Exactly how to find the best pools at Wadi Damm (no 4WD required)

Wadi Damm is a real beauty and though it does attract many visitors, most tend to congregate around the first pool (which ironically is not the most spectacular one).

Walking even a little further into the canyon will reveal a series of additional swimming holes which you might just get all to yourself.

Finding the best pools is not overly straightforward and does require a little agility in a few spots. Reaching the first couple of pools is pretty easy though, so no matter what you’re feeling up to when you visit, we have you covered in this guide. The canyon itself is also stunning and would make a beautiful walk even if you’re not overly fussed about swimming.

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Wadi Damm Pools.

Getting to Wadi Damm

Getting to the trailhead: 2WD vs 4WD

Happily this is one wadi where it really doesn’t matter too much if you have a 4WD or not. A 4WD will get you closer, but it’s marginal, and to be honest, depending on your appetite for driving through a stream and over rocks, it may not get you much closer at all!

We didn’t take a 4WD and parked at these coordinates: 23.2291630, 57.0691101. We could have gone 160m further down a 2WD road and parked beside the stream crossing. However, as we couldn’t see too much of the road ahead, we erred on the side of caution as the road was gravel and there was a little hill - that was us being overly cautious though.

From our coordinates you could definitely take the dirt road downhill on the left and park under the tree after 160m.

If you have a 4WD you can cross the stream and continue along the wadi bed for a further 390m where there is room for many cars to park. There are a couple of minor stream crossings after the first one, but if you manage the first you’ll have no problem with the others. It was all pretty shallow on our visit (in October).

Although having a 4WD does get you 550m closer in total, this section of the ‘road’ (wadi bed) was flat and easy to walk on. It took us less than 10 minutes to cover the distance on foot, so we really didn’t feel like we missed out by not having a 4WD.

A quick note on conditions at Wadi Damm

You’ll notice in our photos that the water is not as clear and shimmery as you might expect from a pristine Oman wadi. Unfortunately, we unknowingly visited after a lot of rain and the water was darker and less clear than normal - don’t get me wrong, it was still beautiful, but the clarity wasn’t there.

Throughout much of the year this is probably quite uncommon, but during the time we visited a hurricane elsewhere in the Middle East produced some unsettled conditions in Oman.

So basically don’t judge the water at Wadi Damm by our photos, unless you get very unlucky it should be crystal clear.

The walk to the Wadi Damm Pools

The stats

Distance to the waterfall: 2.5km return
Elevation gain: 100m
Difficulty: Moderate to hard

Summary: If you only want to go to the first pool it’s a pretty easy walk. There are some sections where you need to rock hop (if you want to keep dry feet) but it’s all very straightforward. Going on to the next couple of pools is still relatively easy if you pick the right trail (which we’ll describe below). You’ll walk along the edge of the wadi wall, but it’s not narrow, grippy when dry, and never felt precarious.

To reach the final pools (or the final ones we visited anyway) requires negotiating two tricky bits. The first is a large boulder climb, aided by a rope - I’ll go into lots of details on this later in the guide with pictures. The second is jumping across a gap to get from one side of the river to the other. This is not a big jump, but it’s (mentally) harder on the way back when the gap appears bigger and you have to jump slightly uphill.

It’s not actually a long walk and we hope with our instructions you’ll find it straightforward, but for us it took a while to get there : )

Starting the trail

We’ll begin the notes as if you have a 2WD, but if you have a 4WD skip this section as you’ll be able to drive it.

If you park where we did you’ll walk for 160m downhill on the gravel road before reaching the first stream crossing. This was low enough that we could use the stones in the water to rock hop across without getting wet boots.

You’ll then follow the wadi to the right and come to another stream crossing after 140m. Again you should be able to keep dry and you’ll probably have less water than us due to the aforementioned heavy rain before our visit.

It’s basically a flat gravel road with the odd bit of water or stones for the whole way. You’ll reach the main 4WD parking area 550m from our parking coordinates (or 390m from the end of the 2WD road).

It’s an easy stroll and pretty, provided that not too many cars are using it!

To Wadi Damm dam

From the 4WD parking area everyone will continue on foot and even if you arrive by car and there is no one around, you’ll know where to stop as the wadi becomes very rocky.

