Dubai Off the Beaten Path Tips by Gard

There seems to be many nice beaches along the coast and we went to one of the nearest beaches called the Jumeira Beach Corniche. The beach was really nice and the water was clear. Quite amazing considering that the dry docks of Dubai are not that far away. The water was not as warm as I had expected but I guess we have to take into consideration that it is spring. I would guess that the water temperature was a bit above 20 degrees. If you want to go further out of town it is possible to visit the Jumeira beach park. But remember that they have “Women only” days in this park so check before you go. And if you go even further you will reach the area where Jumeirah Beach hotel and Burj Al Arab is located.

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There are many tour operators that offer trips out to the desert. We hooked up with a company called Lama Tours and we were picked up from the hotel one day to go on a trip. The car that we drove in was a Toyota Landcruiser (these cars seems to be very popular for this purpose) and we were 7 in the car including the driver. First we drove out of Dubai to find some big sand dunes. The driver then reduced the air pressure in the tires and we drove of. It was a fun ride but very, very bumpy. In fact we saw a person in another car that got really sick and that had to throw up after a while. We stopped in between and we saw another tour group trying out sand skiing. It is quite amazing to look towards the horizon and see sand dune after sand dune. In this landscape that I’m not used to I find it really difficult to tell the distance to or height of the next sand dune. Let’s just hope that I never get lost in the desert.

When the sun set we stopped to look at that and we later drove to a camp. There was quite a lot of activities there and the good spirits got even higher when people discovered that they sold alcohol there. First of all we were allowed to go for a short camel ride. In the camp itself it was possible to get a henna tattoo, dress up in traditional outfits, smoke a shisha pipe and watch some belly dancing (and even participate). In the end we got a meal from the barbeque

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If you just want to relax and watch the world go by, then I can recommend Creekside Park. There is actually a 5 Dhs entrance fee to get into the park itself. The park is well kept, lots of benches and green grass and there are also places where you can barbecue. If you want some exercise it is possible to rent bikes inside the park and you can get bikes that are made for two or 4 people.

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