Bus from Dubai to Muscat – Hatta Border Crossing – Travel Guide

Updated on 1 March 2024

Can you take a bus from Dubai to Muscat? – Absolutely, yes!

I just contacted the bus company I used for traveling from Dubai to Muscat and back. The same bus I used is still in operation. The bus schedule and fares are also still valid in this guide.

I traveled to Muscat from Dubai by bus and then back to Dubai from Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman, crossing the Hatta Border. This is my detailed report.

Traveling from Dubai to Muscat by road is definitely a great idea. The landscape featuring colorful mountains is super scenic on the way.

Therefore, it’s pretty awesome that a bus service between Dubai and Muscat is available.

There are also cheap flights from Abu Dhabi to Muscat but traveling from Dubai to Oman by bus and crossing the UAE-Oman land border is way more interesting than flying.

From this guide, you will learn about the only bus company operating between Dubai and Muscat, how to travel from Muscat to Dubai by bus, how to book the bus ticket, how much it costs, the bus route between Dubai and Muscat, and how the border crossing works from Dubai to Oman and then to Dubai from Oman.

And don’t forget to check all my Dubai and Oman Travel Guides! :-)

DUBAI TO MUSCAT BUS ROUTE MAP

Dubai Muscat bus

Let’s see how bus travel from Dubai to Muscat works.

THE ONLY BUS COMPANY OPERATING FROM DUBAI TO OMAN (MUSCAT)

The only bus company operating between Dubai and Muscat is Al Khanjry Transport based in Oman.

Their buses are pretty modern, comfortable totally affordable. The bus has free Wifi as well. But only in Oman.

FORMERLY OPERATING BUS SERVICES FROM DUBAI TO OMAN (MUSCAT)

In Muscat, I went to the bus station where the Mwasalat buses are located.

There, I learned that, in the past, Mwasalat (formerly ONTC), Oman’s National Transport Company with the Road and Traffic Authority (RTA) Dubai used to operate buses between Dubai and Muscat. They stopped it and they are not planning on running buses anymore between the two destinations.

This bus was known as the Dubai Muscat Mwasalat bus or the Dubai Muscat RTA bus. If someone recommends them to you, remember they are just history today.

Now, let’s move on to the most important things to know about the Dubai Muscat bus.

1.1. WHERE TO BOOK THE BUS TICKET FROM DUBAI TO MUSCAT

Dubai to Muscat bus online booking: Booking online is not possible.

You can only buy the ticket in one of their offices in person.

You can find them easily on Google Maps. Just search for “Al Khanjry Transport, Dubai” if you are in Dubai or “Al-Khanjry Transport, Muscat” if you are in Muscat.

I went there and bought the ticket just the day before.

As you can see, the ticket is customized. When I purchased my ticket, I had to present my passport. You will have your name, nationality, and passport number on the ticket.

Dubai to Muscat bus ticket

Dubai to Muscat bus service contact number:

If you want to contact the company, you can reach them on Whatsapp: +968 9255 0199

Whether they are responsive on WhatsApp messages, depends on who has the phone. As for picking up the phone, don’t even expect that.

I just tested this number now. I just asked for updates on Whatsapp and I got an automatic message with a link.

Check it, here. This info is for the schedule and prices for buses from Muscat to Dubai. But it shows that the buses are still operating.

1.2. HOW MUCH IS THE BUS FARE FROM DUBAI TO MUSCAT

The price of the bus ticket from Dubai to Muscat is 100 Emirati Dinars (~27 USD) per person for a one-way ticket.

1.3. DUBAI TO MUSCAT BUS TIMINGS

Every day from 7 am, 3 pm, and 9 pm from the office of Al Khanjry Transport in Dubai

1.4. DUBAI TO MUSCAT BUS TRAVEL TIME

How far is Muscat from Dubai by bus?

The distance from Dubai to Muscat is 442 km / 275 miles.

The journey takes at least 6 hours including the border crossing by bus. When I took the bus it took 7 hours to complete the entire trip.

The duration depends mainly on how many people are on the bus. The more people you have, the slower the border crossing is.

2.1. WHERE TO BOOK THE BUS TICKET FROM MUSCAT TO DUBAI

Muscat to Dubai bus online booking: Booking online is not possible.

You can buy the ticket either in Dubai or Muscat: “Al-Khanjry Transport, Muscat“ “Al Khanjry Transport, Dubai“

I went to their Muscat office in Ruwi and bought the ticket just the day before.

As you can see, the ticket is also customized. When I purchased my ticket, I had to present my passport here too. This ticket also contains the name, nationality, and passport number of the passenger.

