Desert safari guide
7 min read
Most desert safaris in Dubai run from late afternoon into the evening, and Visit Dubai, the city's official tourism guide, says morning and evening trips both run all year. This guide sets out what each of our safaris includes and when. Our morning trip is a longer day to Mleiha and Hatta, not a short sunrise dune run. And if you want a night in the desert, which we do not sell, it shows where you can find one.
| If you | Go with |
|---|---|
| Want sunset, dinner and a show | Evening safariIt is timed for sunset in the dunes, then a BBQ dinner with belly dance, tanoura and fire shows at the camp. |
| Want more room at the camp | Premium evening safariThe same evening with fewer vehicles, a smaller camp and raised private majlis seating. |
| Would rather go in the morning | Morning: Mleiha and HattaPickup from 05:30 for Mleiha's dunes and Fossil Rock, then Hatta: a longer day, with a light snack rather than dinner. |
| Want to watch the sunrise | Our hot-air balloonYou are collected before dawn and spend about 40 minutes in the air over the desert as the sun comes up. |
| Want to sleep in the desert | Mleiha GlampingWe do not sell an overnight camp. Mleiha National Park, in Sharjah, sells tents from AED 450 for two, and reopens in November. |
| Have young children | An evening safariOur evening safaris take children from age 3; the morning trip from 4, and the balloon from 6. |
| Are pregnant, or have a back, neck or heart condition | Skip the dune bashingOur safaris say dune bashing is not suitable for anyone pregnant or with a back, neck or heart condition. |
| Want to drive yourself | A quad bike or a dune buggyOur quads are automatic, with 60 minutes on the dunes; buggy drivers must be 20 or older. |
Visit Dubai describes the usual shape: hotel pickup in a four-wheel drive, a run over the dunes that winds down around sunset, then a desert camp with dinner, camel rides and henna. Most safaris, it says, run from late afternoon into the evening.
Ours follows that shape. A four-wheel drive collects you from your Dubai hotel from 14:00 and drives about 45 minutes to the red dunes of Al Lahbab. The dune bashing lasts 20–30 minutes, with a stop on a high dune for photos, then a short camel ride and sandboarding, timed so you are in the open desert for sunset. The evening ends at the camp with a BBQ buffet and belly dance, tanoura and fire shows, and you are back at your hotel around 21:00–21:30.
The premium safari is the same evening with fewer vehicles and a smaller camp: raised private majlis seating instead of shared benches, a larger live-grill barbecue, and drop-off around 21:30.
Visit Dubai says morning and evening trips both run all year: a morning trip for the sunrise, an evening one for the sunset and the stars.
Our morning safari is a longer day rather than a short sunrise dune run. It collects you from 05:30 and heads for the Mleiha desert in Sharjah for dune bashing and sandboarding, stops at Fossil Rock and Camel Rock, then crosses the Hajar mountains to the Hatta Honey Bee Garden, the Heritage Village and Hatta Dam. It lasts about 6.5 hours, with a light snack rather than a meal, and it is not suitable for children under 4.
Fossil Rock and Camel Rock stand in Mleiha National Park, a 34 km² park in Sharjah that is 49 minutes from Dubai International Airport.
If the sunrise itself is the point, our hot-air balloon collects you before dawn and spends about 40 minutes in the air over the desert. It takes passengers aged 6 to 80, up to 90 kg, and no one who is pregnant.
We do not sell an overnight camp: every one of our desert trips brings you back to Dubai the same day.
Visit Dubai notes that some safaris are overnight. In Dubai itself it lists Al Marmoom Domes, glass domes in the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, for stays of one, two or three nights.
The overnight stay with a price on its official site is Mleiha Glamping, in Sharjah: AED 450 for a standard tent for two, checking in at 16:00 and out at 11:00. Transfers and meals are extra, children up to 5 stay free, and nights can get chilly. When we checked on 23 September 2026 it was closed for summer, reopening in November.
