February beach days

While our friends & families in the U.S. were freezing their tails of in February, we were enjoying warm waters and sunny beaches in Muscat.  (Please excuse my gloating--when your spring finally comes, it will be over 100 degrees here!). 

Our friends invited us on a 1/2 day dolphin-watching and snorkeling trip.  It was really fun to see the coast of Muscat first time.  Oh, and the dolphins were a lot of fun, too!

An international sailing race took place starting at the beach just 10 minutes up the road from our villa.  David sailed with the BYU sailing club and then again when we lived in Olympia, WA, so this was a lot of fun for him.  He got to take a turn sailing on a boat in the harbor. 

 

A man passed by with a monkey on a leash (NOT common in Oman!)

Muslims are not permitted to drink alcohol, but the Omanis sure do love their Red Bull!

Just another day at the beach.  Actually, this is not the beach 1 block from our house (our beach has more trash and less shade).  This is part of the Oman Dive Center where tourists buy diving lessons and other adventure trips.  We had to pay about $8 for the day, but since it's mostly an expat and tourist place, I could wear my swimsuit and not worry about being stared at or offending someone. 

 

Claire prefers reading our Oman guidebook to playing in the sand.  Actually, the real reason Claire enjoys coming to the beach is to discover which snacks I packed!  She is her momma's girl.