Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The thrill of night kayaking

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After a long week, what you crave is a getaway even if it’s for a few hours. Although this might seem almost impossible living in a bustling city like Muscat, hidden away in the nooks and crannies of the mountains and sea is the perfect escape from the city.  Approximately 20 kilometres away from the Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah, is Bandar Al Khairan — perfect to picnic, swim, camp, and kayak etc.


The drive which takes around an hour is a scenic drive through the mountains with sneak peeks of the backwaters of the Arabian Sea. Last week, I took the opportunity to tag along with Husaak — a locally based adventure-based group of young locals with a thirst for exploring and discovering Muscat and the region’s most spectacular and exciting getaways.


Husaak’s centre at Bandar al Khairan offers kayaking activities and tours such as sunrise and sunset kayak tours, night kayak tours with a BBQ dinner on a secluded beach, self-guided and private tours. With this project, they aim to build a community, bringing people together to enjoy a day in the sun or a night under the stars rediscovering life’s simple pleasures.


Driving out into Bandar Khairan is not only exciting in the daytime when you have a clear view of the sea and beyond, at night it is something else. Tucked away from the bright lights of the city and guided by the yellow street lights through the winding roads, it’s hard to deny that we weren’t already excited for our little night safari.


Once we reached our destination, the group of us who were going to be kayaking were given a brief about how to kayak, hold and paddles and so on. Once the induction ended, we were asked to pick our kayaks — one each — and given our paddles and life jackets.


The plan of the evening was to kayak to and dock at a nearby island where the organisers had made arrangements to set up a barbeque. It would take us about 30 to 45 minutes to kayak to the marked island.


With the tide low, the sea had receded. With everything ready, the group picked up the kayaks and set afoot to get into deeper waters to start our journey.


With a light attached to the first boat to help guide the participants, the 7 of us set off into the waters of Bandar Al Khairan.


Although we were in a group, it wasn’t long before we were spread out in the vast waters. It almost didn’t seem like there were others.


Kayaking is a fun activity as it is, but at night time, the experience is something else completely. You are surrounded by the towering mountains backlit with city lights, the clear starry sky above and the rustling of the paddles and fishes in the distance.


An added element? Completely undisturbed by lights, every time the paddle disturbed the calm waters or you wave your hands through the water you were surprised with an explosive display for neon blue dots that took over the water surrounding the kayak.


The waters in the Bandar Al Khairan area are famously known for just its visual pleasures but also marine life — even the microscopic plankton that glows in the dark!


There is an odd kind of calmness that comes with being in such a quiet place and with not much causing you distraction, one can truly almost experience a meditative state — although I truly do not promote meditating because it is important to be aware of your surroundings and also to keep kayaking as to not lose your friends.


Being in the midst of the vast water, you tend to lose track of time but before you knew it, we made it to the island!


Setting up the few lights we carried with us, the others started firing up the barbeque. Grilled meats in toasted bread with hot sauce and tahini — the staple picnic food of the locals was a treat!


We relaxed in the sand, listened to music and enjoyed the calmness away from the city — when really we were just on the other side of the mountain.


After a few hours, we packed up — making sure to clean up after ourselves and leaving behind no garbage — and re-experienced the kayak ride back to shore.


The idea of kayaking for 45 minutes may seem daunting, especially to those new to it — but I can promise you that taking a break to give the arms a rest is the perfect time to observe and experience your surroundings.


The experience of kayaking at night is something you can’t really explain but what I can say is, it is something you should definitely try.


For details or to learn more about canyoning, hiking, kayaking and caving adventures for all age groups and levels, visit husaak.com.


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