Visit Dubai says desert trips run all year and that winter is the more popular time. In summer it points to the late-afternoon and evening safaris, light clothes and plenty of water, and notes that the desert is cooler than the city in the evening.
From October to March the desert turns cold once the sun goes down, so Visit Dubai suggests a jacket and trousers for an evening safari.
Our safaris say dune bashing is not suitable for anyone pregnant or with back, neck or heart conditions. Mleiha Glamping's terms keep pregnant guests, and anyone with a neck or back condition, off its off-road drives too.
Wear loose, comfortable clothes that can get sandy and closed shoes, and bring a light layer for after sunset. Visit Dubai also suggests a scarf against sun, sand and wind.
Visit Dubai's advice is to book with a reputable tour company and never to drive into the desert yourself: driving on sand is hazardous without experience and the right vehicle.
Our current prices are on the cards above, and each safari's page shows its terms before you pay.
This is the classic Dubai desert evening, and it is built around the drive out. An air-conditioned 4x4 collects you from your hotel and heads for the dunes, where the dune-bashing run - a genuinely thrilling stretch of driving across the ridgelines - delivers you to a traditional desert camp as the sun goes down. At the camp the evening opens up: camel rides, sandboarding on the slopes, henna painting, sheesha, and time to simply sit while the light changes. Dinner is a BBQ buffet with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, served alongside a run of live performances including belly dancing, a tanoura show and a fire show. Refreshments - tea, coffee, water and soft drinks - are included throughout. The whole evening runs about six hours from hotel pickup to drop-off.
From
AED 208
per person
Embark on an unforgettable evening with our premium Dubai desert safari. An air-conditioned 4x4 collects you from your hotel and heads out to the dunes for the dune-bashing drive - the part everyone remembers - before dropping into a desert camp as the light softens. From there the evening unfolds at its own pace: a camel ride through the dunes, time to watch the sun go down, and then dinner. The BBQ buffet covers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, with tea, coffee, water and soft drinks throughout, and the entertainment runs alongside it - belly dancing, a tanoura performance and a fire show beneath a sky full of stars. The whole experience runs around six hours from pickup to drop-off, with hotel collection and return across Dubai included, so nobody has to drive.
From
AED 180
per person
A morning alternative to the standard evening safari, and a more varied one: this trip pairs desert driving with the mountains of Hatta. It starts with a drive inland to the Mleiha desert in Sharjah for dune bashing and sandboarding across golden sand broken by rock outcrops. The 4x4 stops at Fossil Rock, a limestone ridge that carries marine fossils from the period when this desert lay under a sea, and at the wind-carved formation known as Camel Rock. The route then climbs into the Hajar mountains to a working honey bee garden in Hatta, where guides explain hive management and the local honey varieties, and continues to Heritage Village and Hatta Dam, where turquoise water sits between bare brown mountains. A light snack is provided and the vehicle is air-conditioned throughout. Please note the tour is not suitable for children under four. Wear closed shoes, bring a hat and sunglasses, and expect to be back in Dubai by mid-afternoon.
From
AED 280
per person
A balloon flight over the Dubai desert starts before dawn, and that is part of why it works: you are already in the basket as the sun comes up, and the light across the dunes at that hour is the reason most people book it. The ascent is gentle, to around 4,000 feet, and once you are up the sensation is unlike any other kind of flying - no engine, no rush of air, just the burner and a very slow drift with the wind. From that height the desert reads as a landscape rather than a view: ridgelines running to the horizon, sometimes wildlife moving below, and the Hajar mountains in the distance on a clear morning. Each flight lands wherever the wind takes it, and there is a certain satisfaction in watching the ground crew find you and pack the envelope away. The flight itself runs around forty minutes.
From
AED 850
per person
An hour on a quad bike in the Dubai desert is the most direct way to trade the city for open sand. You are collected from central Dubai in a shared van in the mid-afternoon and driven out to the dunes, where a briefing covers the controls and the safety basics before you set off. The machines are automatic and genuinely easy to ride, so no previous experience is needed and most people are comfortable within a few minutes. From there it is sixty minutes of open dune driving: long runs along the ridgelines, dips into the bowls between them, and terrain that looks flat from the road and turns out to be anything but. Helmets are provided and an instructor rides with the group throughout. Single and double-seat quads are both available, so a passenger can ride along rather than drive.
