The Qantab Beach - Beyond the turquoise horizon

A Prelude

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. 

The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. 

On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances…
-Rabindranath Tagore

At the seashore - rendered in color pencils

I remember the lovely beaches of Goa, the Chowpatty beach of Mumbai, the rocky beaches of Pondicherry, the marina beach of Chennai, the buzzing beaches of Dubai and so many many more. Each one has beautiful memories associated with it. Also, having been raised in a township through most of the growing years of my life, my love for the seashores and the seashells, the sand and the shingles, remain the foremost.

However, something struck a chord when I visited the Qantab beach. Probably the fact that on one side of the Arabian sea is the city of Muscat and on the other is the town of Mithapur (the town where I grew up), had an emotional bond. Many of my childhood memories are associated with the pristine waters of the Arabian sea of Mithapur (Tata township), wherein we made sand castles, soaked in the waters for hours, searched for shells & clams, waited for our footsteps on the sand to be washed away by the waves, made rangoli designs in the sand, had picnic outings with friends or simply enjoyed walking by the seashore. From Mithapur to Muscat, has been a long journey over time, but the memories still remain fresh.

"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch -  we are going back from whence we came." 

-John F. Kennedy

Visit to Qantab Beach

Our visit to Qantab beach was made on a hot afternoon in the month of September, sometime back in 2011, with my parents and family friends. It took us around half an hour from the city to reach our destination by road covering a distance of about 16km. The route seemed long as it was through a long winding road set between the rugged mountains of Muscat. Our first stop was at the Shangri-La resort. We briefly scanned through the Heritage village wherein we discovered some beautiful local handicrafts. Thereafter, taking a small detour we finally found the way to the beach.

View of the Arabian sea from the road

The entrance to Heritage Village, Shangri-La Resort, Muscat

The dolls depicting the colorful Omani dress-forms

The courtyard of the Heritage village

It was typically a hot Muscat afternoon with a temperature not more than 35 degrees C, but it seemed like a 40 something. We could see plenty of fishermen with their boats all along the coastline. These fishermen offered fishing excursions and ride around the coast. We hired a motor boat for about 15 OMR (totally for 6 adults for a trip of 30min) and the fisherman gladly agreed to take us around the coast. Once we sat on the motorboat, the heat somehow was forgotten as the cool breeze from the sea drifted across our tired faces.

Qantab beach is interspersed with rocks and we got a view of the city with glimpses of the Shangri-La resort and Al Bustan Palace (A Ritz Carlton Hotel). We sighted some new constructions too. From far we could see a huge tunnel formation in a rock and as we reached nearby, it just looked all more beautiful. The rocks too looked beautiful with the sunlight shining onto the surface and creating a play of light and shadow around the rocks. 

I managed to click some snaps with my daughter on my lap (who was just 3 years old then and she clung to me as she was scared of the speed at which we were heading into the deeper waters) and at the same time I absorbed the vast blueness around me. Far away we could see some dolphins jumping out of the blues and then quickly disappearing, hence we were unable to capture their pictures. 

The motorboat trip, as we went crisscrossing between the rocks in the sea, was not disappointing at all. I could have soaked my feet for hours in the sea and wanted to feel the warm sand between my toes, but the hot humid weather didn't permit us to stay out for a long time. 

I read in the papers about Qantab beach; it says that the beach has been closed recently in 2014 itself due to some construction work in progress; so thankfully we made a memorable trip in time.

Musing over the seashore:

Hours spent on the beach are so relaxing that no other place in the world can offer. Usually, when I go to a beach I forget the world. I forget hunger pangs, all fear and worries. All I do is look at the vast expanse of blueness that beckons me. It is a pure moment of freedom. No wonder people all over the world have written hundreds of songs and poems about the oceans and the shores. I will quote the lovely lines that aptly describes my love for the seashore. 

I love to walk by the seashore,

On the clean white sand so bare.

I love to walk by the rippling waves

For I find refuge there. 

-Theodore Rowley 

The turquoise waters of Qantab Beach

And here are some lines, I jotted down one fine morning, a couple of days back, thinking about the seashores, the hours spent by me contemplating on the shores listening to the roaring waves and my happy childhood days (an attempt I have made after an era it seems). 

I dedicate these lines to all the beach lovers across the globe.

Beyond the turquoise horizon...

Beyond the turquoise horizon is my home,
Where my restless mind still does roam.
Searching for moments of freedom sublime,
Lost somewhere across the tides of time.

With the whispers of sea breeze in my ears,
To me the blue sea always seemed mysterious.
Seeking solitude with the setting sun,
All bonds I would recklessly abandon,
Catching the last glimpse of the orange sky,
I rejoiced with the blue tides that curled by.
As I left my faltering footprints on the shore,
Washed away by the waves and I swore.
Grabbing as many sea shells I could,
Listening to the whispers of the waves I stood.

Now I stand along the shores and fret,
Holding a heavy heart filled with regret.
Never can I bid adieu to those random reveries,
For life is made up of such myriad memories.
Beyond the turquoise horizon....

Note : 

Most of the beautiful shots though were taken by my husband. I have to give due credit to my husband too, for this trip wouldn't have been possible without him and thank him immensely for the time off that he had to (grudgingly) take from his busy work schedule for an outing. 

Also, I thank our family friends and the hosts: 'the Choudharys' who actually took us out to the Qantab Beach, and then treated us to a sumptuous home-made lunch thereafter.

While searching for more places to visit in Oman, I came across a list of Bollywood movies shot in Oman. And one of them is 'Once upon a time in Mumbai dobara' shot in locations near Qantab Beach and Shangri-La. 

A still from the movie - 'Once upon a time in Mumbai Dobara-2013.'
View of Shangri-La resort behind