Morning or Evening Desert Safari in Abu Dhabi: How to Choose

Most visitors book the evening safari, and it is easy to see why. The photographs that sell Abu Dhabi are all shot in that last hour of light, when the dunes turn from pale gold to deep orange and the shadows stretch out behind the ridges. It is a good choice. It is not always the right one.

If you are travelling with a toddler, or you have one free morning before an afternoon flight, or you simply do not enjoy heat, the morning trip may suit you better. Here is how the two actually differ once you are out there.

The drive is the same

Both trips begin with a pickup in the city and a drive of roughly forty-five minutes east, into the Al Khatim dunes. This is the stretch of desert that Abu Dhabi operators use, and it is noticeably quieter than the Dubai side. On a weekday you can go long stretches without seeing another vehicle. The sand here is softer and more orange than the coastal dunes, which is why the photographs come out the way they do.

What the morning gives you

Cooler air, for one. Between October and March a morning run sits somewhere around twenty degrees when you set off, which changes the whole experience if you have small children with you. Nobody is irritable. Nobody needs shade.

The light is flatter than the evening, so your photographs will look different, but the dunes are freshly combed by the overnight wind and there are no tyre tracks in them yet. If you want a clean ridge line with nothing on it, morning is when you get it.

Morning trips are shorter. There is dune bashing, a camel ride, sandboarding, and you are back in the city before lunch. There is no dinner and no show. For some people that is exactly the point.

What the evening gives you

The light, obviously. But also the part that people remember afterwards, which is not the driving at all. It is sitting on a rug at the camp after dark, eating grilled food, with the generator far enough away that you can hear the quiet.

Evening trips run longer. Dune bashing on the way in, then camel riding and sandboarding while the sun drops, then a barbecue dinner and live performances at the camp. You get back late. If you have an early start the next day, factor that in.

The heat question

From June to September the middle of the day in Al Khatim is genuinely hard work. In those months the evening trip is the sensible one for almost everyone, because you reach the dunes as the ground is cooling rather than at its worst. In winter both are comfortable, and the choice comes down to what you want out of the day.

A few practical things

• Wear closed shoes. Sand at forty degrees does not forgive sandals, and sandboarding is easier with something on your feet.
• Loose clothes, long sleeves. More comfortable than you expect, in both directions of temperature.
• Tell the driver if anyone gets carsick. Dune bashing can be dialled up or down, and a good driver will adjust without being asked twice.
• Child seats. Ask when you book rather than on the day.

Which one, then

Small children, limited time, or a dislike of heat: take the morning. First visit to the UAE, travelling as a couple or a group, want the full evening with dinner: take the evening. If you are staying several days there is no reason not to do both, and plenty of people do.

Pickup windows change with the season, so it is worth checking the current timings and package prices before you plan the rest of your day around it.

Both trips described here run daily from Abu Dhabi city with Golden Dunes Desert Safari, who have been working the Al Khatim dunes since 2015.