From
AED 220
per person
This is the full desert evening, built around an hour on a quad bike. You are collected from central Dubai in the early afternoon and driven out to the dunes, where a safety briefing precedes sixty minutes of open dune riding on an automatic quad - no experience required, helmets provided, and single or double seats available. Once the riding is done the afternoon slows down at the desert camp: camel riding, sandboarding and henna are there if you want them, and as the light goes the evening programme brings a belly dancing show, a tanoura performance and a fire show. Dinner is a BBQ buffet served at the camp, with water and soft drinks included. The whole thing runs about five hours from pickup to drop-off, and you are returned to the same Dubai address you were collected from.
From
AED 450
per person
Take the wheel of your own desert buggy and spend 60 minutes carving through the dunes on the edge of Dubai. Experienced desert guides lead the route, set the pace and keep the group together, so confident drivers and first-timers are equally at home behind the wheel. The driving session sits inside a half-day desert programme. Before you drive, a professional dune-bashing run in a 4x4 introduces you to the terrain; afterwards there is time for sandboarding down the slip faces and a short camel ride in the traditional Bedouin style. Helmets and safety equipment are provided, water and soft drinks are complimentary, and the day begins and ends with a shared hotel pick-up and drop-off in central Dubai. Choose the machine that suits your group: two-seat Polaris and Can-Am buggies for couples, four-seaters for small families, and a six-seat Polaris Ranger for everyone travelling together. Each buggy is priced as a vehicle rather than per person, so the whole group rides for one price.
From
AED 1,197
per person
Visit Dubai says both run all year and it comes down to preference: a morning trip for the sunrise, an evening one for the sunset and the stars. Our evening safaris add a BBQ dinner and live shows; our morning trip swaps them for Mleiha's rocks and Hatta.
Ours collects you from 14:00 and has you back at your hotel around 21:00–21:30. Visit Dubai says evening safaris typically pick guests up between 15:00 and 16:00 and drop them back by 21:00 to 22:00.
On ours: hotel pickup by four-wheel drive from 14:00, 20–30 minutes of dune bashing with a photo stop on a high dune, a short camel ride and sandboarding around sunset, then a BBQ buffet with soft drinks, water, tea and coffee, and belly dance, tanoura and fire shows at the camp. You are back at your hotel around 21:00–21:30.
On both our evening safaris, yes: a BBQ buffet with vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, with soft drinks, water, tea and coffee. Our morning trip includes a light snack only.
Not with us. Visit Dubai lists overnight stays such as Al Marmoom Domes, and Mleiha Glamping in Sharjah sells tents from AED 450 for two, reopening in November.
About 20–30 minutes on our standard evening safari, and around half an hour on the premium one. Most of the evening is spent at the camp.
Our evening safaris take children from age 3, the morning trip from 4, and the balloon from 6.
Anyone pregnant or with a back, neck or heart condition, our safaris say.
Loose, comfortable clothes that can get sandy, closed shoes and a light layer for after sunset. Visit Dubai adds a scarf against sun, sand and wind, and a jacket and trousers on evenings from October to March.
Visit Dubai says desert trips run all year and winter is the more popular time. In summer, choose an evening safari, dress lightly and drink plenty of water.
Visit Dubai puts desert safaris anywhere from AED 130 to AED 13,300. Our current prices are on the cards above.
Checked on Visit Dubai and on Mleiha National Park's official pages on 23 September 2026. Our pickup times, inclusions and ages come from our own safaris. Sources: Visit Dubai: Desert safari in Dubai · Visit Dubai: Summer desert safari · Visit Dubai: Al Marmoom Domes · Mleiha National Park · Mleiha Glamping (Shurooq)
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