Oman is a fairly liberal place, however as an Arabic country with Islam as the official religion, you do need to be considerate of the local customs. This post covers what to wear as a woman in Oman for different occasions, as well as some insight into the traditional dress!
At Wadi Bani Khalid
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What to wear as a woman in Oman:
General tourist advice
In general you are advised to cover your shoulders and to wear knee length trousers or skirts. A top tip is not to show underwear (eg bra straps or pants sticking out of trousers), as this is seen as very disrespectful.
Layering can be your friend – here I’m wearing a tank top with a light cotton shirt over the top, keeping covered up.
It’s advisable to dress cool. The weather is very hot in Oman, even in the winter (it was over 30 degrees most days I was there in early November). So loose light layers are better than thick tight clothing. Also light coloured clothing is better than dark or black, which will definitely absorb the sun and make you feel twice as hot!
It’s also a good idea to have a hat or something to cover your head under the intense sun. I didn’t do this and definitely caught the sun on my forehead!
What to wear to be respectful of local traditions
To be respectful of the country you can go further and cover more. I’ve seen local women muttering about tourists wearing sleeveless tops for example. So covering the upper arms and shoulders and legs down to the knees is the minimum.
Wearing my pink ankle length chinos and a loose long sleeved top on the left and Mary similarly dressed in less colourful versions!
I packed a lot of light cotton shirts and longer trousers. Both Capri chinos and the loose linen trousers that you can see in the above photos. (GAP girlfriend chinos were popular in the group!) I also brought a longer wrap cotton skirt.
I brought a long flowing kaftan that I used in the dessert. Our guide liked this and thought it was very respectful, even if it was a bit of fun for me! (It was very comfortable and light though!)
A few men in our dessert camp also dressed traditionally in Dish dash and the Omani hats, you can buy these and traditional women’s wear at the souq and markets.
Respecting the traditions can easily be done by using a light scarf as an additional cover up too.
Carina demonstrating the use of a scarf as cover up. Note that Stefan didn’t have any limitations on what he could wear (outside of the mosque that is!)
What to wear when visiting the Grand Mosque
Inside the grounds of the Grand Mosque (the dome in the background is the main mosque)
At the Grand Mosque the rules are enforced quite strictly. Everyone must wear long trousers or skirts that cover the ankle. In addition women must wear long sleeves and cover their head with a scarf or similar.
I had an abaya from my time in Saudi, so it was easy for me to wear this on top of my ordinary clothes (long skirt, but it wouldn’t have been long enough on it’s own, with light floating short sleeved top) and a head scarf. Apparently I cut quite the elegant figure!
Dashing back to the group!
Lots of selfies in front of these beautiful tiles at the mosque
What to wear at a private beach or swimming area
Bikini time at the hotel pool! I covered up more when I went outside the private beach area
Basically anything goes (except topless women or nudity!) This might be in a hotel or at a private beach or wadi area. You can wear a bikini or swimsuit and normal pool cover ups.
On the public beach – a longer dress and shoulders covered with my cover up. Still the bright orange turned heads!
What to wear when swimming in public
In public you have to be more cautious. This could be at the public beach, or at a wadi. When we visited Wadi Bani Khalid there were tourist police making sure people were covered up when swimming.
European couple at Wadi Bani Khalid – technically she’s not covered up enough and I’m certain the tourism guy shouted at her!
For women this means covering your shoulders and wearing clothing down to your knees. So a T-shirt and leggings (sports fabric a great idea here!) is ideal. I swam in a gym T-shirt and a long cotton skirt, that thankfully didn’t billow out or impede my swimming too much. Note that men can wear what they want pretty much – but speedos in public are too much!! (aren’t they anywhere in the world outside of a swimming competition?!)
Bimmah sinkhole – here it was accepted that you didn’t need to cover up, but some families were out of habit or trying to avoid the sun
If you are exercising outside then the same standards hold – cover your shoulders and legs to the knee. I saw lots of people running along the sea front first thing in the morning, including women running on their own. They were all covered wearing gym gear that included T-shirt’s and longer leggings (no sports bras as tops!).
Shoes!
Like all women, Omani women like nice sandals, so you definitely need to bring a pair. I pretty much lived in my flip flops (which looked like sandals), and I brought a nice sparkly pair for evenings. Be warned that a lot of the tiled floors are very slippery and polished, so you may want to wear something with traction.
These flip-flops with the back stood me in good stead – I wore them most days except when we needed something with better grip.
I wore the Havaianas flip flops in the style with a back, so they look more like sandals. These I find quite comfortable and easy to take on and off [affiliate link]
Jump shot at the Grand Canyon – I was wearing my trainers here!
It’s also useful to bring a pair of trainers or walking sandals. These are useful both for walks, for example along the Balcony of the Grand Canyon and for places where it’s cooler at night (e.g. when at altitude). Trainers are not needed elsewhere. The local men wear slip on sandals for everything and it’s worth noting that you’ll need to take shoes off when entering the Grand Mosque or when sitting on traditional carpets.
