Short answer: Al Maabilah (المعبيلة, also spelled Mabela, Mabelah or Al Maabela) is the westernmost district of Wilayat As Seeb in Muscat. Sultan Qaboos Street splits it into Al Maabilah North, on the coast, and the far larger Al Maabilah South, which holds the Al Maabilah Industrial Area, Mall of Muscat and most of the housing. It is one of the cheapest places to rent in the capital: on our Bayut snapshot of 28 September 2026 a two-bedroom apartment typically asked OMR 160 to 260 a month. Non-GCC foreigners cannot buy freehold here, apart from a narrow usufruct scheme in one phase of Al Maabilah South. Sultan Haitham City, being built on Al Maabilah's western edge, is freehold for every nationality, and our live listings there start at OMR 61,635.
Al Maabilah is where a lot of Muscat actually lives. Rents are among the lowest in the capital, the Industrial Area keeps the district busy with workshops and trade, and the airport is about half an hour away by road.
This guide zooms in on one district from our Al Seeb area guide: its parts, shops, schools, clinics and roads, then asking rents from Bayut on 28 September 2026 and prices next door in Sultan Haitham City from our live inventory on 3 October 2026. Where sources disagree, we say so.
Where Al Maabilah is
Al Maabilah sits at the western end of Muscat Governorate, inside Wilayat As Seeb, about 55 km by road from Ruwi. The sea is to the north, and the Muscat Expressway runs along its southern edge with Halban beyond it. Al Khoud and Sultan Qaboos University are to the east, and the western end, around Al Shakhakhit, reaches towards Barka in South Al Batinah.
How big it is. On OpenStreetMap's community-drawn boundaries, Al Maabilah South covers about 109 km² and Al Maabilah North about 13 km², against about 39 km² for Al Khoud. The figures are unofficial, though they explain why Al Maabilah is often called the largest district in Seeb.
Population. The NCSI does not publish a figure for Al Maabilah: the 2020 census counts it inside the As Seeb locality, and the whole wilayat had 594,155 residents in 2025. One Arabic property blog says Al Maabilah alone has "about 1.5 million" people, more than twice the population of all of Seeb, so treat that as an error.
How it has filled in. The dates we could confirm:
- 2010: Indian School Al Maabela opens.
- August 2012: Sultan Taimur bin Faisal Mosque is inaugurated.
- April 2019: Mall of Muscat opens with the Oman Aquarium.
- March 2023: the Arab Open University opens its new campus here.
- September 2024: Nesto opens Bilad Mall on Al Salam Street.
- January 2025: the Hay Al Salam health complex opens.
- March 2025: the Green Walkway opens in Al Maabilah South.
- June 2026: Muscat Municipality commissions a redevelopment plan for the Industrial Area.
Al Maabilah North, Al Maabilah South and the Industrial Area
| Part | Where it is | What you find there |
|---|---|---|
| Al Maabilah North (المعبيلة الشمالية) | Between Sultan Qaboos Street and the sea | Homes near the coast, at the western start of the Seeb shoreline |
| Al Maabilah South (المعبيلة الجنوبية) | Between Sultan Qaboos Street and the Muscat Expressway | Most of the housing, in numbered phases; Mall of Muscat, Bilad Mall, the Green Walkway, the main mosque, schools and colleges |
| Al Maabilah Industrial Area (المعبيلة الصناعية) | Inside Al Maabilah South | Workshops, manufacturers, logistics firms and building and home suppliers |
Al Maabilah North is the smaller part. Its shore is where the Seeb corniche begins: Times of Oman describes a walkway of about 8 km from Al Maabilah to the Seeb fish market. Our Seeb guide covers Seeb beach and the souq at the other end.
Al Maabilah South is what most people mean by "Al Maabilah". Its residential phases are numbered, and the numbers matter: the usufruct scheme below applies only to phase 7.
