Dubai Red Dunes: Quad Biking, Sandboarding & Camel Ride

4.97

(355 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Our 4x4 was already rumbling off the main road when I realized how far Dubai can feel from itself—one minute you’re passing glass towers, then suddenly it’s all open sky and these wild, deep-red dunes. There were five of us in the car, plus our guide Ahmed (he kept joking about “desert rollercoasters” before we even got to Lahbab). The air smelled a little like hot stone and engine oil when we stopped for the quad bikes. I’ll admit my hands shook a bit grabbing those handlebars—nobody tells you how soft that sand actually feels under your wheels.

The quad biking part was over too fast for me—I got dust in my teeth from grinning so much. Then Ahmed waved us over to meet his friend Hassan with the camels. I’d never been on one before; they move slow but somehow it still feels like you might tip right off. Hassan taught me “yalla” to get her going (I probably butchered it), and we all laughed when she made this deep snorting sound. The quiet out there is strange—just wind and a few voices drifting across the dunes.

Dune bashing came next. Forty minutes of sliding sideways down slopes that looked impossible from below. Ahmed played some old Arabic pop on the radio while we bounced around; my stomach dropped at least three times but nobody complained. We stopped at the top of a high dune for photos—honestly, I still think about that view sometimes: just endless sand and sharp blue sky, nothing else moving except our shadows. Sandboarding was last; I wiped out twice but didn’t care because by then my shoes were full of warm sand anyway.

I didn’t expect to feel so tired but happy on the drive back to Dubai—everyone was quiet except for someone softly humming along with Ahmed’s playlist. Not sure if it was the early morning or just all that space out there, but something about Lahbab sticks with you after you leave.