We started by walking up to the left and along the wall of the falaj (water channel) but it’s actually easier just to walk/boulder hop up the wadi bed and we quickly crossed back into the river bed as soon as we could.

There are arrows here and there pointing you in the right direction, but you can’t really go wrong in that regard as you’re simply following the water further into the canyon.

You’ll crisscross the stream a little according to how deep the pools are. We stuck roughly to the middle before keeping right and walking on the wadi wall part of the way (you’ll want to stay to the right to use the stairs by the side of the dam later on).

Climbing on and off the wall as needed is easy, there’s always a tiered route on and off and it’s never high or vertigo inducing in any way.

Basically with this first bit you should choose the path that looks easiest to you and everyone will do it slightly differently. Although the terrain is uneven, this first bit is easy and doesn’t require any kind of scrambling etc.

Just 600m from the 4WD parking area you’ll come to a huge dam wall. There is a good well maintained staircase leading up onto the dam on the right side.

Onto the small cascade pool

Just up from this dam wall is the first large pool and this is where many people choose to stop and swim. It’s basically a long stretch of river between the wadi walls. However, if you want to see the smaller waterfall swimming holes you’ll need to continue further on.

To do this keep to the right side of the dam, with the water on your left. Walk along the wadi wall (it’s wide and not slippery when dry). There are a few rocks to walk over, but it’s generally very easy.

There’s also a higher trail which is gravel and even easier which we used on the return, but for the purposes of seeing the next pool you want to keep low on the way out.

After following the wall for 200m you’ll come to a small pool with a little cascade and a rope. This is a cute little plunge pool which I had every intention of checking out, but you’ll see as we move through the notes that we ended up running out of light (we totally misjudged how long it would take, but we hope you won’t have that issue if you use our notes!).

This small pool is a point where you can cross the wadi (because eventually you will want to be on the left side of the canyon).

You’ll see where you can easily cross to the left of the pool, but watch out for the fact it’s extremely slippery. So slippery I went down what must have been only a metre or so on my bum! Perhaps it was overkill, but I wasn’t taking any chances!

It’s worth noting that if you don’t plan on going to the further wadi pools (beyond the boulder climb) or if you are not carrying anything you can’t swim with, then you should not cross here.

It’s much easier to cross by swimming across the next pool along, as the path on the right side of the wadi between this small cascade pool and the bigger waterfall pool is very easy. You’re either walking on the wadi wall or little stones on an obvious path and it was MUCH easier than the ‘path’ on the other side of the wadi.

However, if you can’t swim your things across the bigger pool, or you want to continue beyond the boulder climb, you need to cross the wadi and this small rope pool is a decent place to do it.

To the large cascade pool

It’s only a 150m walk between the small cascade pool and the big one. If you have crossed the wadi then this path has some slippery sections, so watch your step.

You’ll have to walk up some rock slabs and there are some little bits which require a slight leg stretch, but nothing tricky - beyond the fact that some bits are slippery! After 150m you will see the next pool and a large overhang. You can shuffle under the overhang and you’ll come to a little ‘beach’.

This pool makes for a great swimming spot and it’s both large and picturesque. As mentioned, we didn’t have the water clarity, but even with dark green water it was very pretty. There’s a small waterfall and the canyon walls tower over you making you feel especially tiny when inside the water.

Entering the pool from the ‘beach’ requires care though because as soon as you get into the water it’s extremely slippery underfoot. You’re better off sitting down and swimming off rather than wading in because it was a bit like walking on banana skins when we visited. Though, as soon as you can swim it’s bliss.

The water is cool (by Omani standards) and it’s deep enough for a proper swim.

Incidentally, if you only wanted to swim here and stuck to the right side of the wadi then entering the water is much easier as there’s a route in along a sandy bottom which wasn’t slippery.

If you want a relatively easy walk to a gorgeous spot then this large pool will not disappoint and it’s worth the visit to Wadi Damm alone.

The boulder climb

As soon as you emerge from the overhang onto the little beach you will see the boulder cave and a rope hanging down.

Someone has kindly stacked a few rocks on the ground beneath the cave which I think will be vital for most people getting up. Give it a good pull to test its current strength, but on our visit it was very sturdy and securely tied.

