Friday 15 / November / 2024
Mahout: Located off the coast of the Arabian Sea about 25 km south of the centre of Wilayat of Mahout and accessible by small boats the beautiful Mahout Island is full of natural tourist attractions.
Its attractions include bays, lagoons and soft beaches surrounded by the mangrove trees from three regions, locally called “Qurum”. It is intended for many types of domestic and migratory birds, such as Flamingo, Seagull, Socotra Cormorant and many other birds. The island has 6 kilometers long beach, nearby the beach, there are the islands of “Rak” and “Ab”.
The island is famous for the abundance of shrimps on its sea and many types of fish. The islanders keep the old nature of the island, where there are no buildings of fixed materials, but only houses of palm fronds and the boughs of the mangrove trees, which were used by the islanders to build their homes.
Mahout Island is witnessing an active tourist movement, especially during official holidays due to the visit of families from the City of “Haj” to spend a period of recreation and to remember their days before moving to live in the city where there are many public services. Many families and visitors spend their vacation in fishing squids with islanders and fishermen, using traditional methods and diving for shells ostracods that is rich in meat and a great taste.
Women and children in Mahout Island collect different types of shells locally called “Ja’afour,” where they boil in water and at a high temperature, extract meat from it, dry it, then use it with rice and have delicious taste.
Women also get nails from these ostracods and make special mixtures to produce various types of fragrances and perfumes.
With these natural and unique features of Mahout Island, it is the focus of many visitors during the holidays. Visitors come from various governorates of the Sultanate and the Arab countries to see these landscapes and the cold atmosphere to take pictures and videos.
Mahout Island has a long history of trade between Oman and other countries where the island was the starting point of some Omani ships to Yemen, Africa and many other countries. Salt is also transported from Mahout to Sur and the eastern parts of the Sultanate, in addition to transporting dates from the eastern and internal governorates on camels’ back, and then by ships, including (Al Badan) and (A’Sunbook) to Africa,” said Mohammed bin Hamad al-Hakmani, a resident in Mahout Island.
With the beginning of the Blessed Renaissance and the provision of government services, including education, health and others, most of the island’s inhabitants moved to ‘’Haj’’ City for education and other amenities provided by the Sultanate’s Government.
The island is still rich with many natural potentials, in addition to being a location that attracts many visitors and tourists from various countries.
