Photo by Yokokz Cordova on Pexels
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates · Ras Al Khaimah, Hajar Mountains
Photo by Yokokz Cordova on Pexels
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates · Ras Al Khaimah, Hajar Mountains
♨ Temperature
40°C
⛰ Altitude
320 m
⚗ pH
7.5
💧 TDS
890 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
—
📅 Established
Traditional use; resort developed 2000s
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
The Khatt Hot Springs in Ras Al Khaimah are the United Arab Emirates' only significant natural geothermal springs, a geological anomaly in a country better known for sand than for volcanic water. The springs emerge from fractures in the Hajar Mountains — a range composed primarily of ophiolite, ancient oceanic crust thrust onto the Arabian continental margin during the Late Cretaceous. The water rises at approximately 40°C, moderately mineralised, and is thought to be heated by residual thermal energy within the deeply buried ophiolite sequence. A spa resort has been developed at Khatt village, offering soaking pools fed by the natural spring water. The rugged backdrop of the northern Hajar Mountains — rocky pinnacles, dry wadis, and ancient falaj irrigation terraces — provides a setting dramatically different from the coastal luxury for which the UAE is better known.
| Sodium | 195 mg/L |
| Chloride | 165 mg/L |
| Sulphate | 88 mg/L |
| Calcium | 58 mg/L |
| Magnesium | 32 mg/L |
The Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah preserve some of the oldest exposed geology in the Arabian Peninsula, including Cretaceous ophiolite sequences that were once part of the ancient Tethys Ocean seafloor. The region was home to Bronze Age settlements of the Umm al-Nar culture (2600–2000 BC), who traded copper mined from the Hajar range across the ancient world. The falaj irrigation system — still partially functioning — is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
In traditional Emirati and Omani mountain culture, springs are understood as divine gifts — 'gifts of the jinn' in some folk traditions — and places of spiritual as well as physical renewal. The Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah retain a distinct cultural character from the coastal UAE, preserving mountain agricultural communities, date palm cultivation, and a tradition of medicinal spring bathing that predates the oil era.
The Khatt springs flow from a deep geothermal aquifer without mechanical pumping. The surrounding Hajar Mountains are subject to increasing pressure from hiking tourism and resort development. Ras Al Khaimah's tourism strategy emphasises sustainable mountain tourism as a counterpart to coastal resort development, with the Khatt springs positioned as a natural heritage asset.