Dubai Desert: Hot Air Balloon Sunrise Ride with Hotel Pickup

4.86

(256 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“You see that pale pink line? That’s the edge of morning,” our pilot said, pointing out past the basket as we waited for lift-off in the Dubai desert. I was still half-asleep from the early pickup (they really do come right to your hotel — no stress), clutching a paper cup of sweet tea that tasted faintly of cardamom. The sand felt cold under my shoes, which surprised me. It’s weird how quiet it is out there before dawn, just the hiss of burners and a few sleepy jokes from the ground crew.

The actual hot air balloon ride was… well, it didn’t feel real at first. We drifted up so gently that I almost missed when we left the ground. The city lights faded behind us and suddenly it was just endless sand dunes rolling away in every direction, rippled like they’d been combed by wind. Our guide pointed out some distant camels — honestly, I squinted but couldn’t tell if they were moving or just shadows. He told us about how they pick the take-off spot each morning depending on the wind (I’d never thought about that). The sun cracked over the horizon and everything went gold for a minute; I tried to take a photo but it didn’t catch what it felt like. You know?

I’m not great with heights but somehow I wasn’t nervous up there — maybe because everyone in our basket was quietly awestruck or maybe because our pilot kept making little jokes about “desert breakfast” if we landed too soon. After landing (which was softer than I expected), we got these certificates signed by the pilot — cheesy but I kept mine anyway. There were refreshments back at base and people swapped stories in different languages, mostly grinning at nothing in particular. I still think about that view sometimes when I wake up early back home.