Muscat to Dubai bus service contact number:

It’s the same Whatsapp number as for Dubai to Muscat: +968 9255 0199. This number is actually managed in Muscat.

Muscat to Dubai bus ticket

2.2. MUSCAT TO DUBAI BUS COST

10 Omani Rials (~27 USD) per person for a one-way ticket if you buy it in Muscat. Yes, and I would like to confirm that this price is valid in 2024.

2.3. MUSCAT TO DUBAI BUS TIMINGS

Every day from 6 am, 3 pm, and 9 pm from the office of Al Khanjry Transport in Muscat. This timetable is also valid in 2024.

2.4. MUSCAT TO DUBAI BUS TRAVEL TIME

The journey takes at least 6 hours.

When I took the bus it took 9 hours to complete the entire trip. It was because the bus was full and it took a lot of time to get everyone’s exit stamp in Oman and then the entry stamp in the UAE. Moreover, the inspection of the luggage also took loads of time.

3.1. DEPARTURE FROM DUBAI

You are supposed to be at the bus 30 minutes before the departure. But I just showed up 10 minutes before.

I took the bus departing at 7 am. With a couple of minutes delay, we departed from the Al-Khanjarui office.

The bus was about half full.

3.2. GETTING THE UAE EXIT STAMP

Once you reach the Hatta border, you have to get off the bus and pay the UAE exit fee.

In about 15 minutes,  the exit fee was paid and the exit stamp was received.

The exit fee is 35 Emirati dinars (~10 USD).  You can pay it either in case or by card.

3.3. GETTING AN OMANI VISA ON ARRIVAL AT THE HATTA BORDER CROSSING

The Hatta border cross is one of the three Oman-United Arab Emirates Borders.

The building for passport control on the UAE side of the Hatta Border

There are a lot of different types of visas available at the border depending on your nationality, whether you are a UAE resident, or which airport you flew to when getting into the UAE.

When I asked what types of visas on arrival are available, I was just asked: What do you want?

I said I want a 1-month visa. They said Ok. It cost 20 Omani rial which is around 50 USD.

At that point in time, free VOA was only available for UAE residents and others who flew into the Dubai International Airport.

A 10-day VISA costs 5 Omani rial (~13 USD).

For the VISA, you can only pay by card. They don’t accept payment in cash.

MY INTERESTING SITUATION AT THE PASSPORT CONTROL – RANDOM 1-HOUR INSPECTION

There was a guy at the passport control who was checking my passport for too long. He asked why I had been to Iraq so many times and why I didn’t have a Kuwait exit stamp.

I said I just said I like traveling and traveling in Iraq is fun. As for why I didn’t have a Kuwait exit stamp, all I could say is that at the Kuwait International Airport they probably forgot to stamp it. I personally didn’t pay attention to it.

The passport control in my case took more than an hour. This included my passport being taken away for more than half an hour and being integrated. I was asked what exactly I did in Iraq and what I will do in Oman.

I had to share my friends’ names in Oman with their nationality, where I would stay in Muscat,  my Instagram account, and so on. I don’t remember everything but there was a paper full of my data and answers. I was the only one who had to go through this.

I asked why we had to do all this. They said that they always choose someone randomly to inspect and that day it was me.

Hatta Border – UAE Oman border crossing

3.4. LUGGAGE INSPECTION ON THE OMANI SIDE OF THE HATTA BORDER CROSSING

We all had to get on the bus and the border officers scanned all the luggage on the bus.

3.5. CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY FROM DUBAI TO MUSCAT

It was a pretty nice journey.  7 am is definitely a good time for leaving Dubai for Muscat.

I loved the landscape with the mountains on the way. We were not many people on the bus. Thus, things went generally quickly. Of course, my interrogation delayed our journey but that should not happen to you.

As for the Dubai to Muscat bus service, I was really satisfied. It’s affordable and comfortable.

The road from Dubai to Muscat

4.1. DEPARTURE FROM MUSCAT

I took the bus departing at 6 am. With a couple of minutes delay, we left the office of Al Khanjry Transport located in Ruwi in Muscat.

Women take the front seats. Behind the women, families are seated and at the back, generally, men are sitting.

The very front sears are actually the best places to sit if you want to take epic photos on the way.

On the way, we stopped a couple of more times in Muscat to pick up more passengers: Mabelah and Rusail in Seeb. So, if these stations are closer to your hotel, you can also get on the bus there.

The bus got completely full.

