Money, cards and ATMs in Oman

The rial

• The Omani rial is one of the highest-value currencies in the world, pegged to the US dollar and worth well over two dollars.
• It divides into 1,000 baisa, not 100. Prices are written to three decimal places - 2.500 OMR is two and a half rials, not two thousand five hundred of anything.
• This trips people up constantly in the first day. A coffee at 1.200 is not expensive; a hotel at 120.000 is.
• Small notes and baisa coins matter for taxis, souqs and parking.

Cards and cash

• Cards work in Muscat, hotels, malls and larger restaurants.
• Cash is needed in the souqs, small towns, roadside places and for many entry fees at sights.
• Cash machines are common in the cities and rare in the interior. Take cash before driving into the mountains or the desert.
• Decline the offer to be billed in your own currency.

The bill you must be able to pay

• This is the important money fact in Oman. Visitors use private healthcare, and the FCDO states that those without insurance or the means to settle the charges may be stopped from leaving the country until the debt is paid.
• An unpaid hospital bill is an exit problem, not just a debt. Insurance is what stands between a bad week and a much worse one.

Costs

• Oman is mid-priced for the Gulf - cheaper than the UAE, more expensive than Egypt or Jordan.
• Fuel and food are cheap; hotels are not. Desert camps and mountain lodges price like the experiences they are.

Tipping

• Not obligatory. Rounding up and 10% in a restaurant are both normal.