Rub Al Khali Desert
Geographical Location
Rub Al Khali Desert (which means “Empty Quarter” in arabic) is the huge desert of Arabia.
Located mainly in Saudi Arabia, it extends over United Arabian Emirates, Oman, and Yemen.
In Oman, it extends in 3 locations :
- Along UAE border, around Ibri : there are only some
sand strips… - Along the border with Saudi Arabia, in the center of the country, around the cities of Fahud and Haima : very beatiful dunes, but over a “quite restricted” area (5000 km² though… almost the area of Aberdeenshire…) in which there are a few oil and gaz wells
- Along the border with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, in the wouth of the country, around the municipalities of Muqshin and Thumrayt : very beautiful sand dunes on a vast area (around 15000 km², almost the area of Wales…) and totally uninhabited.
Desert Morphology
Rub Al Khali’s sand is ocher colour, which is said to come from iron oxyde in the grains of sand.
Rub Al Khali’s dunes of “star dunes” type : their base is fix (we say they have “roots”) and only the top relief is moving.
They have most of the time or or sveral very steep sides, and on more gentle slopes. Obviously, when we climb a dune, we try to ascend on the gentle side, and go down on the steep one…
While going down on a steep slope, it happens quite often in Rub Al Khali that the dune starts to “sing” : grains of sand clash in a kind of internal avalanche in the sand dune and resonnate to produce a loud sound that we mmight listen some huundreds of meters around and sounds like didgeridoo.
Sometimes, even without going down the dune, the wind alone can produce the same effect. Often whie staying at the camp, when wind starts, we hear this “song” from the dune.
Sand dunes rise from a flat area called “sabbkha” and can reach, according to some people, a height of 250m. On our side, we have seen dunes of “only” 130m.
In the sabbkha, one can find surprising pebbles of different colours, white brittle rocks which are supposed to be a deposit of salts coming from former lakes, geodes (beige balls which contain calcite cristals), sand roses, and meteorites (Rub Al Khali is famous among meteorites seekers, but we haven’t found any ourselves until now).
Fauna
Rather than a theoritical listing of all the species supposed to live in Rub Al Khali, we’ll tell you what animals we’ve seen until now : jerboas, fennecs, hares, hoopoes, and scorpions. We also hear and see some small birds, but we do not know the name… We’ve also found the skull (with horns) of a gazelle.
Our trips to Rub Al Khali
We love to go to this desert. As it is a long drive to get there (around 5 hours, either for the central part from Nizwa, or for the southern part from Salalah), we prefer to stay long time : at least 3 or 4 nights, or even up to 10 nights.
If you want to have a better idea of how our Desert Trips look like, please visit this specific page.
Longer Desert Trip in the Rub Al Khali (Southern part, from Salalah)
Shorter Desert Trip in the Rub Al Khali (Central part, from Nizwa)
5 days
Level 2 & 3
Rub Al Khali (Central Oman)
Available in JanDec
4 x Camping
We also sometimes visit the Rub Al Khali during a Hiking Tour or a Discovery Tour.
Discover Dhofar and stay several days in Rub Al Khali (south)
12 days
Level 2
Discover Dhofar
Available in JanFebNovDec
6 x Camping
5 x Accomodation
Hike in Dhofar mountains and stay several days in Rub Al Khali (south)
10 days
Level 3
Hiking in Dhofar
Available in JanFebDec
6 x Camping
4 x Accomodation
If you would like to visit Rub Al Khali, but in a different tour, please visit our catalogue of itineraries and contact us to request a tailor-made private tour…
You would prefer to join a small group?
We offer desert trips from December to February, and Hiking or Discovery Tours going to the desert from November to Mid-March.
At the bottom of the page, you’ll find our next scheduled tours going to Rub Al Khali.
Some pictures
Travel there
1050 OMR
12 days
Group of 3 to 7
Level 2
Discover Dhofar
Available in
Open (Needs 3 to confirm)
6 x Camping
5 x Accomodation
780 OMR
11 days
Group of 4 to 10
Level 2 & 3
Deserts of Oman
Available in
Open (Needs 4 to confirm)
8 x Camping
2 x Accomodation
1100 OMR
13 days
Group of 4 to 10
Level 3
Dhofar Mountains and Rub Al Khali Desert
Available in
Open (Needs 4 to confirm)
9 x Camping
4 x Accomodation
650 OMR
8 days
Group of 3 to 10
Level 4
Western Hajar & Rub Al Khali
Available in
Open (Needs 3 to confirm)
3 x Camping
4 x Accomodation