Handpicked experience · Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Six hours from dune driving to a camp after dark: why the tyres get deflated, who should skip the driving, why the sand is red, and which parts are local tradition.
The Emirates National Auto Museum is an artistically pyramid-shaped building that houses Emirati Royal, Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan's collection of more than 200 cars. His passion for cars is on display and includes vintage cars, convertibles, and custom-made vehicles, including his Mercedes rainbow collection, and the world's largest truck. The museum also features Sheikh Hamad's famous earth-shaped motor home, the world's largest mobile home on two wheels.
Return transfers between central Abu Dhabi and the sands, with pickup times varying
Dune driving in a licensed vehicle with a trained driver
A stop on the dunes as the sun goes down, for photographs
A short camel ride and sandboarding on soft slopes
A desert camp with a barbecue buffet, vegetarian dishes included
Live performance and unlimited soft drinks, tea and water
Six hours from late afternoon into the night: a drive out of Abu Dhabi, an hour or so of being thrown around on the dunes, sunset, then a camp with food and performance until you are driven home. It is a well-worn format and it works, provided you know which parts are genuinely local and which are entertainment.
Before leaving the tarmac the driver will stop and let air out of the tyres, down to roughly a third of road pressure. That is not a delay; it is what allows a two-tonne vehicle to float on sand instead of digging in. What follows is deliberate: cresting ridges, dropping down slip faces, sliding sideways at angles that feel wrong from inside. It is safe in trained hands and it is also, for many people, extremely uncomfortable.
Anyone pregnant, anyone with back, neck or heart trouble, and anyone recently out of surgery should not be in the vehicle for the dune section — operators will say the same. Motion sickness is common even among people who never normally suffer. Eat lightly beforehand rather than not at all, take the front seat if it is offered, and say so early if you want the driving toned down. They will oblige.
Inland dunes here run orange to deep rust, quite unlike the pale sand of the coast. The colour is a thin coating of iron oxide on each quartz grain, and it deepens with age: the redder the dune, the longer that sand has been sitting in the sun. South of here the same sea of sand becomes the Empty Quarter, the largest continuous body of sand on earth, where a single dune near Liwa rises some three hundred metres and is raced up by cars every January.
The spinning skirt dance you will see at the camp comes from Egypt by way of Sufi practice, and the other staple of these evenings originated elsewhere in the region too. Both are performed well and neither is a local Bedouin tradition. Enjoy them for what they are rather than as folk custom.
Not the ones you will ride, which plod a short circuit, but the racing animals in this country. Since 2004 they have been ridden by remote-controlled mechanical jockeys weighing a few kilos, operated by owners driving alongside the track — a reform that ended the use of child riders. The same national enthusiasm produces camel beauty contests with serious prizes, and a recurring scandal of entrants disqualified for cosmetic injections.
If falconry is offered as an extra, ask about the paperwork. This country issued the world's first passports for birds in 2002, tens of thousands of them, so that hunting falcons can cross borders legally. They fly in the aircraft cabin, hooded, on their own seats.
Once the sun is down the temperature drops fast in winter and the sky opens up properly, which is the best part of the night and the part nobody advertises. Alcohol is not part of the arrangement, though the camp may sell it.
Collection is from central hotels; addresses outside that zone may not be covered. Bring a layer for the evening, closed shoes for sand, and cash for gratuities and extras. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
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The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
To let air out of the tyres, down to roughly a third of road pressure. Softer tyres spread the load and let the vehicle float over sand instead of digging into it.
Deliberately rough: cresting ridges, dropping down steep faces and sliding sideways. It is controlled and safe with a trained driver, but many passengers find it genuinely uncomfortable.
Anyone pregnant, anyone with back, neck or heart conditions, and anyone recently out of surgery. Ask for a gentler drive if you want one; drivers will adjust without any fuss.
Each quartz grain carries a thin iron oxide coating, and the colour deepens the longer the sand has been exposed. Inland dunes therefore run orange to rust, unlike the pale sand near the coast.
No. The spinning skirt dance reached the region from Egypt through Sufi practice, and the other regular act also originated elsewhere. Both are performed well, but neither is Bedouin custom.
Yes, since 2004. Remote-controlled mechanical jockeys weighing a few kilos are operated by owners driving alongside the track, a change that ended the use of child riders.
They do. This country issued the first passports for birds in 2002 and has produced tens of thousands, allowing hunting falcons to cross borders legally and travel hooded in the aircraft cabin.