This is a safari for those who want to "live" the real desert life! Experience desert delights like dune bashing, camel riding, a barbecue dinner & dance shows and above all, stay overnight in a typical Bedouin tent with a sunrise camel trek & breakfast.
About this activity
- Free cancellation
- Cancel up to 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund
- Covid-19 precautions
- Special health and safety measures apply. Learn more
- Mobile ticketing
- Use your phone or print your voucher
- Duration 17 hours
- Check availability to see starting times.
- Instant confirmation
- Live tour guide
- English
- Pickup included
- Complimentary pickup is available from Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman city hotels and apartments. As well as from Dubai Cruise Terminal (Port Rashid). Pickup from Dubai Airport is available from Holiday Inn Airport Hotel. Pickup from Bab Al Shams, Al Maha Resort, Jebel Ali, and Sport/Motor City is available for an additional fee. Pickup will be 45 minutes prior to your booked time, depending on your location.
- Small group
- Limited to 15 participants
Experience
Highlights
- Stay overnight in the desert in a Bedouin tent
- Experince Sleeping on Nawar Bed (Bedouin style bed)
- Take an exciting dune bashing drive thru the red dunes
- Improve your surfing skills with desert sandboarding
- Eat a barbecue dinner whilst entertained with shisha, henna, tanoura and belly dancing
- View a desert sunrise with an early morning camel caravan
Full description
After being collected from your hotel in a comfortable 4WD Land Cruiser, you will journey for approximately 60 minutes to the Lahbab desert. Once at the desert, you will take 20 minutes to break before your safari starts. You can either relax here, or opt to go for a quad-bike ride while your vehicle for the off-road dune drive is prepared. You will then go for a dune bashing ride that lasts 30-45 minutes, where you can feel peculiar excitement as your Land Cruiser climbs up and slides down the sand dunes. Following this, you can try the adventure sport of sand boarding. Stand on the wooden board provided, balance yourself and glide down over the sands.
After sand boarding, you will head to Al Khayma, a Bedouin type campsite, where you will be lead to your own tent (Khayma) inside the camp. After settling in here, you can taste Gahwa (Arabic coffee), Gaymat (sweets) and dates as a sign of welcome. You will then go for a camel ride around the camp premises, and depending on the time and luck, view the sunset over the desert. Back at Al Khayma Camp, you can spend your time shisha smoking and henna painting. You can put on local Arabian cloth and pose for photos with a falcon, and at the camp center stage, a Tanoura dance will be performed. You will soon be invited for a lavish buffet dinner full of barbecue dishes, whilst at the stage, a belly dancer will keep you entertained.
Following dinner, you will be taken by camel back to a nearby camp area where a fire will be arranged for you. You will then be given a demonstration session on how to make Arabic coffee/tea, whilst you relax in the night sitting by the campfire, enjoying the silence of the desert and the dark sky above. Your desert guide will add to the fun with interesting desert stories, and when it’s time to sleep, you will return to the camp. You will retire back to your tent for a comfortable sleep atop a Nawar bed (Bedouin-style bed), complete with a pillow and blanket.
The following morning, wake up 15 minutes before sunrise to witness that spectacular view. Your guide will take you to the desert with a camel caravan that is waiting outside the camp. You will go camel trekking for about 15-20 minutes, capturing the nice view of the sunrise over the sand dunes. After camel trekking, you will return to your tent before eating a freshly cooked Arabian breakfast. Later, you will be driven back to Dubai and dropped off at your accommodation.
Includes
- Pickup and drop-off at your select hotel/location
- Transportation in an air-conditioned 4WD
- English-speaking licensed driver
- Dune bashing (30-45 minutes)
- Sandboarding
- Camel ride experience (can be repeated)
- Camel feeding and sunset photo stop
- Henna painting (for ladies only)
- Arabian makeover with falcon photos
- Shisha pipe (hubble bubble flavour) in the shisha area
- Tanura, Nashaat dance show, and Ladies Khaliji Dance
- Al Khayma Desert Camp visit (shared camp)
- Unlimited mineral water and soft drinks
- Gaymat (sweets), Gahwa (coffee), and dates
- Barbecue buffet (vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available)
- Overnight stay in Bedouin tent
- Night desert guide
- Rogag (Arabic bread) and Chai (Arabic tea) at night
- Nawar bed (Bedouin style bed)
- Pillows and blankets
- Shower room facility without towels
- Morning camel trekking (15-20 minutes)
- Morning Arabic breakfast
- Alcoholic drinks
- Quad bike/dune buggy activities (optional)
- Towels
Not suitable for
- Children under 3 years
- Pregnant women
- People with back problems
- People with mobility impairments
Covid-19 precautions
You must book this activity online because the ticket office is closed
Safety measures in place
- All areas that customers touch are frequently cleaned
- You must keep social distance while in vehicles
- The number of visitors is limited to reduce crowds
Traveler requirements
- You are required to bring and wear a mask
- You will receive a mandatory temperature check
Select participants and date
Participants
Date
Prepare for the activity
The details below may change if you update your current selection:
Important information
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes
- Sunglasses
- Sun hat
- Sandals
- Sunscreen
- Comfortable clothes
- Warm clothing
Not allowed
- Luggage or large bags
Know before you go
- The duration of the tour will be between 17-18 hours depending on the season, sunrise and city traffic
- Infants (below 3 years old) are not allowed in the car during the shared dune bashing
- By law, pregnant women and those who have heart, back, or neck problems cannot take part in dune bashing
- Tanoura and belly dancing are unavailable during the following holidays: March 22, April 23 to May 23 (Ramadan), July 30, August 20, October 29, 2020 (dates may vary depending on UEA lunar calendar)
- Only a small handbag is allowed during the tour as it is not possible to keep big luggage in the vehicle during the Dunes Bashing
- Casual, loose-fitting clothing is recommended in the summer, along with a jacket in the winter
- Overnight stay in Bedouin tent is not air-conditioned
- Not recommended to bring valuables
- Please note that if your skin is sensitive to henna, it is advised not to do it