The Desert Diva Our longest weekend sand dune driving route, smooth easy lines, gorgeous dunes, extremely remote. Choose either one or two night’s camping with two days dune driving.
The area
This is the last relatively unspoiled large expanse of desert in the UAE. Lying between the Ghayathi-Arada Road (E15) and the Saudi border, it covers approx. 12000 square kilometres of desert, with very few restricted areas. Our route will be easy with a few tricky bits here and there and will take us through beautiful dunes with little or no tracks or garbage! The route is suitable for new drivers and tuition will be given where and when required. This route was originally developed by Marina to published in Mike Nott’s Guidebook – Advanced Off-Road Adventure Routes UAE and Oman – but she has adjusted it over the years so it is now longer, and finishes with a fast paced drive along an easy path through some huge dunes..
Friday 17th March
Travel to start point (arrive any time between 3pm and 8pm), camp. For guests signing up for the Saturday/Sunday camping, there is no charge for this. Note: food is not provided for Friday night/Saturday morning but if you arrive after dark then a large campfire will await you! We highly recommend you travel to the area overnight, particularly if you are Dubai based.
The meeting point is a 2.5 hour drive from Dubai, longer if it is foggy. If you don’t fancy camping for 2 nights, then can we suggest you overnight at the Ghayathi Hotel, which is about 30 minutes away from the start point, or maybe one of the hotels at Jebel Dhana, which are a little further away.
Saturday 18th March
After breakfast (tea and coffee supplied), campers will pack up and be ready to hit the sand at 0900hours
Those who have not camped should meet us at the start point at 0900hrs, 66kms south of Ghayathi and 2hrs 27 minutes’ drive from the Mafraq Junction on the E11 on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.
The route is approx. 210kms offroad on pure sand, no gatch tracks or gravel plains here, we hope to do around 130kms before we stop to camp
- Picnic lunch provided
- Camp in a very dark sky, some 70kms from the nearest road!
- Campfire and hearty BBQ with lots of variety (vegetarians and gluten free catered for too)
Sunday 19th March 2023
Light breakfast and drive back to the road, aiming to finish at the same point we entered the desert around lunchtime
Event Fees
Note Thursday night camping is FOC
- Driver 995aed
- Adult passengers 595aed each
- Children aged 6-11 years 340aed each
Note: the Registration Form Link will take you to our UK company (xpedition arabia), however this trip is run in partnership with My Tour Studio, Dubai.
Reserve your place with a 25% deposit
Balance due 14 days before start of trip
Suggested packing list here
Maximum number of convoy spaces – 8 guest cars
The above photo was submitted by a team from the Dark Skies Challenge. This annual event was held in the same area on the last weekend of February each year between 2014-2018.
