What to do in Dubai?

What we would do here

Not a place to walk into, but something to do: our pick per area.

• An indoor skydive

  Dubai built facilities that exist because it could, and this is one of the few where that works in the visitor's favour: free flight with no aircraft and no altitude, in indoor weather

• A couple of hours on a yacht in the marina
  Xclusive Yachts · 4.9 stars · 14336 reviews

  The marina was designed to be seen from the water, and the towers around it close into a single channel you can sail down. From the promenade you see one facade, from the boat the whole circle

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• A skydive over the Palm
  Skydive Dubai · 4.7 stars · 8028 reviews

  The palm shape is only fully visible from the air, which is why it was built that way. Jumping over it is the one way to see what every photograph of Dubai is trying to show

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• Kitesurfing on the open beach

  This beach is open to the wind and has a stretch set aside for kitesurfing, which is why it looks different from any other beach in the city. Even people who stay out of the water come to watch it

• An Emirati meal with an explanation
  Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding · 4.7 stars · 1027 reviews

  In old Dubai there are centres that host a meal and open it to questions about local society, and it is almost the only thing in the city where you meet Emiratis rather than expatriates

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• Kayaking through the mangroves

  Abu Dhabi is ringed by mangrove forest that is a nature reserve inside the city, and you paddle through narrow channels between the roots. It is the exact opposite of what you expect from the Gulf

• Driving the Formula circuit
  Yas Marina Circuit · 4.7 stars · 3037 reviews

  Yas Marina Circuit opens to visitors outside race week, and you can go out on it in a race car with a driver or ride a lap on a bike in the evening. Both feel nothing like watching it on television

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• Kayaking on the Hatta reservoir
  Hatta Kayak · 4.8 stars · 1641 reviews

  The reservoir sits among the Hajar mountains, and green water inside bare rock is the sharpest contrast the Emirates has. From Dubai it is a single day and it looks like a different country

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• Falconry in the desert

  Hunting with falcons is a genuine Emirati tradition that predates the city, and the birds are still trained and kept here. It is the part of the desert that is not a four wheel drive and a sandboard

• A heritage style desert safari
  Platinum Heritage Desert Safari · 4.8 stars · 1367 reviews

  Most desert safaris are jeeps bouncing over the dunes, and that is exactly what this one is not. You head into a reserve in a vintage open vehicle, stop with a falconer and eat quietly, so the desert is something you hear rather than an engine

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