Nizwa sää — marraskuu

November is the month the board recommends without qualification - wall-to-wall sun and a light sea breeze, the start of a window running through to February, after a summer they say plainly must be avoided. Their figures run 22 to 32C, with late November nearer 28C by day; our row averages 30.3C over 21.6C at 58.7 percent humidity, dry enough that 30C reads as 31C rather than worse. Rain is a rounding error, 4.5mm across 0.2 days. The sea is the detail worth carrying: 28.7C, warmer than the night air, which is why the boat trips and the snorkelling start again now. The record: 10 hours of sun, a 14.9 kph wind and AQI 70.

Forum posters are direct that July is really hot in Nizwa, with one poster describing conditions as dangerously and uncomfortably hot given much sun exposure - even at night, temperatures only 'cool' into the mid-30sC. Posters cite daytime highs around 38C in Nizwa itself, with the nearby desert running hotter still, sometimes above 45C. Posters consistently recommend Jebel Akhdar as a real escape valve, sitting some 15-20C cooler than Nizwa at its summit - a genuinely different climate just a short drive up. Posters generally suggest winter, spring or autumn instead for anyone wanting to properly enjoy the region, treating a July visit to Nizwa itself as something to endure rather than savor unless paired with time up the mountain.

Nizwa's forum calls January pleasantly warm, and genuinely a touch warmer inland than on the Omani coast — regulars put the interior a couple of degrees above the coast's roughly 25°C. December and January are the busiest months to visit, so a slightly quieter trip is easier to find in February.