Khor Sham Fjord Marine Sanctuary

Extending for 16 kilometers inland through the heart of the Musandam Peninsula, Khor Sham is the most sheltered and visually awe-inspiring fjord in the region. Towering limestone mountains rise sheer from the mirror-smooth turquoise water, with cliff faces soaring up to 1,000 meters into the azure Arabian sky. Because the narrow mouth of the fjord blocks open-ocean swells, the waters remain tranquil year-round. Khor Sham is globally famous as a permanent marine sanctuary for wild dolphins. Large family pods of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and playful bottlenose dolphins live permanently within the fjord, frequently racing and leaping in the waves created by passing wooden dhows. Scattered along the fjord’s edge are timeless, car-free fishing hamlets such as Nadifi, Qana, and Maqlab, whose inhabitants sustain maritime traditions that have endured for centuries.