The Industrial Area is one of the main light-industrial zones of the capital region, and Mwasalat's route 7 even has a stop called Mabela Industrial Estate. On 8 June 2026 Muscat Municipality signed a consultancy contract to plan its redevelopment: internal roads, infrastructure, road safety and landscaping. No value or timetable was published. A 2024 Al Roya column argued that Al Maabilah's roads had become too small for the traffic now using them.
The Green Walkway
Al Maabilah's newest public space is inland. Muscat Municipality and Occidental Oman agreed in May 2021 to build a 152,400 m² linear park in Al Maabilah South, and it opened on 1 March 2025. It has a walking track and a separate cycle path, sports courts, a skateboarding area, play areas, outdoor gym equipment, cafés and food-truck spots, with pedestrian bridges over the main roads; a local column notes that it crosses Al Noor, Al Khair and Al Iemar streets.
Its length depends on the source: the 2021 agreement and 2022 construction notices say 3.2 km, the opening announcement 3,400 m each for the track and the cycle path. We use the opening figure, since it describes what was built.
Mosques, markets and malls
Sultan Taimur bin Faisal Mosque. The district's landmark mosque, named after Sultan Qaboos's grandfather, was inaugurated in August 2012. Al Watan and OpenStreetMap place it in Al Maabilah South; one travel site files it under North, which is wrong.
Mall of Muscat, on Al Nuzha Street in Al Maabilah South, opened on 15 April 2019. Pre-opening coverage listed a Lulu hypermarket, a 14-screen cinema and brands from the Alshaya and Landmark groups. On its third floor is the Oman Aquarium, 8,000 m² and billed at opening as the largest in the Middle East.
Bilad Mall, Nesto's 17th store in Oman, opened on Al Salam Street on 18 September 2024: 215,000 sq ft, 40 checkouts and more than 750 parking spaces.
Everyday shopping is in the supermarkets and pharmacies along each phase's main streets; City Centre Muscat is a drive east in Al Mawaleh, and our Al Khoud guide covers the souq in the next district.
Schools, colleges and clinics
We list only places whose location we could check.
- Indian School Al Maabela, on Al Noor Street in Al Maabilah South: a CBSE school founded in 2010, from kindergarten to Year 12. Directories put enrolment anywhere from 3,800 to over 4,500, so ask the school.
- Gulf College, whose own contact page gives its campus as Al Maabilah.
- Arab Open University, Oman, in a new campus with 36 classrooms and 13 laboratories since March 2023.
- Hay Al Salam health complex, Al Maabilah South: opened by the Ministry of Health on 20 January 2025 at a cost of OMR 650,000, with primary care clinics, behavioural medicine and psychiatry, a laboratory, a pharmacy and 19 beds.
- Al Maabilah South Health Centre, the district's older Ministry of Health centre, and Badr Al Samaa, a private medical centre opened in June 2021.
The nearest large hospital is Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Al Khoud. For a British or IB school, families drive east to The Sultan's School in Al Hail South or Cheltenham Muscat in Al Bandar; both are in the Seeb guide.
Getting around: roads, buses and drive times
Roads. Sultan Qaboos Street, the coastal highway towards Barka, divides North from South, and the Muscat Expressway along the southern edge is the faster way east. Inside Al Maabilah South, Al Salam, Al Noor, Al Khair and Al Iemar streets carry the local traffic.
Buses. Mwasalat runs from a Mabela bus station. Route 1 goes to Ruwi through Seeb and past the airport, route 7 to Al Mawaleh through the Industrial Area, Al Khoud and City Centre Muscat, and journey planners also list an A1 service to the airport. Timetables have changed since these routes started in 2018 and 2019, so check the current one with Mwasalat.
