Dubai: a one-storey emirate

Here’s an unusual guide to low-rise Dubai – no Ferris wheels, no observation decks, no other mass tourism attractions. Only yachts, sea, sand and finest spots.
July 25 2023 • by Alexander Shumskiy 12 minutes to read
222
Alserkal Avenue

Alserkal Avenue

This fashionable modern arts and culture hub was founded in 2007 in the district of Al Goze by businessman Adbelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal. Thanks to smart investments and development the founders managed to attract the best of art galleries, design studios, showrooms, cafes and other creative small businesses. The district hosts about 70 different organizations now, and there is even a private museum among them. Another resident, Nightjar Coffee Roasters, is considered to be the best coffee shop in the emirate. It is also worth paying a visit to Cinema Akil, founded by art activist Butheina Kazim, where mainly arthouse and modern independent films from the Middle East are screened.

Alserkal Avenue
Alserkal Avenue

The district is also home to Concrete space, designed by Dutch Pritzker Prize winning architect Rem Koolhaas. This building of over a thousand square meters with highest ceilings, movable soundproof walls and top-grade lighting hosts most diverse art and cultural events.

Concrete space
Concrete space

Beach clubs

Perhaps the main specialty offered by Dubai is warm weather and the sea coast that are available when there is a lack of warmth and sunlight in the Northern hemisphere. Having studied thoroughly the best practices of Mykonos and Ibiza, the emirate’s businessmen started recreating a similar atmosphere of common unity, happiness and relaxation on their sand. As a result, Dubai can boast at least a dozen cool beach clubs with comfortable sunbeds, cocktails, exquisite snacks, carefully selected music – right by the water. You can choose the one that suits you best in terms of location, but if you are not tied to a particular place, here are a few most exciting and trendy beach clubs.

Beach by FIVE inFIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel
Beach by FIVE inFIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel

First, there are lively parties at Beach by FIVE, which belongs to FIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel. Then there is Nikki Beach Club from the global chain owned by Jack Penrod. All over the world Nikki beach clubs are famous for their amazing DJs and luxurious service. The third one is Summersalt near the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel. And the fourth one is from another chain – this time from Mykonos – Nammos Dubai at Four Seasons Resort on Jumeirah beach.

Nammos Dubai at Four Seasons Resort on Jumeirah beach
Nammos Dubai at Four Seasons Resort on Jumeirah beach

All four have comfortable sunbeds, private cabins, sophisticated bars and top-grade restaurants, so you can easily spend the whole day here – from morning till sunset. 

Opera house

In Dubai they are fond of ultramodern things, so it is no wonder that Opera Dubai exceeds all the boldest expectations. The theatre whose shape reminds one of a dhow, a traditional Middle Eastern vessel, was built at the foot of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper. It was designed by Atkins company and its chief Danish architect Janus Rostock. It was commissioned by Emaar Properties, one of the major developers in the Arab world, and opened its doors in 2016. It can be used as a theatre, a concert hall with 2,000 seats and even as a banquet hall or a venue for really large-scale events: exhibitions, fashion shows, conferences, presentations, etc.

Opera Dubai
Opera Dubai

Yoga in the garden and elsewhere 

In any megacity – and Dubai is undoubtedly one of them – both local residents and visitors lack the peace of mind, so yoga studios are in great demand.

Nikki Beach
Nikki Beach

SEVA Experience not far from La Mer beach and the Jumeirah Mosque offers meditation and various alternative classes in a traditional, renovated villa. Their vegan café, which is the best in the region, offers only healthy food that is GMO, gluten, soya, cane sugar and trans fats free. No plastic is used in their kitchen. On the menu there are smoothies of 10 kinds of healing mushrooms, cocoa and alkaline water, an egg-free omelette, a cake with blue spirulina and so on. Another option is Talise Spa centre at Jumeirah Al Qasr hotel designed in “Arabian Nights” style. For maximum privacy spa treatments are offered in special villas, while you can practise yoga with a personal coach right on the beach.

Concept Store

Shopping can be different. We are not going to speak of Dubai Mall with an area of over a square kilometer here, but rather focus on smaller and more interesting concept stores that can boast a carefully selected number of goods and products. One of them is Comptoir 102. From the outside it looks more like a Californian Moorish style private house than a store. But that is what creates its special atmosphere and a community of enthusiasts around it.

Comptoir 102
Comptoir 102

It was opened by a true Parisian Emma Sawko. You can buy home decor, fashionable clothes, books and accessories here, as well as have a snack at an organic café, which got a “What’s On” award in the category of healthy food. Another concept store called Ripe specializes in organic products and organizes farmer’s markets that are popular at weekends. The fashion scene looks brisk, too: check out modern designers’ collections at Attuale, Vao, Human and Beings and THAT.

Ripe Organic Market
Ripe Organic Market

Desert

Another treasure of Dubai is endless sands and dunes that are a quarter kilometer high. Rub’ al Khali means ‘an empty quarter of the world’ in Arabic. It is better to conquer it by jeeps. Some of the proven operators are Arabian Adventures, Lama Tours, Platinum Heritage and Alpha Tours.

Platinum Heritage Desert Safari
Platinum Heritage Desert Safari

One should definitely visit Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve – the largest in the UAE. It is home to 120 bird species, 43 kinds of mammals and reptiles, including oryxes, Arabian red foxes, caracals, gazelles and falcons. As an alternative one can also visit Al Qudra lake within a 30-minute drive from the city, where it is easy to get even by taxi. There are flamingoes, geese, ducks and a hundred other bird species living on these manmade lakes.

Marinas

Dubai Harbour

The main marina of the region is managed by a major Turkish operator D-Marin. It was officially opened in September 2020. The largest and most sophisticated marina in the Middle East will eventually be capable of accommodating up to 1,100 yachts up to 160 meters long.

