Masirah Island has just opened for tourism. One can still only get to the island by ferry, managed by the National Ferry Company www.nfc.om, which runs six times a day between Shannah to Masirah. By now, there is a four-star-hotel and a kitesurfing camp. For kitesurfers, Masirah is an attractive spot in summer because of the monsoon winds which blow steadily at over 20 knots. Rental cars are available on the island.

Located about 19 km (12 mi) off the east side of Barr al Hikman, the island is generally hilly, especially on its east side. The hills along the east side of the island are separated from the island coast by a narrow sandy plain; they run nearly its entire length. A steep plateau stands in the middle of the range on the northeast side of the island. Along the west side of the island, there are a few low hills separated from the east range by an extensive sandy plain marked by several hillocks:

• Jabal Madrub, a 256 m (840 ft) high mountain, stands about 13 km (43,000 ft) south of the north end of the island.
• Ras Abu Rasas, the south extremity of Al Masirah, is low and rocky. Jabal Suwayr (Jabal al Hilm), a conspicuous conical hill, rises to a height of 153 m (502 ft), about 3 km (1.9 mi) north-northeast of Ras Abu Rasas.
• Ras Kaydah, a small and rocky headland, has a conspicuous, conical hill about 20 m (66 ft) high nearby. There are small islets 600 m (2,000 ft) east and 4 km (2.5 mi) north of Ras Kayda.
• The coast between Ras Kaydah and Ras Zafaranat, about 27 km (17 mi) to the northeast, is regular with a few small rounded projections and a low rocky beach. Haql (Hakkan), a small village in a grove of trees, lies close to the shore about eight km north of Ras Kaydah.
• Ras Zafaranat is rocky with hills rising abruptly. Between Ras Abu Rasas and Ras Kaydah, about 18 km (11 mi) to the northeast, the coast is indented by small, sandy bays fringed by rocks.
• Ras al-Ya, about 3 km (1.9 mi) northeast of Ras Zafaranat, is the east extremity of the island and consists of a prominent bluff rising to a ridge of hills which extend westward to the center of the island. A conspicuous peak, 99 m (325 ft) high, stands about 3 km (1.9 mi) west-northwest of Ras al-Ya.
• Jabal Madrub rises about 5 km (3.1 mi) farther west-northwest.
• Ras al-Jazirah, about six km north-northwest of Ras al-Ya, is rocky and well-marked by a black patch on its south side. A sharp peak, rising to a height of 95 m (312 ft), stands about 3 km (1.9 mi) west of this point.
• Jazirat Thukhayr, a sandy islet close north of Ras al-Jazirah, lies on a drying reef connected to the shore. Drying rocks extend up to 300 m (980 ft) off the eastern extremity of the islet.
• The coast between Ras al Jazirah and Ras Qudufah, the northeast extremity of the island, about 11 km (6.8 mi) further north-northwest, is indented by a bay. Ras Qudufah, consisting of two rocky projections about 800 m (2,600 ft) apart, rises to Jabal al-Jidufa, about 64 m (210 ft) high, a short distance inland. A cairn stands on a hill close south of Jabal al-Jidufa, and a small monument stands close southwest of Ras Qudufah.

When someday comes you'll need to get in.

When someday comes you'll need to be able to get around.