If you are flexible and have some upper body strength you will have no problem with this. If you’re on the less flexible and slightly weedy side - which is sadly me - then you may find this a bit tougher.

I am first to admit that if I didn’t have Joe giving me a literal hand (yep I stood on his hand) then I wouldn’t have got up.

Once you’re in the little cave you can either climb up to the left or through the cave itself.

The left route doesn’t require any shimmying, but it is a touch more exposed. I went up through the cave and it takes maybe three or four moves to get out the hole on the top. No agility or strength is required, but it is slightly awkward. It’s worth noting it’s so much easier getting down.

You can see exactly where you’re going, so you don’t need to worry about bumping your head, which I think made me contort myself more on the way up.

Once you’re out the cave you’ll be walking on the side of the wadi again.

The last tricky bit

This is the section where we really lost time. We kept trying to cut down to the water too early and ended up backtracking a lot (any errors have been removed from our stats so they should still be pretty accurate). If we’d have kept high to the left of the wadi we would have saved ourselves so much time because there’s actually a path!

From the cave, head along the rock shelf for 350m and keep your eye open for a worn down path heading between two huge boulders (it’s next to a small cascade).

You’re aiming for the top of the rocks, which if you look from lower down appears a bit dodgy, but it’s actually pretty easy.

You’ll head up the path and once you reach the rocky top you’ll see the stony path leading down the other side. It only takes a minute or so to get down and the rocks are tiered, which makes it less slippery. There is a bit of loose gravel on the descent so it requires care, but there are also good foot placements and it won’t phase most people.

From here continue along the wadi wall (which is easy) for a further 100m and you’ll find the narrowest part of the river to cross. This is the best place we found to cross the wadi as the left side of the wadi becomes impassable.

And when I say we, I mean Joe, because this is where I bailed. We had mistakenly thought this walk was going to be quick and easy and I decided we could start later in the day to avoid the worst of the UV.

The fact we went so wrong on parts of the walk meant it took ages. We came to the jump across the rocks and I knew I would slow us down and we might not get out in the daylight and therefore I had to sit the next bit out. I didn’t know I was only 250m from the pools we’d been looking for!

Incidentally, Joe did say this jump was a bit harder on the way back as you had to jump to a little bit uphill - but he still did it easily enough. I did look further up the wadi for another crossing and whilst I did see a possible area it was harder, so I think we did find the easiest way to get across.

Reaching the final pools

The hardest part is over as you’re now on the right side of the wadi (heading upstream). Reaching the final waterfall and pool is a matter of walking along the rock platform for 250m - there may be other pools beyond, but this is as far as most people will go.

After the jump the wadi will widen and you’ll see a large pool. There is a second smaller pool behind this one (separated by that giant boulder). Both are beautiful spots for a swim and both require scrambling down to access.

The best way to get to the pool is to head upstream towards a small waterfall and clamber down the rocks around this area. Just watch out for slippery rocks as you head down.

Joe carried on for a further 50m beyond the pool which led to a rock platform with a surprising patch of lush greenery. In the dry and dusty landscape, it’s an unusual sight.

After this point the trail becomes more precarious and the water dries up, so it’s a good turnaround point. You’ll probably find the way back a lot quicker as you know roughly where you’re going and can simply retrace your steps.

As you can see we finished up around sunset, which though unplanned, was a pretty spectacular way to end the walk!

Keep them wild

Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.

Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the wadi clean.

Getting to Wadi Damm - please note the info on the road if you only have a 2WD

Wadi Damm is located in the small village of Damm in Ad Dhahirah Governate, and there are two roads to get there. One is a 2WD route and one is a 4WD route. The 2WD route gos via the Al Ayn beehive tombs, the 4WD route goes via Al Hamra. Make sure you set Google maps to the right road if you only have a 2WD and keep an eye on it as it tried to re-route us a couple of times.

I don’t want to say too much about distances because of the two roads, but you can easily visit Wadi Damm as a day trip from Jebel Shams, Misfat al Abriyeen (via Al Ayn beehive tombs if you have a 2WD) or Nizwa. Depending on the road you take these journeys should be 1 hour 30 minutes ish.