Ras Al-Jinz Turtle Reserve - Oman

20 minutes outside the Southern town of Sur lies Ras Al-Jinz, the world renown nesting ground for the endangered green turtle - probably the most populated turtle beach on the Indian Ocean, and also the only place where the public can see these fascinating giants in their natural habitat. Even though its a bit of a trek (nearly 8hrs) from Dubai, it definitely an unmissable experience and in my past travelling adventures, I have never been anywhere that is so specialized/focused on only one thing.

After passing Sur its not too difficult to navigate to Ras Al-Jinz, however be warned.. if you are staying at the hotel it is not clearly sign posted, and in actual fact the hotel is in the same place at the reserve. The grounds are split into three sections, the first comprising of 'luxury suite tents', the second is a museum, food hall, the standard rooms and the main reception and gift shop, and the third is the beach.

We had picked to stay in the luxury tent, which are set up on the cliffs above the Turtle Reserve with access to a buggy running you to and from your digs. The tents were in fact great and a lot more luxurious than i had expected, fitted out with a bathroom, a large AC unit, a massive double bed, mini bar, TV plus wooden terraces outside the front and back of the tent. The only down fall was the wind... Due to the positioning of the resort, the winds have a tendency of picking up making sleeping with flimsy walls quite difficult.

Turtle hours happen twice daily - once at night between 9.30pm and 11.30pm and once in the morning between 4am and 6am. During the night session Ras Al-Jinz opens its doors to the public, enticing hundreds of people to the sandy shores to spot the amazing giants. These tours are guided and no photography is allowed. When we visited Ras Al-Jinz, more than 200 people turned up for the night tour, everyone pushing and shoving to get to the front, which somewhat ruined the experience for us guests who were staying. Luckily, the 4am slot is only for hotel residents and tour-free meaning you can roam the beach by yourself searching for the big muma's and their babies. As it was light, photos without flash were allowed and we spent hours running through the sand to find the turtles. Within the two hours we got to see the muma's laying their eggs before waddling back to the sea, and a tonne of babies, scrapping for their lives to make it to the water - it was incredible, i honestly never released baby turtles were so small!

With no pool to lounge around and not a great deal else to see except Turtles, there is not a lot to do at Ras Al-Jinz, so if you are planning a trip it is best to plan it so you are not there for too many days.. I found that one day was plenty.

If you are an animal lover, this is an experience not to be missed, and considering it costs less than 600aed to stay a night, get fed and have two chances to see turtles, its well worth the trek. One thing to note however is that the food is very basic, and reminded me a bit of school dinners. However, if you are not a fussy eater you'll do just fine :)