Drive times, routed over OpenStreetMap roads with no traffic, from the Al Maabilah South Health Centre near the middle of the district:
| To | Distance | Time with no traffic |
|---|---|---|
| Mall of Muscat | 6 km | 9 minutes |
| Wadi Zaha, Sultan Haitham City | 7 km | 12 minutes |
| Seeb souq | 13 km | 15 minutes |
| Muscat International Airport, Terminal 1 | 29 km (27 km from Al Maabilah North) | about 30 minutes |
| Ruwi | 55 km | about 45 minutes |
Gulf College tells students the airport is about 20 minutes away; our routing gives about half an hour, more in the morning rush east.
Renting in Al Maabilah: asking rents by bedroom
The housing is low and mid-rise: family villas, which Omanis can own outright, and apartment blocks of a few floors where many expatriates rent. On 28 September 2026 Al Maabilah had 72 apartments and just 8 villas for rent on Bayut, more apartment listings than any other part of Seeb outside Al Mouj.
The table uses our snapshot of every monthly rental listing on Bayut Oman for Muscat on 28 September 2026. These are asking prices, not signed contracts, and they mix furnished and unfurnished homes. We show the middle half of listings (25th to 75th percentile) and the median, in OMR a month, with the number of listings (n). Where fewer than 10 homes were listed, we do not publish a range.
| Apartment | Al Maabilah | Al Khoud | All Seeb outside Al Mouj | Al Mouj |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom | 100 to 220, median 120 (n 17) | 150 to 230 (n 13) | 110 to 220, median 148 (n 56) | 480 to 600 (n 29) |
| Two-bedroom | 160 to 260, median 200 (n 34) | 180 to 250 (n 25) | 180 to 280, median 210 (n 90) | 800 to 1,300 (n 40) |
| Three-bedroom | 150 to 255, median 230 (n 18) | Too few | 165 to 250, median 200 (n 37) | 1,100 to 1,800 (n 13) |
- Among the cheapest in Seeb. The one-bedroom median of OMR 120 is level with Al Mawaleh's OMR 115 and half Muscat's (about OMR 250), and the two-bedroom median of OMR 200 is the lowest of any Seeb district with enough listings.
- Unfurnished saves a lot. The 10 furnished two-bedrooms asked a median of OMR 265; the 24 unfurnished ones, OMR 180.
- Room for a family. A three-bedroom at OMR 150 to 255 costs less than the typical two-bedroom across Muscat, where the median is about OMR 290.
- Few villas. Only eight were listed, too few for a range; the four- and five-bedroom villas asked OMR 320 to 500, below the OMR 500 to 650 typical of four-bedroom villas elsewhere in Seeb.
A Muscat lease is also registered with the municipality for 3% of the contract's rent, and you pay electricity and water on top; our electricity and water bill guide explains the tariffs, and our rent vs buy guide sets rents against buying across Muscat.
Buying in Al Maabilah: who can own what
Omanis can buy land, villas and apartments anywhere in Al Maabilah.
GCC citizens can own residential property in Oman through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning if they are over 21, with conditions: the property cannot be mortgaged, and vacant land cannot be resold within four years unless a building has gone up on it.
Other foreigners cannot buy freehold here. Non-GCC buyers own freehold only in Integrated Tourism Complexes and approved zones such as Al Mouj and Sultan Haitham City, and Al Maabilah is an ordinary residential district. Our ITC rules guide covers the law.
The usufruct exception. Ministerial Decision 357/2020 lets a foreign resident buy a usufruct, a long right to use a flat without owning the land, in multi-storey buildings at sites the ministry selects. In Seeb the sites named in October 2020 were Al Mawaleh South phase 5, Al Khoud phase 2 and Al Maabilah South phase 7. The main conditions:
- the buyer is at least 23, has lived in Oman for at least two years and may hold one unit;
- the building has four or more residential floors and is no more than four years old when licensed;
- the flat has at least two bedrooms and costs at least OMR 45,000 in Muscat;
- foreigners may hold at most 40% of a building's units, and one nationality at most 20%;
- the term is up to 50 years, renewable to 99, with no resale for four years and fees of 3% from the seller and 5% from the buyer.
