Dolphin watching from Muscat

October to April. In those months the coast is warm rather than punishing and the full-day mountain and desert tours are a pleasure. From roughly May to September inland temperatures reach the mid-forties and the coast adds humidity on top; tours still run, but early departures and anything on the water are what make a summer day work.

From 1 November to 30 April, yes. From 1 May to 31 October landing is prohibited across the reserve because turtles and seabirds nest there, and rangers enforce it. Snorkelling, diving and swimming from the boat continue all year — so a summer trip is not cancelled, it simply stays in the water.

Muscat stretches about fifty kilometres along the coast and public transport is not built around visitors, so getting between districts means taxis, a rental car or a tour. Within one district you can walk. For the wadis, Nizwa and the desert almost everyone takes a guided tour or drives — there is no practical bus for a day trip.

Everyone needs arms and legs covered — long trousers or a long skirt, sleeves to the wrist, no shorts. Women additionally need a headscarf covering the hair. Non-Muslim visitors are admitted on Saturday to Thursday mornings only, roughly 8 to 11, and not on Fridays. Entry is free. Check the current times before you plan the day around it.

More than most people expect. A short boat crosses the mouth for a small cash fee, then it is about 45 minutes on foot each way over uneven rock, and reaching the waterfall inside the cave means swimming through a narrow gap. It is doable for anyone reasonably fit in shoes that can get wet, but it is not a viewpoint you park next to. Bimmah Sinkhole is.

No. Salalah lies about 1,000 km south in Dhofar — roughly ten to eleven hours by road, or a domestic flight of just under three hours. The green monsoon landscapes that appear in photographs of Oman belong to that region and to the khareef season, not to Muscat. Plan it as a separate trip, not as a day out.

Alcohol is served in licensed hotels and restaurants but is not sold in supermarkets, and drinking in public is an offence. Dress in town is modest by habit rather than by law: shoulders and knees covered is the comfortable default away from hotel pools and beaches. Nobody expects visitors to cover their hair outside mosques.