كهف النحوه

Al Nahwah Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Nahwa - Sharjah. (25.274900, 56.272987)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Erosional Cave River Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Al Nahwah Cave
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The كهف النحوه (Kahf Alnahwaha, Cave of Nahwa) is also known as كهف الدابة (Kahf Aldaaba, Cave of the Beast). It is a shelter, a huge portal with a shallow cavern behind, most likely created by the erosion of the river. It is still at river level, and the water from the river stands inside the cave for some time after the wet season. Quite exceptional is, that the cave formed in conglomerate, no in limestone. It is not a karst cave, it is an erosional cave. The conglomerate forms an at least 30 m thick layer on the bottom of the valey into which the river has dug its gorge.

When the cave is dry, it is actually a rather big chamber with a domed ceiling. Most of the chamber is high enough to stand upright. There is a small bulge at the far end, where its necessary to stoop. Some people even drive into the cave, which is connected to the road by a flat gravel plain. Due to the water and the shaded location at the bottom of the wadi, there are even some palm trees at the entrance.

The cave is reached from Mirbih through Madha to Nahwa. The municipality of Nahwa has an old town, which was abandoned and is now cultural heritage, a new village was built nearby. At the old village the paved road ends, and from now on the road is a simple gravel track through the wadi, and as it is flooded every year, there are many spots where the road actually vanishes. This is a regular road across Maha to the UAE following the wadi, with changing quality of the road. But if you are not willing to drive this road, the cave is only 1 km from the end of the pavement, so either navigate this slowly or just walk, its only 15 minutes.

Alternatively, you take Al Raugh Tunnel Road, exit at Shees and follow Wadi Shees, this way you have to drive the full length of the off-road experience. This version seems quite popular, especially among the owners of 4WD. As far as we know, four-wheel drive is not necessary, but sufficient ground clearance is important.

The location of this cave is quite exceptional, and for foreigners it is hard to understand. The two countries Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have several borders. The Oman is located eastwards while the UAE is westwards, the Arabic peninsula belongs to the UAE, but the tip belongs to the Oman. And finally, there is a strange area in the middle of this Arabic peninsula named Maha, which is an Omani enclave in the UAE. Bun in the middle of Maha is Nahwa, which is a UAE enclave in Oman. The origin of this strange situation, a second order enclave, is in the late 1930s. The village elders in this area invited representatives of all four neighbouring houses, which are today part of the UAE. The idea was to merge with one of the four, and so they exchanged ideas how this could happen. After this conference, the Madhanis were asked with whom they would join forces. All the neighboring villages, including Nahwa, chose one of the houses that would later become part of the UAE. But Madha chose Oman, because they believed that the others would steal their freshwater supply. In 1968 Great Brittain left the area, Muscat and Oman joined in 1970, and the six emirates formed the UEA in 1971. The borders are like this since then, although the most important resource is now oil, not freshwater.