Sur

Sur was one of the great dhow ports of the Indian Ocean, trading to East Africa and India, and it is one of the few places where the boats are still built the traditional way. In open yards along the lagoon, shipwrights shape timber by eye rather than from drawings, planking hulls that will be finished with rope, nails and caulking much as they were generations ago. Visitors can generally walk in and watch, and the smell of sawn wood and varnish carries across the yard. A small maritime museum sets out the town's trading history, and an old lighthouse stands at Ayjah across the lagoon, reached by a footbridge, with a view back over the harbour and the white houses along the water.

What you actually see

• The dhow yards - hulls under construction in open-air workshops by the lagoon.
• Ayjah - the old quarter across the footbridge, with the lighthouse and watchtowers.
• The maritime museum - Sur's trading history and dhow types.
• The lagoon and corniche - moored dhows and the walk around the water.

When to go

October to April for bearable temperatures. Work in the yards happens in the cooler morning hours, so arrive early to see anything actually being built. Fridays are quiet.

Honest expectations

This is a working boatyard, not a museum: what you see depends on whether a hull is under construction that week, and sometimes there is little activity. The craft is in decline, with fewer yards each decade, so it may not last. Ask before photographing people at work.

Nearby

Ras Al Jinz turtle reserve is 45 minutes east; Wadi Shab lies west on the coast road.