My villa is about a 15 minute walk to the beach, unless you get lost and go in the wrong direction, which I did. However, I found my way again and walked down to the water. I had heard that beaches in Oman are great for finding seashells, but I was skeptical. The beaches in my area are not tourist-oriented (we are in a kind of suburb of Muscat, not the main city area) and always look trashed. The locals enjoy picnicking on the beach in the evening, so you can often see trash left behind and big tire tracks from people driving cars out on the sand. You rarely see people on the beach during the day, at least not in my area.

But I was amazed to discover that what they said was true. I found a ton of shells, very easily, within 10-15 minutes and within a 100-foot area. There are probably better beaches for finding shells, but the crappy one I went to was more than adequate for grabbing some souvenirs.

I put my feet in the water a little and it was a nice temperature. If you ignore the trash (and the fish smell, this is a big fishing area) the beaches here are very nice, though you can find much fancier ones closer to the Muscat tourist area.

On the way back home, I stopped at a gas station to get a drink. Pretty much all of the gas stations here include several little cafes/juice bars, so I got a coconut with a straw in it. As I was waiting for it, a random gentleman asked if I liked that kind of drink. I said that I thought so, yes. He remarked that it was very sweet and then (wait for it) said “I am thinking you are sweet enough.”