Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world. Surfing is a must-do on a visit to Dubai, but with apologies to the Beach Boys, we’re doing it on sand, miles from the nearest water.
Instead of a surfboard, we’re riding in a 4X4 SUV specially tricked out to be able to keep from wiping out as we climb and slide over soft sand dunes. No previous experience is required for the passengers–other than the ability to hold back the urge to scream occasionally.
The drivers do this for a living and know what they’re doing….They’d better because the dunes here can be 30 feet from trough to crest and we ride them sideways.
Just buckle up and remember that our Toyota Land Cruiser is fitted with a strong roll-bar. What could go wrong on a desert surfing safari?
The experience starts at the Dubai’s cruise port where our ship, Costa Toscana is docked for two days to let us explore the city’s phenomenal forest of modern skyscrapers that have risen in less time than it can take cities elsewhere to plan a new highway overpass.
We’re definitely not alone. There are more than 50 immaculate white Toyota Land Cruisers waiting at the pier to take Costa Cruises guests on the excursion and we climb aboard so everyone has a window.
Heading out in single file we become a convoy on the 10-lane highway through Dubai’s maze of high rises and head out of town, where there seems to be no speed limit. It’s half an hour before we get past the last vestige of civilization and take an exit into a protected desert reserve.
We’ve reached the edge of the vast Empty Quarter of the desert that covers 900,000 square miles of the Arabian Peninsula. To the west of here, you could travel hundreds of miles of uninhabited desert before you get to the next developed area, in Saudi Arabia. The sandscape is only interrupted by a few scrubby plants that miraculously can grow in the soft, dry sand. The greenery provides snacks for long-horned Arabian oryx, the state animals of the United Arab Emirates, who stand up on hind legs along the road to nibble on the leaves.
Because the surface of the sand keeps shifting, it takes special driving skills and a specially equipped type of car to navigate the terrain – usually a sports utility vehicle. And there are tricks to the trade. Before the desert trek begins, the drivers stop to let some air out of their tires to reduce the pressure and give more traction in the soft sand.
And then we’re off, again in formation over the dune-covered desert. As we drive full speed to the crest of each dune, there’s a momentary pause before we go over the edge and it can definitely feel like we’re about to tip over. But somehow the driver is able to control the skid and when we reach to bottom of one curl, we start climbing the next.
Don’t worry, the tire tracks and dust that get kicked up don’t really have any lasting effect on the environment, because the desert winds will erase all the tracks by tomorrow.
Abandon all hope of taking many usable photos or selfies during the ride, though, because we’re bouncing so much. That’s not a problem, because we’re going to stop at a dune top where we can get dramatic photos of the sun setting over the desert. The guides have laid out carpets on the sand and there’s a welcoming bar, with flutes of bubbly to celebrate the occasion.
There’s a falcon handler with a bird on his arm that can out-swoop even the best jet fighter with its ability to soar and instantly dive at near supersonic speeds. As the handler removes a decorative hood that keeps the falcon from getting stressed by all the attention, it takes off and swoops in graceful circles.
On each pass it dives at lightning speed to snatch bits of meat tied to the end of a rope the handler spins in the air. Exercise time over, the falcon happily perches back on the keeper’s gloved hand.
These feathered hunters are worth more than their weight in gold and are avidly kept by the royal families of the Emirates, he explains, as we gather for selfies with the sleek bird of prey.
As the sun sets, the Dubai desert safari tour drives on a much less treacherous trail to a Bedouin-style camp where a Middle Eastern dinner is being prepared for us. The menu includes a variety of barbecued meats and salads and desserts accompanied with music and dancing by a talented belly dancer and a traditional tanoura dance, featuring a dancer wearing a lighted skirt that enacts a Sufi legend that whirling fast enough would cause clothing to light up. It’s a fabulous video-worthy performance.
Before dinner, there’s a chance to ride camels or have decorative henna designs applied to hands. The dinner features so many choices there’s no way to sample everything and there’s an open bar. We head back to Costa Toscana with an indelible memory and a new meaning to the words surf’s up.
A number of companies offer dune surfing tours in Dubai. If you’re on a cruise, they will pick you up right at the pier. If you’re doing the trip in the winter months, the desert can get much chillier that you might imagine. Even if it’s warm during the day, bring a jacket or pullover for the evening. At the other end of the calendar, summer temperatures can top 100 degrees by day and a cool off in the evening is welcome.
Costa Toscana cruises in the winter in the Arabian Gulf and the rest of the year doing week-long Mediterranean cruises that start from either Civitavecchia, Genoa, Marseille or Barcelona. During the winter, Costa Toscana sails in the Arabian Gulf and guests can start their cruise either in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Qatar. Week-long cruise fares start at about $600 a person for an inside cabin and about $1,000 a person for a balcony cabin, with air fare extra.
Story by Wallace Immen, The Cruisington Times
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