The desert: Al Marmoom and the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

Dubai's desert is a 30 to 45-minute drive from Downtown, and it works as well for a single evening as for three nights. It is organised into two large neighbouring reserves, each visited in its own way. The first, the DDCR (Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve), is a national park where you can only drive in the dunes with an approved operator. The second, Al Marmoom, is larger and partly open to everyone, with its lakes, cycle track and camps.

Two reserves, two ways into the dunes

The DDCR: a managed wilderness

The DDCR covers 225 km², or 4.7% of Dubai's land area. It was created in 2003 to protect the emirate's last pristine desert landscape, building on the 27 km² that the Al Maha resort had protected since 1999. It is the UAE's first national park and a member of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

The star of the reserve is the Arabian oryx, the large white desert antelope known as al maha in Arabic. The reserve received 70 in 1999 and now has around 400, the largest free-roaming herd in the country, alongside some 300 Arabian gazelles and 100 sand gazelles. It records 126 bird species.

The visitor centre, open daily from 9 am to 5 pm local time, introduces the park's wildlife, plants and history, with a raised viewing platform over the dunes.

Al Marmoom: the open desert

Al Marmoom covers about 10% of the emirate. Visit Dubai, the city's tourist board, describes it as the largest unfenced reserve in the UAE. It is home to oryx and gazelles, the country's highest concentration of flamingos, 204 resident and 158 migratory bird species, and more than 10 km² of lakes.

Those lakes are the Al Qudra Lakes, a chain of man-made lakes with free access, 30 to 45 minutes by road from Downtown. Some 170 bird species live around them, including flamingos and the threatened Asian houbara bustard. Love Lake, two linked heart-shaped lakes, is close by, and cyclists can ride the 86 km Al Qudra Cycle Track.

The reserve also holds the Saruq Al Hadid archaeological site, an Iron Age settlement around 3,000 years old and one of the oldest in the country. Its finds, iron tools, bronzes and gold jewellery, are on show in the city at Al Shindagha Museum in Old Dubai.

Pick your moment: evening, dawn or overnight

The evening safari is the classic. A 4x4 collects you from your hotel in the afternoon, crosses the dunes and ends at a Bedouin-style camp for a barbecue dinner and a show. Allow about 7 hours including transfers, from around €60 per person.

The vintage Land Rover safari in Al Marmoom suits those who prefer a slower pace to "dune bashing", the high-speed 4x4 descent of the dunes: open-top vehicles, camels, falconry and a meal at camp, for 6 to 7 hours, from around €100 per person.

The hot-air balloon takes off before sunrise and drifts over the reserve, where you can spot oryx, gazelles and camels; the DDCR mentions a falconry display in mid-air. Allow 3 hours in total, from around €245 per person.

Buggies and quad bikes are also on offer, from around €60 for a quad and around €125 for a two-seater buggy. They are the riskiest outings: see the official advice below.

Spending the night in the desert

A night in the dunes brings silence, starry skies and the dawn, when the wildlife comes out. Sabaro has chosen two hotels.

• Al Maha is the only hotel inside the DDCR, at the heart of the reserve, about 45 minutes by taxi from the airport. Each of its 42 villas has a heated private pool; full board and two activities per person per night are included: wildlife drive, camel trek, falconry, archery, horse riding or a nature walk. It is aimed mainly at couples. Expect from around €1,900 per night for two, full board included, with a possible per-night tourism fee extra.
• Bab Al Shams is a desert resort 45 minutes from central Dubai and an hour from the airport, near the Al Qudra Lakes. It welcomes families too: a free kids' club for ages 5 to 12, a family pool and an adults' pool, a spa and hammam from age 16. Expect from around €625 per night for two, with a possible per-night tourism fee extra.

For a simpler night, the DDCR's approved operators run nine camps, used mostly for dinners with some camping; safari packages with a night under canvas start at around €125 per person. In Al Marmoom, Al Marmoom Domes offers dome tents.

The reserve's rules

The DDCR is run as a national park, with clear rules:

• Four zones. A wilderness zone open only to researchers on foot; a rehabilitation zone for native plants; an ecotourism zone for walks, camel and horse rides; and a recreation zone where the 4x4s drive.
• Approved operators only. Only Dubai-based safari companies with qualified, registered guides may drive in the reserve's dunes and set up camps, and their vehicles keep to pre-planned routes. The operators named by the reserve are Arabian Adventures, Sand Sherpa, Travco, 57 Heritage, Nara Desert Escapes and Platinum Heritage.

Safety. Serious buggy and quad accidents are frequent. It is better to choose a 4x4 with a reputable operator, never go alone and check the insurance, which many local agencies do not hold for these trips. Off asphalt roads, go only in a group of several off-road vehicles, with GPS, water, food and fuel. The "Travel advice" table on this page gives your country's advice for the desert. Sabaro recommends a 4x4 outing with an operator approved by the reserve.

Photos. You can photograph the desert freely, and people with their consent. Taking or sharing images of strikes, debris or the security situation, however, is a criminal offence in the UAE; our guide Dubai and the regional situation sums up the advice of European governments.

When to go

There is no weather station in Dubai's desert itself. The closest reference is Al Ain airport, an inland station about 100 km south-east of Dubai, at 264 m above sea level. Its 1995-2020 WMO (World Meteorological Organization) normals give a fair picture:

• December to February: highs of 25 to 28°C and cool nights, with an average low of 12.8°C in January. Bring a jacket for the evening and the balloon flight.
• March and November: around 31°C by day, still pleasant.
• April to October: the heat builds fast, 37°C in April and nearly 45°C in July. Outings are then limited to sunrise and evening; our guide Dubai in summer explains what changes.

Rain is rare: 62 mm a year on average, mostly in winter.

Combining the desert

• With the city. Two nights at Al Maha or Bab Al Shams fit neatly between a stay in Old Dubai and a few days on the beach.
• With the mountains. Hatta, in the Hajar Mountains, is about 1 h 30 by road from Dubai; a six-night trip could split into two nights in the city, two in the desert and two in Hatta.
• For two. A night in the dunes and a balloon flight are highlights of a honeymoon; the Desert page also covers the deserts of Morocco and Egypt.