MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEST DESERT SAFARI IN DUBAI
1. The Dubai Desert Safari I Tried
2. My Dubai Desert Safari Tour Explained
3. Insider Tips to Get the Best Out of a Desert Safari in Dubai
4. What to Wear & Pack for a Desert Safari in Dubai
5. Where to Stay for Your Dubai Desert Safari
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Premium Red Dunes, Camel Safari, & BBQ at Al Khayma
This Dubai desert safari tour has an incredibly high number of reviews: over 28,000 reviews. Moreover, the star rating shows 4.9 out of 5. That is definitely what made me trust this desert tour the most and booked it myself as well. I was very happy with it and I can recommend it to you 100%.
It’s a full-day tour including dune bashing, sandboarding, camel ride, 3-cuisine buffets with live BBQ, Arabic dance shows, henna, shisha, falcon experience, and transfers. Plus, as an optional activity, you can add quad bike riding.
What does the basic price of the tour include?
This Dubai desert safari tour includes dune bashing, sandboarding, camel ride, 3-cuisine buffets with live BBQ, Arabic coffee, dates, henna, shisha, and falcon, plus transfers.
Quad bike ride for more fun?
If you want to experience more fun, you can also add a 35-minute quad bike activity. The activity will cost about 55 USD more in that case but it’s really worth it. As for me, the quad bike experience was the most exciting part of the desert safari tour.
What’s the duration of the tour?
The duration of the tour is 7 hours
What did I experience when I joined this Dubai desert safari tour?
First, quad bike riding
An English-speaking Safari Guide driving a 4×4 jeep picked me up from my hotel. Our group tour had 6 participants.
Our guide took us to our first adventure stop: quad biking.
It’s one of the most thrilling activities on any Dubai desert safari. Just note that it’s usually not included in the base price, so make sure to add it when booking.
I had 35 minutes of quad time in a quad bike park.
What I didn’t know beforehand is that there are two options for quad biking. The price I paid only covered the park area. To ride into the open desert, you’d need to pay an additional $40–50.
There, in a tent we were also offered free coffee, tea, and water.
Dune bashing next …
From the quad park, our Safari Captain drove us to the Lahbab Red Dunes for dune bashing.
Dune bashing means riding in a jeep over desert sand dunes. In Dubai, professional drivers take you on this wild ride in powerful 4x4s like the Toyota Land Cruiser.
The whole experience lasts about 30–40 minutes. And it’s a real adrenaline rush.
Sandboarding next …
At some point in the middle of the desert, you’ll stop for sandboarding. It’s basically snowboarding but on sand.
Personally, I found it super easy and fun. But I also saw some tourists who were too scared to stand on the board and kept falling.
During this time, I also took lots of great photos and videos.
Al Khayma premium camp: dinner, henna, falcon experience, camel riding, Arabian dance performances and shisha
After your desert adventures, our guide took us to the Al Khayma Camp, and the atmosphere there was fantastic.
We started off with a delicious dinner. There were tons of tasty dishes such as Emirati, Moroccan, and other Arabian foods. The meat was surprisingly good, and I ended up eating way more than usual.
If you’re vegetarian, don’t worry as there were plenty of vegetarian options too.
Honestly, the food exceeded my expectations. But after all that activity, I probably could’ve eaten a horse.
After dinner, the cultural activities began.
I started with henna. Henna is a type of body art and temporary skin decoration popular across the Arab world. It’s made from the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis).
It’s a fun activity, especially for women. Just be careful not to get it on your clothes, because the stains don’t come out.
Then I took photos with a falcon. Falcons are considered cultural icons in the UAE. Falconry has been a vital part of Bedouin life for centuries. In the desert, falcons were used to hunt birds like curlews and bustards for food.
After the falcon experience, I rode a camel and took a few more fun photos.
The final activity of the night was enjoying traditional dance performances like belly dancing while smoking shisha (waterpipe) under the desert sky.
I wish I had known these things before starting my Dubai desert safari tour!
1. You will stop at a souvenir shop on the way to the desert. It’s a good time to buy scarves, but make sure you don’t spend too much time there, as it cuts into the overall tour time.
2. When you start quad biking, ask exactly how much time you have and note what time you begin. If they say 30–40 minutes, make sure to use the full 40 minutes for fun.
3. If you spend too long at the souvenir shop, return late from quad biking, or take too much time eating, you might end up having to rush through the camp activities at the end. I was very happy with the tour I joined, but the last part felt a bit rushed — probably because others in our group came back late from quad biking.
4. For photography, the best option is the tour that starts at 11:30 am. I managed to take a lot of great photos during the day.
5. However, if you want to stargaze in the desert, it’s better to join a tour that starts in the evening or an overnight safari.
You can bring extra water and snacks just in case.
As for what to wear, choose whatever feels comfortable. I wore a pink dress with leggings underneath, and it was the perfect choice: comfortable, breathable, and culturally appropriate.
For shoes, wear sneakers. The sand can get very hot during the day, so it’s better to keep your feet covered.
If you’re staying in the desert into the evening, bring a jacket in case it gets cold.
Pretty much every Dubai desert safari includes hotel pick-up and drop-off, so it doesn’t really matter where you stay in the city.
Check out the following guide to discover the best hotels in the top areas of Dubai.
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