One competitor presents this as new; it dates from 2020, and the decision itself does not grant residence. We found no later amendment, but confirm with the ministry before relying on it.
Sultan Haitham City next door: where foreigners can buy
Where it sits. Official sources say only that Sultan Haitham City is in Wilayat As Seeb. It is being built on open land at the western end of Al Maabilah South, between Sultan Qaboos Street and the Muscat Expressway. Wikipedia describes it as west of Al Maabilah, and on OpenStreetMap's boundaries the plots of all five projects we list fall inside Al Maabilah South. It does not touch Al Khoud, on Al Maabilah's eastern side. The Oman Observer reported in June 2023 that the city will get 23 access points from the two main roads.
What it is. A government-planned city launched on 31 May 2023: about 14.8 km² for 100,000 residents in 20,000 homes, built in phases from 2024 to 2045. Its residential districts sell freehold to any nationality, and an off-plan buyer can apply for residence after paying 30% of the price. Our Sultan Haitham City guide goes project by project.
Entry prices in our live inventory on 3 October 2026, the cheapest available unit by size, with the median price per square metre of each project's available units (price divided by the area the developer registers):
| Project | Cheapest available | Median OMR per m² |
|---|---|---|
| Wadi Zaha | Studio, 56 m², OMR 61,635; one-bedroom, 80 m², OMR 71,660; two-bedroom, 109 m², OMR 93,630 | 918 |
| Sarooj Apartments | One-bedroom, 53 m², OMR 66,593; two-bedroom, 109 m², OMR 91,932 | 1,131 |
| Yenaier | Studio, 85 m², OMR 67,200; one-bedroom, 87 m², OMR 73,500; two-bedroom sky residence, 151 m², OMR 86,347 | 769 |
| Hay Al Wafa | Two-bedroom, 158 m², OMR 92,088; three-bedroom townhouse, 230 m², OMR 149,500; four-bedroom townhouse, 256 m², OMR 158,800 | 593 |
| Sarooj Villas | Four-bedroom villa, 206 m², OMR 172,200; five-bedroom villa, 280 m², OMR 232,000 | 836 |
Prices are unchanged since our Seeb guide of 1 October. Hay Al Wafa, whose two-bedroom is 158 m² against 109 m² at Wadi Zaha, has the lowest rate per square metre, and Sarooj Apartments, with the smallest one-bedroom, the highest. Compare every unit in the property search, or follow the medians in our Oman property price index.
We do not quote rental yields. For reference, the cheapest two-bedroom above costs OMR 86,347, while a two-bedroom in Al Maabilah asks a median of OMR 200 a month. These homes are off-plan, so the real choice is between renting now and owning at handover.
Is Al Maabilah right for you
- On a budget, working in west Muscat or at the airport: rent an unfurnished flat in Al Maabilah South.
- Family that needs space: a three-bedroom here asks OMR 150 to 255.
- Working at Sultan Qaboos University or its hospital: Al Khoud, the next district east, is closer.
- Foreigner who wants to own: Sultan Haitham City, on Al Maabilah's doorstep, from OMR 61,635.
FAQ
Where is Al Maabilah in Muscat?
In Wilayat As Seeb, at the western end of Muscat Governorate. It runs from the coast to the Muscat Expressway, with Al Khoud to the east and Sultan Haitham City being built on its western side.
What is the difference between Al Maabilah North and Al Maabilah South?
Sultan Qaboos Street divides them. North is the smaller coastal part. South, between Sultan Qaboos Street and the Muscat Expressway, has most of the homes, the Industrial Area, Mall of Muscat, Bilad Mall and the Green Walkway.
How much is rent in Al Maabilah?
On Bayut on 28 September 2026, asking rents were typically OMR 100 to 220 a month for a one-bedroom, OMR 160 to 260 for a two-bedroom and OMR 150 to 255 for a three-bedroom. Unfurnished flats ask noticeably less.
