Dubai Desert Safari: ATV, Camel Ride, BBQ & Live Shows

4.86

(138 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Someone’s handing me a tiny cup of Arabic coffee before I’ve even caught my breath from the dune bashing. The driver — Khalid, grinning like he knows something I don’t — just nods at the swirling sand outside. I’m still picking grains out of my teeth from the 4x4 ride (it’s bumpier than I thought), but that first sip is earthy and sweet, almost smoky. There’s music somewhere, soft at first, and then someone calls us over for the camel ride. The camels look patient. I’m not sure if they’re judging me or just bored by tourists wobbling on their backs.

It’s cooler than I expected out here, especially as the sun starts to drop behind those endless dunes outside Dubai. Our guide points out a few things in the distance — an oasis that doesn’t look real at all and a little camel farm where we stop for a minute. The air smells like dry grass and something faintly spicy from the camp kitchen. We try sandboarding (I fall twice; nobody cares) and then there’s this moment where everyone just stands quietly watching the light turn gold. It gets under your skin a bit.

The evening at the Bedouin-style camp is louder — laughter, henna artists beckoning us over, kids running between tables. Li laughs when I try to say “Luquimat” in Arabic (I definitely butchered it), but those little dough balls are sticky-sweet and perfect with more coffee. The BBQ buffet is huge — grilled lamb, salads, flatbreads — and you eat sitting low on cushions while dancers spin and fire jugglers do their thing under the stars. There’s shisha smoke curling up into the dark if you want it. I still think about that view from my plate: red sand everywhere, lanterns flickering, people talking softly in half a dozen languages around me.