Shoes off for the traditional Omani welcome to our desert camp – dates and Omani coffee!
Shoes off!
I think I might have my eyes closed in this! Having a traditional Omani meal on the floor, with shoes off!
What the locals wear in Oman:
Just a bit of fun – bobble heads with generic arabic dress (the headdresses for the men are not Omani!)
Omani women
In general when you see a local women they will be wearing an abaya and a head scarf. However underneath the abaya they could be wearing anything! (Just like I was at the mosque)
A school group at Nizwa Fort, many of the children and their teachers are wearing traditional Omani dress
I’ve previously written about traditional Islamic dress in Saudi Arabia and Oman is similar in respect of the abaya and hijab.
There are a few things that are a bit different in my experience in Oman. In Ibra we visited the the women’s market and saw ladies embroidering cuffs for trousers. There were also more colours on show than just black.
Look at the detail in this embroidery!
Look at the colourful outfits and the embroidery on their trousers
These ladies let us take photos of their traditional attire (albeit a couple still hid their faces).
In general our guide said that the Bedouin ladies wore more colours than those based in urban areas. They also have different styles of face covering or burka. We didn’t see any women wearing the yellow masks as below, but we did see some Bedouin ladies at Ibra women’s market wearing similar in black.
Explanation on the face masks at Nizwa Fort museum
Omani head dress is also decorative and can be colourful too:
Me modelling a headdress at Ibra women’s market
Mary modelling the colourful headdress – whilst she looks great, she decided it wasn’t for her!
Omani men’s dress
The traditional dress is similar to other Arabic countries – with the dish dash being the primary item. The Omani cap is a distinctive item that most men wear also. This marks them out as different to their Saudi and other gulf neighbours.
Our guide Said in his traditional Omani cap and pristine white dish dash
Instead of the cap, men may wear a turban. This is a scarf worn a different way to the other gulf regions, so another differentiating item for Omanis.
We saw a spot of filming in advance of Omani National day and these men are wearing traditional dress with the ceremonial dagger or khanjar and holding Omani swords as well as drums
The ceremonial dagger or khanjar, is also key to the Omani identity and their swords are distinctive in being long and rectangular in shape.
Our drivers – Omani men can climb mountains in their dish dash!
Said in a different colour dish dash – he tends to colour coordinate he says!
These men were sporting the traditional turban – this is the Omani style of wearing it, different from the Saudi style. They also have scarfs in the colours of the Omani national flag as Omani National Day is on 18th November
Underneath this Omani men wear a wizarah (a kind of sarong) and white T-shirt (not trousers, another thing that can differentiate between the countries of the gulf region)
I hope you found this post interesting and useful! I have been travelling in Oman with Intrepid Travel, more posts on the trip to come soon.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below:
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Sandra says
Wow! I love how much your personality comes across and how much fun it looks like you had. The head pieces are really beautiful, and the embroidery is gorgeous!! Oh, and your caftan was beautiful too! Loved this post!
Katie says
Thank you so much Sandra 🙂
knycx.journeying says
Thanks for the tips and it’s nice to know about the country’s culture. customs, and weather. There are a lot of different places to explore in the country and I can’t wait to visit there and see it myself! @ knycx.journeying
Katie says
It’s a great place to explore, that’s for sure!
Karletta says
Thank you. As always you inspire me to go places I’ve never been before and you prepare me very well for doing so
Katie says
Excellent news Karletta, I hope you get to visit Oman.
Nafisa Habib says
Very interesting read! Katie, you’re actually looking pretty with headdress and your Mom’s Kaftan was just the perfect outfit 🙂
Katie says
Ah thank you Nafisa!
Sara Essop says
I’ve been reading so much about Oman lately and would love to go there. I agree that it is extremely important to respect the local culture and traditions – and you look great in a headscarf.
Katie says
I think you’d enjoy it a lot Sara. It’s certainly a diverse country and we managed to fit a lot in over 7 days.
Sally Pederson says
These are some great tips. It looks like a great place to visit. Hopefully, I will get there someday.
Katie says
I hope you get there Sally – a great country to visit!
Ellie Cleary says
Really helpful post Katie! Oman has been on our wishlist for a while – and your photos have just pushed it up a few notches! The Wadis look amazing in particular. We’ll know what to pack thanks to your post 🙂
Katie says
Excellent stuff Ellie – I hope you get to visit Oman soon!
Norman says
I wish everyone researched the dos and donts before visiting any ‘foreign’ country. There have been many times when I was embarrassed by fellow countrymen and their dress and/or behaviour.
Katie says
I know what you mean Norman. On this trip it wasn’t anyone I was travelling with, but we saw some dubious behaviour from other groups of varying nationalities…
Mary says
Nice work habibty!
Katie says
? thanks Mary! ?
Jacky says
I’ve been searching for info oops this subject for ages and this is by far the best and most helpful blog I’ve found. Loving that you have a (dare I say it) ‘normal’ figure that really helps here. Thank you for sharing.
Katie says
You’re welcome Jacky – glad to help!