Dubai Harbour
Dubai Harbour

Business Bay

D-Marin operates three other smaller marinas, too: Business Bay, Al Seef and Jaddaf Waterfront. Each of them accommodates about 50-70 boats. They all boast a really convenient location: the first one is near the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, the second is in the historic district of Deira, not far from the Gold Souk, and the third one is next to the luxurious Palazzo Versace hotel.

Business Bay marina
Business Bay marina

Bulgari Yacht Club

Bulgari resort has a marina of their own, too, in the district of Jumeirah. It is the first yacht port for this Italian chain of premium hotels, designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel studio. The marina accommodates 46 boats that are 10 to 40 meters long.

Restaurants

3fils

This top-notch pan-Asian restaurant is managed by a chef from Singapore, Akmal Anuar. The ingredients are delivered right from Japan. Among the hits of the menu are snapper ceviche, crispy eel, wagyu nigiri with caviar and Ghanaian chocolate dessert. There are just 25 seats here, so you’d better book well in advance.

Pan-Asian restaurant 3Fils
Pan-Asian restaurant 3Fils

La Petite Maison

This French restaurant with locations in London, Miami and Hong-Kong features a classical collection of tapenade, oysters and Nicoise for starters, and mushroom risotto, duck legs and grilled lobster for the main course. It might well be the main ambassador of the three-color cuisine in Dubai.

Mekong

There is a wide choice of Asian cuisine restaurants in Dubai: from different regions of India to Singapore, Japan and Laos. A perfect representative of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine is Mekong at the Anantara Palm Dubai Resort. Their signature dishes are dim sums, homemade noodles, spring rolls and spicy soups of coconut milk.

Mekong restaurant at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort
Mekong restaurant at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort

Maisan 15

It is not just a restaurant, but also an art gallery, a shop and a library, founded by a Dubai-based artist Rami Farooq. Inside you get a feeling that you’ve been invited to a modern art studio with classic vinyls. They cook mainly oriental dishes, but with some special twist. For example, you might want to try hummus with zaalouq – Moroccan salad of baked aubergines and tomatoes, or croque-maisan with scrambled eggs and young cheese on hot flatbread.

Folly by Nick & Scott

One of the best European cuisine restaurants in Dubai is located in Souk Madinat Jumeirah market. Nick Alvis and Scott Price, who have worked with the great Gordon Rumsay for 15 years, are gorgeous at making Devon crab, quail and lamb. Monkfish cheeks with lemon aioli are worthy of special praise. Another advantage of Folly is the stunning view of the city at sunset.

Folly by Nick & Scott terrace
Folly by Nick & Scott terrace

Mythos

According to TimeOut, this is the best Greek tavern in Dubai. Both the cuisine and the atmosphere are maximum authentic – as if you were somewhere on Paros, Folegandros or not far from Athens. The menu features classic tzatziki, fried cheese from Naxos, chicken gyros, leek pie and all kinds of grilled octopus and squid.

Hotels

Nikki Beach

It took this chain ambassador just a few months to become the most in-demand hotel in Dubai. It is located on the manmade island of Pearl Jumeirah, and all its rooms, residences and villas are spacious and light, some with private pools. The hotel boasts a large beach with immediate access to the sea.

Nikki Beach on the Pearl Jumeirah
Nikki Beach on the Pearl Jumeirah

One&Only The Palm

One&Only luxurious chain resort is built on the Palm Jumeirah in Southern Spanish style. The beach and most of the rooms boast spectacular views of the Arabian Gulf and the skyscrapers of Dubai. The hotel is also home to the only Guerlain spa centre in the UAE. The restaurant of the hotel offers modern French cuisine from the legendary chef Yannick Alléno, whose restaurants all around the world have been awarded eight Micheline stars.

One&Only The Palm
One&Only The Palm

XVA Hotel

This is a boutique hotel for 14 rooms only in the heart of the historic neighborhood of Al Fahidi on the bank of the Dubai Creek canal. You can only get there on foot, because it is simply not possible to drive up to it. All the rooms were designed by local artists, including the founder of the hotel Mona Hauser.

Nara Private Escape

Noteworthy glamping like Nara Private Escape is available for those wishing to stay the night in the desert, too. You can come here in the evening to enjoy the sunset, have dinner under the stars and spend the night of peace and quiet in one of the spacious tents. In the morning you can see the sunrise, have breakfast and return to Dubai.

Nara Private Escape
Nara Private Escape
Sign up to our newsletters
Sign up to ilodka.com email newsletters to keep abreast of the most significant news and events in the world of yachting, get analytical and feature articles and updates on new launches
Thank you!
You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter
Alexander Shumskiy
Author
Alexander Shumskiy
Rate the article
Any questions about the article?
Related stories
May 27 2024 ⬥ Travel
The list of reasons why the Galápagos Islands are amazing is endless. What matters most is that it is one of those few places that make you experience such a mix of emotions that are hard to convey, but make you want to come back to the islands again and again
Apr 23 2024 ⬥ Travel
These islands located in various parts of the globe seem to have been created for yachting enthusiasts, and each of them has its unique charm
Apr 4 2024 ⬥ Travel
This autonomous territory of Denmark in the North Atlantic Ocean is one of the most amazing spots on Earth and an exciting destination for a yacht cruise
Dec 22 2023 ⬥ Travel
Amazing delicacies, dancing till dawn, architectural minimalism, the azure of the sea and world’s best sunset views – it’s all about the legendary Greek Cycladic Islands. The name of this archipelago comes from the Greek word ‘Κυκλάδες’, which means ‘lying in a circle’.
Order an article
You can make your contribution to the development of our project - offer the Editorial Board of ilodka.com portal to create a material on the yachting topic you are interested in and become its sponsor.
Other publications