Canvas Club Private Camp

Canvas Club Private Camp is a private camp set up just for you among the dunes of the Sharqiya Sands, the Wahiba desert. There is no reception desk and no neighbours: a bedroom tent, a lounge tent and an open-air bathroom, pitched far from hotels, villages and day visitors, with a five-person team and a cook of your own. It is the most secluded experience in our Oman desert selection.

How the night unfolds

1. The crossing. A Land Cruiser takes you about 30 km through the dunes, sometimes past free-roaming camels.
2. The last stretch by camel. To finish, you ride a camel towards the sunset while your luggage goes ahead to camp by 4x4.
3. Arrival. The camp manager greets you on the dune above the camp. You ride down to the tents, where a welcome drink and the team are waiting.
4. Dinner. Around the fire, the cook prepares the meal in front of you: flatbread baked on the fire, chicken cooked under the embers with vegetables and fresh thyme. Ingredients are bought daily at markets on the edge of the desert. Dinner is by candlelight, under the stars.
5. Morning. The team makes fruit salad and an omelette. There are a few hours left to enjoy the desert before you leave.

The camp

The camp is set up for each stay and has three tents:

• the bedroom tent, almost 6 m across and 3 m high inside, furnished with natural materials and pieces chosen in the souqs. It sleeps up to four adults on quality sprung mattresses with thick bedding. Tents vary slightly in size;
• the majlis tent, the Bedouin lounge, lined with cushions, for candlelit dinners or simply lying back and looking at the desert;
• the bathing tent, private: an open-air shower under the stars, a hot-water basin and a chemical toilet.

No mains power, no signal

Canvas Club runs without mains electricity or a generator, on solar power. There is no Wi-Fi, no mobile signal and no quad biking. The camp does not serve alcohol; according to the tour operators who sell it, you can bring your own.

That simplicity is the point. You read, play cards and listen to the team's stories around the fire. The camp manager has worked in the desert for more than fifteen years.

Who runs it

Canvas Club is the camp of a German-speaking Oman specialist tour operator with offices in Muscat and Salalah, which also sells tailor-made trips around the country. Its website is in English and German. The camp is sold in Europe by several specialist British tour operators.

Who it suits

Canvas Club suits couples, honeymooners and families who want the solitude of the desert and are happy with upmarket camping comfort: chemical toilet, outdoor shower, no power sockets. Travellers who want a pool, air conditioning and a conventional bathroom should choose Desert Nights Camp. For a lively Bedouin camp on a smaller budget, see Thousand Nights Camp.

In the Wahiba, do not camp alone, and travel in convoy with experienced people: with a team on site and the camp's own vehicles, that condition is met. See our guide to a night in the desert in Oman.

Price and booking

Canvas Club is not sold on booking platforms or Google: it is booked on request, and the price is quoted according to group size and dates. The season and the number of tents are not published; we have them confirmed with the quote. The best time for the desert is September to April.

Sabaro's view

Who it suits: couples, honeymooners, families and small groups of friends who want the desert to themselves.

Highlights: a camp set up just for you, with no neighbours; arriving by camel; dinner cooked over the fire; a starry sky far from any light; an experienced team.

Good to know: no mains power, no phone signal, chemical toilet; no alcohol served; price on request; no public guest rating. One night is usually enough, combined with Wadi Bani Khalid or the coast around Sur and Ras al Jinz. See also our desert and honeymoon ideas.