4.2. GETTING THE OMAN EXIT STAMP AT THE HATTA BORDER CROSSING

About 2 and a half hours after our departure from Muscat, we reached the Omani side of the Hatta border crossing.

We all went to the passport control office. There was a line for women and another line for men.

Once everyone on the bus got their Oman exit stamp we were all on the bus, a border controller got on the bus to check if everyone has their exit stamp.

The Omani exit stamp is free of charge.

Then, we drove to the Emirati side of the border.

4.3. GETTING AN UAE ENTRY STAMP AT THE HATTA BORDER CROSSING

First, the driver asked Omanis to go to passport control, then women, and finally everyone else.

Entering the UAE was free of charge.

One of the stamps on this page of my passport is the UAE entry stamp I got at the Hatta border coming from Muscat on the way to Dubai

AGAIN AN INTERESTING SITUATION AT THE PASSPORT CONTROL

I was one of the first ones to hand my passport to the Emirati passport control for inspection.

They took my passport and I was asked to sit down and wait. 15 minutes later I asked what’s wrong.  The woman asked: what’s this? What did you do there? – showing one of my Iraqi visas to me.

I said: “Travel, tourism… just like in Oman and the UAE.

Then, after 20 minutes, the manager checked my passport and got my UAE entry stamp. He was not available before and that’s why I had to wait for him so long.

When everyone got their UAE exit stamp and we were all on the bus, an Emirati border controller got on the bus and asked us to get off the bus and open our passports. We all lined up next to the bus and he checked our entry stamps one by one.

All this took nearly one and half hours.

4.4. LUGGAGE INSPECTION

Then, off we went. After 5 minutes, we stopped again and we were waiting for a long time.

Then, slowly we drove to the next checkpoint for inspection.

The bus stopped and we were just waiting on the bus. Then, 15 minutes later, a border controller got on the bus and counted us. Then, another one got on the bus to check things. They checked the passport of some of the passengers.

In the meantime, others were checking the suitcases in the storage of the bus. Some of them they sent through some scanner.

This also took at least half an hour.

The road from Muscat to Dubai after crossing the UAE border

4.5. CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY FROM MUSCAT TO DUBAI

Again, leaving early in the morning at 6 am was a good choice. Also, for the second time, I enjoyed the landscape on the way.

As the bus was full, the border crossing took a lot of time. 9 hours was definitely a long journey. Nevertheless, I can totally recommend traveling from Muscat to Dubai by bus.

As for the bus service from Muscat to Dubai, if you take into consideration how cheap it is, I can only say it was really awesome.

The road from Muscat to Dubai after crossing the UAE border

Did you know that you can easily get an eSIM online for the UAE and Oman?

An eSIM makes it much easier to switch mobile networks. Instead of searching for the sim card shop, hunting for a SIM ‘ejector tool’ to remove the old SIM from your phone, then inserting it into your phone, you can switch to a different network with a phone call or online.

Check out the rates of the United Arab Emirates eSIM provided by Airalo.

8.50 USD: 1 GB, 7 days
22.50 USD: 3 GB, 30 days
35 USD: 5 GB, 30 days

Check out the rates of the Oman eSIM provided by Airalo.

4.50 USD: 1 GB, 7 days
8 USD: 2 GB, 15 days
10.50 USD: 3 GB, 30 days
15 USD: 5 GB, 30 days
25 USD: 10 GB, 30 days
40 USD: 20 GB, 40 days

Both the UAE and Oman have censored certain websites and online activities. Therefore, I always use a VPN in both the UAE & Oman.

There are a lot of VPN providers that are recommended in the Middle East. They all have their pros and cons. After comparing all of them, I got Express VPN.

Generally, I use my VPN either on the USA or German server 24/7.

When I’m not on the VPN for some reason,  I always hop on the VPN when I do online banking for safety reasons. Moreover, I need the VPN if I want to make a call on WhatsApp and Messenger as calls on these two apps don’t work without a VPN at all.

I have signed up for Express VPN’s 12-month plan as I find it useful in pretty much every single country where I am in the world.

Both in Dubai and Oman, I booked all my hostels and hotels through Booking.com.

I was traveling for an entire month in Oman.  I delayed renting a car for a long time as I was afraid to drive in Oman. However, I felt that without my own car, I was extremely limited as public transportation in Oman is not a common thing.

Now that I have experience with renting and driving a car in Oman, I can tell you that renting a car and self-driving is the best option for exploring Oman.

Renting a car in Dubai is also very useful but in Oman is almost inevitable.

My car rental experience literally went perfectly. My car was brand new and in perfect condition.

Driving in Oman was also surprisingly easy.