Special Features
Outdoor Activities
Golf For a nation dominated by desert, Dubai has an incredible choice of top quality golf courses. Emirates Golf Club was the Middle East’s first championship grass course when it opened. Rounds are available for non-members at off-peak times. Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club is currently host to the Dubai Desert PGA Classic and welcomes guests on a pay-and-play basis. Nad Al Sheeba Golf and Racing Club boasts a Scottish-style links floodlit grass course that also welcomes visitors on a pay-and-play basis.Dubai Country Club is the oldest and only all-sand club in the Emirates. Golfers are issued with a small piece of artificial turf to play off when on the fairways. Rounds are available for non-members at off-peak times. Jebel Ali Hotel and Golf Resort is about 30 minutes from Dubai city centre and has a pretty 9-hole course patrolled by peacocks. Visitors are welcome on a pay-and–play basis.
Bird Watching The UAE is noted for being one of the best spots in the Middle East for bird watching. As a stopping point on many migration routes, it is visited by several million birds every year. Areas of special interest are the parks as well as the Khor Dubai Bird Sanctuary by the creek, where flocks of wading birds can be found during migrating months (Sept/Oct and March/April). The flamingos that feed here are always a spectacular sight welcomed by tourists and locals alike.
Camel Racing A desert camel race is not only a unique and entertaining sport to watch, but it is also serious business throughout the UAE, with considerable prize money on offer. Camel races take place nearly every weekend in the winter. The best known track is Nad Al Sheeba camel track, which has an impressive grandstand in the shape of a billowing Bedouin tent.
Horse Racing As well as the famous Dubai World Cup, race meetings are held on a regular basis at Nad Al Sheeba race course throughout the November–April winter season. General admission is free.
Horse Riding The Dubai Equestrian Centre and the Jebel Ali Riding Stables offer facilities for horse riding for visitors. Instruction in floodlit arenas is given to beginners as well as dressage, jumping and desert hacks in the winter for more experienced riders. Some hotels also offer riding.
Leisure Centres All of the luxury hotels offer impressive leisure and sport facilities. Some even provide the unusual chance of coaching from ex-Soviet Union Olympiads who have flocked in droves from the economically unstable ex-Soviet states. Many of the other beach hotels, including the award-winning Ritz Carlton and the Dubai Marine Beach Resort & Spa, offer excellent spa facilities, where experts in Thai, Balinese, European and Shiatsu therapies ease away stresses and strains. Prestigious health centres in the city centre include Cleopatra’s at the Wafi Pyramids Complex and The Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont.
Nightlife The Dubai nightlife is one of the highlights of this contemporary Emirate. There are specials going every night of the week at various clubs, bars and restaurants. There is also a variety of music, including live bands and an outdoor beach parties. Dubai is a late night city and many places don’t get busy until after 9pm.
Shooting The Jebel Ali Shooting Club is set up to provide the best in trap, skeet and target shooting for all levels of experience in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Skeet and trap shooting ranges have been designed to strict safety standards and built into desert terrain. The club is also equipped with an indoor, fully air-conditioned 25-metre pistol range with 10 computerised shooting lanes. The shooting academy provides qualified instructors who have decades of experience in teaching all aspects of the sport. Safety at the Jebel Ali Club is a priority.
Hatta Fort Hotel has supervised clay pigeon ranges and archery facilities.
Water Sports The Arabian Gulf offers possibly the best and widest range of water sp
