Abu Dhabi Desert Safari — Local services in Abu Dhabi

The best service - beyond my expectation When I booked the desert tour, I only wanted to ride a camel and play some sand dunes before watching sun set in the Middle East with my mom. I didn’t have any other expectations at all. A guy from the Extreme Tourism came to pick us up from our hotel at 3.45pm for the evening tour. We rode an hour before getting to the rest area for a last restroom break. We visited a camel farm, fed them, took pictures and pet them if you like. Once we entered the desert area, the fun started. The driver gave us a fast and furious feel unannounced and the car was drifted as we were in a movie. There were 4 cars total in our group, ours was the leader, so we led the group and sometimes paused to take videos of the others when they were on top of the sand dunes and descended the high wall. Our driver was the best - his skill could be compared to what we see in a movie - he didn’t drive fast or reckless - instead it required wisdom and experiences to navigate through sand dunes up and down to have fun but safe. The ecstatic roller coaster rides lasted about 15 mins before we all stopped for pictures. Then we headed to the culture village. It was 6.30pm when we got there, and people could ride camels for free or ATV for additional fees. After riding camel, I got a complementary mehndi and waited until 7.30 to have dinner. It lasted for about 30 mins and the village stared to have belly dances. It was amazing to see a lady and man dance for 30 mins long. The last bonus of the night was star-gazing - some thing that you have to be there to experience yourself as words cannot describe how it feels. You lie down and star-gaze in the middle of a desert - without any obstruction whatsoever - calm and serene. We wrapped up the night around 9pm and backed to the hotel before 10pm. What a wonderful experience with our driver Thahzeer. He also knows how to take pictures and videos for us - plus his Indian music added an extra effect during drifting session. Highly recommended if you are...

This is the mail I sent after my trip end of February. It went without reply so I felt obliged to post it publicly..

Today we made the quad bike tour and as I’m working in the high end travel industry I wanted to give you some feedback.

To start with our drive to the desert location, our driver Ahmed was on time and friendly. Upon arrival we were ’welcomed’ with some water and a headscarf. The quads were set and quite quickly we were on our way. The guide on the quad was as well friendly and took us up a high dune for some pictures. We had a nice experience.

After the quad, the ’camel ride’ isn’t actually a ride as you mention it on your website but rather a ’get a picture on a camel’ and took all in all 3 minutes. We had the impression that the camel driver really didn’t want to be there. Please don't sell it as a camel ride!

The picture with the falcon for 30AED PER picture is a nice tourist trap. The pricing is mentioned on a sign so I can’t argue on that subject. The headscarf is another thing where nothing is mentioned nowhere and they charge 100AED a piece...after a bit of negociating a total 270AED supplement.

The sand boarding they initially forgot about (unknowing or unwilling) until I requested it and our driver was so nice to go and negociate.(thank you Ahmed) It’s definitely an experience they could have improved...it looks nice on your website but thats all. There are nicer dunes and a different set-up possible to make it more fun.

There was no arabic coffee or dates or any other hot drinks proposed.

All in all except for the moment where they could trap us with scarfs and falcon pictures there wasn’t a welcoming feeling about the experience..

Oh and one last thing. If the crew could avoid throwing their trash around (the camel driver just threw his can in the sand) in front of (especially western) guests that would be a good thing.

Would i recommend this to my travellers? The quad ride itself maybe, the rest definitely not as I would have many...

We had an amazing desert safari with Salim. He was hands down the best tour guide out of the group. We got picked up around 3 and headed out to the desert from Abu Ahabi, about an hour. We stopped to air down the tires for dune bashing. We started with the “small” dunes which was so much fun. Salim was a very skilled driver because he provided an exciting yet safe dune bashing experience. We stopped at a camel farm for a photo opt then continued to the “bigger” dunes. The bigger dunes were very fun, again our driver was very skilled in providing an exciting ride. We stoped for a few desert pictures before heading to the camp. Once we arrived at camp we were shown to our table, got refreshments (cola, sprite, water, falafel, coffee, dates). We then went out to camel ride and sandboard. After the activities we dressed up in traditional clothing and got a photo op with a falcon. We then got more refreshments and henna tattoos. There was a small shop to buy souvenirs at and alcohol was available for additional cost - besides this everything else was included. Then it was time for a buffet dinner. They had hummus, fatoush salad, 2 kinds of rice, vegetables, lentil soup, pasta, Arabic bread, lamb and chicken kabobs, fries, and fruit. They then made an announcement for Shiah smoking if people wanted to participate. After dinner we had an amazing show with a belly dancer, thanoura dancer, stargazing, fire dancer (the best!!!!) which ended in a sparkler show onto of the nearby dune. We then headed back to Abu Dhabi and we’re dropped off by our tour guide. This was truly a phenomenal experience. I high recommend Xtreme’s Abu Dhabi Evening Desert Safari - Request Salim, he is the best guide! We will be...