Is the Desert Safari in Dubai Worth It? [2024]
/
Is the Desert Safari in Dubai Worth it? Let’s find out!
One of the things that most travellers do when they visit Dubai is join on a desert safari tour. The appeal of this is clear – warm weather, golden sands, sand dunes and a whole lot of adventure. But not all desert safaris are created equally. How do you know which safari tour is worth it? Is the desert safari in Dubai worth it in general? Read this short guide to find out.
About the Desert Safari in Dubai
Jumping for joy in the desert!
The Desert Safari tour is a very popular day trip out from Dubai, and literally hundreds of tour companies offer this tour. The tours can range in length of time, activities, time of activity and location. When deciding whether or not to embark on a desert safari, here are some of the things you should think about:
Morning or evening? Evening Desert Safaris are usually paired with a dance show and dinner.
What activities are you interested in? Camel riding, dune bashing, ATV riding, sandboarding are popular add-ons to the tours.
Overnight or day trip? Some tours will let you camp out underneath the stars for an extra cost.
Personally, I have done both the morning tour and evening tour. I did the evening tour when I was a lot younger, and this included all the add-ons that you can usually purchase for an extra fee – ATV riding, sandboarding, a BBQ dinner and an Arabian dance show.
More recently, I did a morning tour on a hot summer’s day and just did the bare essentials – going out to see the desert, dune bashing and a camel ride (these are usually included in any tour to the desert).
Handpicked Tours
Is there any reception in the desert? The answer is yes!
Choosing a Dubai desert safari tour company can be overwhelming, so we’ve narrowed down some of your favourites – handpicked and quality checked just for you.
5-Star Rated Desert Safari Tour that includes a camel ride experience, camel feeding, 1-hour Quad Bike Ride, unlimited mineral water and soft drinks, traditional Arabian dance show, sandboarding, desert camp visit, henna painting, barbeque buffet and more. This really is the ultimate desert safari experience – you can’t go wrong with this one!
Half-Day Desert Safari with most of the inclusions as the previous tour I mentioned, but without any food provided. Also 5-star rated on Viator.
7-Hour Desert Safari, also rated 5 stars, that includes dune bashing, sandboarding, camel ride, buffet dinner, henna painting, the dance show, drinks and refreshments – but doesn’t include the quad bike and dune buggy included in the tour.
All of these tours are 5-star rated on Viator and are the best-performing experiences on the website, so you can’t really go wrong with any of them.
Camel Ride
Camel riding in the Dubai desert.
The camel rides are usually quite short. You hop on the camel, and the camel walks around for about 15-20 minutes. It’s not a mind-blowing experience by any stretch of the imagination, but the short ride is still pretty enjoyable and a nice touch to the tour.
ATV Ride
How does ATV riding through these dunes sound to you?
I went ATV riding on my first tour, and I really enjoyed it. This was what made the desert safari tour completely worth it, as the feeling of going up and down those steep dunes in an open-air vehicle is exhilarating.
The prices for ATV riding vary, and if you choose a cheaper tour, their cost for the ATV Ride add-on ends up actually being more expensive than choosing a tour with ATV riding included in the tour, so if you are keen on ATV riding, I would choose a reputable tour that has this on the itinerary without an extra fee.
Dune Bashing
Dune bashing in the desert was a really fun experience.
Dune bashing usually comes free in most tours to the desert, and it involves your driver going up and down the dunes in a closed 4WD vehicle. Pretty similar to ATV riding, but not as exhilarating because you’re not in the open air.
Still, this was a fun experience and a great way to see how epic the desert really is. Remember to take motion sickness pills if you’re someone who might feel nauseous during this sort of thing! Ralph has quite bad motion sickness and thankfully took some medicine before he went on the dune bashing ride.
Sandboarding
Just chilling out in the desert...
Again, sandboarding usually comes free with most desert safari tours. The tour guide will usually drive you to the top of a sandhill and provide boards for you to slide on. I did this a few times and it was really fun, but I got tired quickly because you have to climb up the hill to do it all again!
Sandboarding was great, and was a much-appreciated part of the tour.
Dance Show and Dinner
If you’re a fan of traditional dance shows, then you won’t want to miss the dance show on a desert safari tour. The shows are usually quite a spectacle, and involve extravagant outfits, Arabian music and gorgeous dancing. Most will also involve some kind of fire breathing/fire dancing at some point.
However, if you’re more keen on spending more time in the desert rather than sitting down and watching a show, you might want to give this a miss.
The dinner is usually an Arabian barbeque dinner that you can enjoy while watching the show. The quality of the dinner does vary from tour to tour, but they are usually of a good quality.
Traditional Outfits
This is what a traditional outfit looks like for men. Source – Westend61
And this is what a traditional outfit looks like for women. Source – Day Out Dubai
Sometimes, your tour guide will take you to a clothing store where shop assistants will dress you up in traditional clothing and then ask you to buy them. Although the traditional outfits are a cool touch and would look great in photos, if you’re not interested in this sort of thing, just politely tell them that you’re not interested in purchasing the outfits.
Ralph opted for the traditional headscarf, but no the rest of the outfit.
Final Verdict - Is the Dubai Desert Safari Worth It?
What’s our final verdict on the desert safari?
Dubai is the epitome of a glitzy metropolis – impossibly tall buildings, exceedingly lavish hotels, record-breaking malls and designer clothing dominates this city. The desert safari is one experience rooted in nature that sets it aside from most of the other Dubai attractions.
View from Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa at night
Dubai Fountain putting on a show for us
Although some parts of the desert safari tour can feel kitschy and touristy, I still enjoyed both of my experiences in the desert. In fact, they were actually my favourite part of visiting Dubai both times!
Ralph enjoying the desert safari experience.
Overall – yes, the Dubai Desert Safari is still worth it. However, I would recommend doing your research and finding a highly-rated tour that includes all the activities you’re looking to do. Alternatively, you can scroll back up and book a tour from the list of experiences we’ve handpicked for you.
Have you done the Dubai Desert Safari experience? Was it worth it? Let me know in the comments below!
Check out my photos of my Dubai trip on Instagram!
There’s more to do in Koh Phangan than just its Full Moon Party. This is a 3-day itinerary for your trip is filled with its best beaches and things to do.