachable by boat are several little coves which are ideal for picnics or swimming.

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We went on an impromptu daytrip out of Dubai and ended up at the beach of Khorfakkan. Our dear friend and travel companion Dan knows some of the staff at the Oceanic hotel, and we got to do some snorkelling. The hotel offers 2 options: either you snorkel right off the beach, or you can take a boat out to one of the many islands (see our diving tip). Since we got there later in the afternoon, we decided to skip the boat and jump right into the water. The little shack right on the beach provided us with snorkels, fins, and masks, and off we were to our adventure.

We did have a little delay since some of us are not quite that accomplished with water-sports (Yes - I admit it! Somebody's hesitation of the ocean gave me a great excuse to hold his hand for an hour or so!), but once we got going it was simply wonderful. [Ash: I object to her round about approach of saying I'm two left arms when it comes to the water, but let's go on anyways]. The water was nice and cooling after spending most of the day in the car in summer-heat. We swam out towards the cliffs and snorkelled alongside the rocks where we were able to observe some splendid underwater happenings: Corals of all colors; schools of fishes of a myriad colors and sizes, stripes, dots, and various patterns that wud swim away and disappear if we startled them with our fins; ocean-plants; sea-stars; shells; plankton and little leaves shivering about with the current. We did not want to be swimming in too close to the rocks in case the current pushed us into it.

Ash - Every now and then I would take a look at Eva, clasping my hand tight, and not wanting to let her go, her golden long hair splayed out underwater like a fire raging in all directions. She kind of reminded me of the little mermaid :P. And through the mask covering her face, I could see her big eyes staring out from within. Another memory etched forever.

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Equipment: All you need is a swimsuit. Towels, snorkels, fins, lockers and anything else you might need can be rented right there on the beach.

The visibility in the water was clear, and the sound of our deep breathing through the snorkel was soothing and we were calm and peaceful - that is until water would get into the snorkel and we'd cough, choke and spit it out, then duck back into the water once again for some more fishieee viewing!

Prices for snorkelling equipment are as follows:

Mask and Snorkel 1/2 Hour Dhs. 20
Mask, Snorkel and Fins 1 Hour Dhs. 30
Boat, Mask, Snorkel and Fins (Minimum 4 persons) 1 Hour Dhs. 60

Note: You do have to pay for access to the hotel beach, unless you are a guest. We were lucky enough to get this waived off too by our hospitable hosts! :)

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