Wadi Bani Awf and Snake Canyon

Wadi Bani Awf runs into the western Hajar from the Batinah side, and the graded track up it is one of the classic Omani drives, climbing past Bilad Sayt and over the Sharaf al Alamayn pass at around two thousand metres to come down at Al Hamra. Off the wadi opens Snake Canyon, properly Wadi Bimah, a slot narrow enough that the walls close overhead, and it is descended as a canyoning route: swimming through pools, scrambling over chockstones, jumping into water and downclimbing, taking several hours and requiring a guide, a rope for some sections and the ability to swim. It is not a walk and people have died there.

What you actually see

• The slot canyon - narrow water-carved walls closing overhead.
• The pools and jumps - the swimming and downclimbing sections.
• The wadi drive - the track past Bilad Sayt to the pass.
• Sharaf al Alamayn - the high pass and the view from it.

When to go

October to April; summer is dangerously hot. Never enter the canyon if there is any rain in the catchment, as it floods and there is no escape from the slot. Guides operate from Muscat and locally.

Honest expectations

Snake Canyon is a technical canyoning route requiring a guide, equipment and swimming ability; several people have died attempting it unguided. The wadi track needs a proper four-wheel drive and experience. There is no phone signal and rescue is slow.

Nearby

Bilad Sayt is up the same wadi; Al Hamra lies over the pass.