UAE: Dhow Dinner Cruise on the Dubai Creek

Dubai Creek is a busy shipping area with more abras (small traditional wooden boats) and dhows (bigger traditional wooden boats) then I could count. Many dhows are used to transport goods (from spices to electrical items) to other countries around the world. However, many are used to host dinner cruises each evening combining sightseeing and tasty food. We had been told that cruising the Dubai Creek is a novel experience and one that you must do when visiting Dubai. Therefore, we decided that it was the perfect thing to do on our last evening. We, therefore, booked the ‘Sindbad’s Journey Dhow Cruise with Dinner’ via City Discovery (prices start from approximately £41.50 per person).

Our tour started with hotel pick up in air conditioned van, which in May in Dubai was very much appreciated. Even though it was 6.30pm the temperature was still over 30 degrees and I could feel my make-up starting to slip off my face (never a good look!). We were driven through the city and dropped off right in front of our dhow. We were given a traditional Arabian welcome and offered coffee and dried fruits. The red carpet had been rolled out and we even had our photograph taken making us feel like celebrities 🙂

Once on board we were quickly served with drinks as we waited for the rest of the guests to embark. Soft drinks are included in the price and you can buy alcohol if you wish, with a wine list and drinks list available. We chose bottles of Heineken which were 30AED – approximately £5.68 each which was actually the cheapest we had found it on our week long trip! At 8.00pm we cast off and our journey was underway. The buffet was then opened which included both local and international food to choose from. As I am not a big meat eater I was pleased to find a number of vegetarian dishes which included a very nice vegetable lasagna! Mr ESLT certainly wasn’t stuck for meat choices either and happily tucked into the offering. My only suggestion is – get in there as soon as possible for the hot stuff as is started to get cold quite quickly.

After a couple of bottles of beer and a three course meal we were ready to chill out and enjoy the scenery surrounding us on the Dubai Creek. We therefore headed up to the top deck of the dhow which was furnished with tables and chairs and a comfortable traditional seating area at the front. We eagerly grabbed a seat and watched the world go by. Seeing the city and other dhows brightly lit was a great sight to see and our time on board whizzed by. The photograph that had been taken at the beginning of the night was offered to us for approximately £30 which in the days of digital photograph seems pretty steep. We therefore politely declined when asked if we would like to buy it although many other passengers bought theirs.

Tea and coffee were served and before we knew it, it was 10.00pm and we were back where we had started and ready to disembark. The trip also included return transport to our hotel and we were lucky enough to get a private transfer back. We enjoyed our dhow dinner cruise and both agreed that it was a great way to spend a couple of hours especially because we got to see Dubai from another view point. Also, as with most, if not all of the things we did in Dubai we could not fault the customer service, all crew member were very polite and friendly. It would have been nice to have had a bit of entertainment maybe a singer or a traditional dance but then again that may have detracted from the relaxing atmosphere.

• Our Sindbad’s Journey Dhow Cruise with Dinner was offered by City Discovery on a complimentary basis in exchange for honest review.

Many other travel activates, like sightseeing tours, photo tours, culinary activities and shore excursions, can be purchased at City Discovery. It’s a great all-in-one resource for planning what to do on your next travel adventure.