The Wahiba Sands — officially the Sharqiya Sands — are the easiest serious desert you can reach from Muscat, about two and a half hours south by car. This is the Arabian desert of the imagination: long parallel ridges of rust-coloured sand rising 100 metres or more, with corridors of harder ground running between them, the dunes shifting colour from pale gold at midday to deep orange in the low light of late afternoon. The sand sea stretches roughly 180 kilometres north to south and 80 east to west, big enough to lose all sense of the world beyond its edges.
The Bedu communities who have lived here for generations still maintain seasonal camps and date farms around the desert fringes, and their hospitality and knowledge of the dunes underpin most visits. The most straightforward way in is a 4×4 day trip, driving from the town of Al Mintrib on the western edge, where drivers typically deflate their tyres before heading into the soft sand. Don't attempt to drive the dunes without an experienced guide or solid off-road experience of your own.
The dunes are accessible enough for an afternoon, but it's the night that makes an overnight stay worthwhile: away from any light pollution, the sky over the sands justifies every cliché ever written about Arabian stargazing. A range of desert camps operate within the sands, from basic Bedu-style setups to padded "glamping" that costs as much as a city hotel. The simpler camps tend to be more honest about where you actually are.
Wahiba pairs well with the coast. The Bimmah Sinkhole and Wadi Shab both lie along the road back toward Muscat, making a logical loop that combines desert and gorge in a single weekend away from the capital.