Can foreigners buy property in Al Maabilah?
Not freehold, unless they are GCC citizens. A foreign resident of two years can buy a usufruct of up to 99 years over a flat in approved buildings in Al Maabilah South phase 7, from OMR 45,000. Freehold for any nationality is next door in Sultan Haitham City, from OMR 61,635 in our listings.
How far is Al Maabilah from Muscat airport?
About 27 to 29 km by road to Terminal 1, roughly half an hour with no traffic. Mwasalat's route 1 and the A1 service also run to the airport.
What is in the Al Maabilah Industrial Area?
Workshops, manufacturers, logistics firms and building suppliers, inside Al Maabilah South. A redevelopment plan, including its internal roads, was commissioned in June 2026.
Is Sultan Haitham City in Al Maabilah?
Officially it is simply in Wilayat As Seeb. It is being built at the western end of Al Maabilah South, and Wikipedia describes it as west of Al Maabilah. Wadi Zaha is about 7 km by road from the middle of the district.
Sources
- NCSI data portal, Wilayat As Seeb, total population 2025, read 1 October 2026; City Population, Muscat Governorate localities, 2020 census, read 3 October 2026.
- OpenStreetMap, administrative boundaries of Al Maabilah South, Al Maabilah North and Al Khoud, read 3 October 2026; drive times routed with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data.
- Wikipedia, Maʽabilah and Sultan Haitham City, read 3 October 2026.
- Times of Oman, We Love Oman: corniches in Muscat, read via the Internet Archive copy of 29 February 2024.
- Times of Oman, park agreement with Occidental Oman, 20 May 2021, and launch of the Green Walkway in Seeb, 1 March 2025; Al Roya, opening of the Green Walkway, 1 March 2025; Wejhatt, column on the Al Maabilah walkway, 10 March 2025.
- Al Watan, lecture at Sultan Taimur bin Faisal Mosque, Al Maabilah South, 29 August 2015; Omantripper, Sultan Taimur bin Faisal Mosque, read 3 October 2026.
- Oman Observer, new mall to open at Mabela on April 15 and Oman Aquarium opens, April 2019; Times of Oman, Nesto opens Bilad Mall in Mabella, September 2024.
- Indian Schools in Oman, Indian School Al Maabela; Gulf College, contact page; Muscat Daily, Arab Open University opens new campus in Maabela, 4 March 2023.
- Oman News Agency, Hay Al Salam health complex opens in Seeb, 20 January 2025; Oman Observer, Badr Al Samaa opens in Mabella, 23 June 2021.
- Oman Observer, route 10 from Mabela bus station, September 2018, and route 7 extension, March 2019; Moovit, route 1, Al Maabilah to Ruwi, read 3 October 2026.
- Muscat Daily, Muscat Municipality signs agreements for development projects, 8 June 2026; Al Roya, column on Al Maabilah's roads, 24 August 2024.
- Qanoon.om, Ministerial Decision 357/2020 on usufruct sales to non-Omanis, Official Gazette 1362, 18 October 2020; Wejhatt, the sites named in Muscat, 18 October 2020; Times of Oman, expats can now buy a house in Muscat, October 2020.
- Oman Government portal, GCC citizens owning real estate in Oman, read 3 October 2026.
- Oman News Agency, inauguration of Sultan Haitham City, 31 May 2023; Oman Observer, Sultan Haitham City first phase in 6 years, 20 June 2023.
- Bayut Oman, apartments for rent in Muscat, all monthly listings read on 28 September 2026.
- Irfan Investment Group live inventory, Sultan Haitham City projects, read 3 October 2026.
Next step
If Al Maabilah is on your list, tell us whether you plan to rent first or buy, your budget and how many bedrooms you need, and our Muscat team will reply on WhatsApp with the Sultan Haitham City homes that fit, their payment plans and a straight view of when renting in Al Maabilah is the better first move.