I've worked in Dubai and had the opportunity to drive with a local to Muscat. It was interesting, but . . . only because he was local and knew a few cool beaches and inlets to stop into on the drive. If I had been doing that drive alone . . well, you nailed it in your OP. Oman is rather . . sparse. And as for Muscat itself . . well, in a region with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha & Bahrain . . . its hard to justify as a top 10 tourist destination.

tl;dr: Glad a saw it . . I won't go out of my way to see it again.