by ALI MOHAMMADI
Wadi Al Abyad is a wadi located in Nakhal, in the South Al Batinah region of Oman. The name of the wadi is in reference to the white colour of its water pools, which is likely due to carbonate rocks in the region (although to our own eyes, they just looked like normal coloured pools).Wadi Al Abyad is an easily accessible wadi that can be reached from Muscat in under an hour. The wadi offers its visitors a nice trekking path, some fresh water pools and many plants and palms on both sides of the wadi, making it a nice place for an easy hike or for families to picnic on a nice day.
Trekking through Wadi Al Abyad is quite pleasant as it is mostly gravel and some rocks here and there until you reach the water pools, you can actually drive quite a distance through the travel road, so don’t just park your car as soon as the paved road ends. The highlight of the wadi is obviously the water pools, we especially appreciated them because we visited the wadi on a hot sunny day and the walk along the wadi was quite tiring under the hot sun, so a refreshing dip in these clean, fresh pools was fantastic. Wadi Al Abyad has many ophiolite rocks which could be very interesting for you if you are a geologist or someone who loves rocks. Besides the pools and ophiolite rocks, Wadi Al Abyad features numerous plants and shrubs that can be found along the wadi.
On its own, we didn’t really find Wadi Al Abyad to be spectacular and what it offers pales in comparison to say Wadi Shab or Wadi Al Arbaeen, but the wadi s still worth a visit if you want to do something close to Muscat. And if you really want to make it a full day trip, you can visit Nakhal Fort after the wadi then check out Ain Al Thawarah as well. In addition, parts of the wadi can get very dirty with visitors throwing rubbish, and this could really put a dampener on the experience of anyone visiting the wadi, so keep that in mind as well.
About the Contributor: Ali Mohammadi is a blogger and tour guide who has been running Oman Tripper since 2012. His blog was founded in order for him to showcase and share some of the fantastic places worth visiting in Oman. Ali is also a licensed tour guide and conducts customised tours and hiking trips whenever time permits. Read more stories at OmanTripper.com and follow him on social media at OmanTripper.
