October to April is the comfortable window: temperatures drop to 20–28°C and the humidity eases. The Batinah coast gets little rain year-round but the winter months are genuinely pleasant for outdoor activity. Summer (May to September) is brutal — temperatures regularly exceed 40°C with high humidity — and there is little reason to visit in those months unless you have no choice. Sohar is most often a transit stop between Muscat (200km south) and the UAE border (80km north), and timing is usually dictated by the wider journey.