Off the Beaten Path

Kumzar Village

Kumzar sits at the head of a narrow fjord at the very tip of the Arabian Peninsula, about 45 km from Iran and 100 km from Khasab by sea. There is no road to the village. The 5,000 or so people who live there are reached only by a 2.5–3 hour boat ride from Khasab Port — either a scheduled ferry (twice a week, weather permitting) or a private speedboat charter. Kumzar is famous for one thing: the language. Kumzari is a Southwestern Iranian language with heavy Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi and English loanwords. It is the only Iranian language spoken on the Arabian side of the Gulf, and it has no written form. It is passed down within families, and most Kumzari children also speak Arabic for school. The village is a living museum of a trading culture that pre-dates the modern Gulf states. Most visitors come to Kumzar on a private speedboat charter from Khasab (full day, OMR 250–350 for the boat). The standard itinerary is the 2.5-hour ride in, 2 hours in the village, 2.5 hours back. The village has a small mosque, a couple of basic shops, and a fishing harbour that has not changed in 200 years. We do not recommend a same-day round trip — the ride is long and the sea can be rough. An overnight in the village is possible (basic guesthouse) and is the better pick.

Northernmost village in Oman, 45 km from Iran

Reachable only by boat — no road, no airport, no helipad

Unique Kumzari language — no written form, passed down orally

Stone houses packed onto a narrow fjord shoreline

Fishing harbour unchanged in 200 years

Off-the-beaten-path experience, fewer than 200 visitors a year

Best time to visit

November to February. The sea is roughest in July–August; the ferry often cancels in those months.

How to reach

Private speedboat charter from Khasab Port (2.5–3 hours each way). The scheduled ferry runs twice a week from Khasab to Kumzar and back, but the schedule is irregular and dependent on weather. Most visitors charter.

More places to visit

Telegraph Island

A 200-metre limestone island in Khor Sham with the ruined 1864 British telegraph station, the best snorkel reef in Musandam, and the anchorage every dhow cruise visits.

Jebel Harim (“Mountain of Women”)

Musandam’s highest peak at 2,087 m — a graded mountain road, fossil-dotted limestone, a 2,000-year-old petroglyph and panoramic views of the Strait of Hormuz.

Khasab Fort

A 17th-century Portuguese-built fort on the Khasab harbour, with a 2,000-year-old round Omani keep inside the walls and a small but well-curated Musandam museum.