Dubai Encore

We have made the most of a couple of extra days in Dubai. We visited the two biggest malls and spent a day at the nicest beach in the city. We saw the Ski Hill in the Emirates Mall and we saw the Aquarium in the Dubai Mall. It is easy to get around here and the transportation is cheap. The taxis in Dubai are plentiful and the mass transit is something else here, you have to see the pictures to get a sense of it.

However, we were not allowed to take pictures at the beach, so I will just have to describe it for you. We had our camera, but we did not hall it out of our bag because let’s face it we did not want to have it confiscated. Remember, as open a country as this is, Dubai is still a totalitarian Islamic state. There is probably no freedom of expression written into the constitution. In fact, I doubt that there is a constitution that grants any rights to ‘foreigners’.  So why invite trouble?

Jumeira Beach Park is a public beach but they charge 5 Dirhams ($1.30) at the entrance, which allows the visitor access to this beautiful gated park. Once inside the gate you encounter a lush green belt that is crisscrossed by walkways that lead you by both closed and air-conditioned restaurants and open stalls that serve sandwiches and cold drinks. You then walk over a rise that separates the green belt from the beach. At this point there are change rooms and showers and you can rent umbrellas and chairs. The chairs were 15 Dirhams each and the umbrella was 10 Dirhams. So after arriving with just a bag containing bathing suits, sunglasses and flip-flops we were set up on the beach with furniture for the equivalent of $7.00 including entrance fee. The white sand was very fine, not quite sifted flour but not much grittier. The sea in the Persian Gulf was a beautiful shade of bright blue. The swimming areas were very safe with just gentle surf lapping up on the shore, no rip tides. The water was cool and clear.  Now I am not a Beach guy but I know a good beach when I see one and Jumeira ranks right up there as one of the nicest I have ever seen.

Here are those photos:

Dubai Metro Station - fully air conditioned

Renting skis in Dubai's Emirates Mall

Gold To Go at Emirates Mall

Skiing in Dubai

Dubai Mall and we could not get all the levels in the frame

Sculpture at Dubai Mall

Garden at Entrace to Beach

Grouper getting teeth cleaned by smaller fish

Sammy

Scuba in Dubai Mall

Frank

Dubai also has Air Conditioned Bus Stops

Cunard's QE2 parked behind the rocks

We have left the port of Dubai and are currently en route to Fujairah, also in the U.A.E. and will spend Good Friday there. We will be passing through the Straight of Hormuz tonight and back into the Arabian Sea. We are going to do a couple of more beaches in the days to come so I will have something compare with the Persian Gulf.

Cheers for now!