Abu Dhabi Evening Desert Safari: Dune Bashing & ATV Rides

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.30 (10 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/16

Duration6h

GroupUp to 100

LanguagesEN · AR

PickupAt your hotel

Sand dunes at sunset, then fire and music under stars in Abu Dhabi

You get picked up from your hotel, spend the late afternoon in a 4x4 doing dune bashing and riding a camel, then take a thirty-minute ATV ride across the sand. At the desert camp, you eat barbecue dinner, watch fire and belly dance performances, get henna applied, and photograph yourself with a falcon. Transport, all activities, food and entertainment are included; you just show up ready to move.

Step-by-step itinerary

Evening Desert Safari Adventure

Depart for desert safari
Experience dune bashing in 4x4
Ride a camel
Try sandboarding on dunes
Visit desert camp
Enjoy live entertainment shows
Savor barbecue dinner under stars

The Experience

A 4x4 vehicle pulls away from the city as the light turns gold across the dunes. You're heading into the desert outside Abu Dhabi for the next few hours, and the first thing that hits you is how fast the landscape changes once you leave the roads behind. The driver knows the dunes — they accelerate into the slopes, drop down the other side, and your stomach does the thing it does on a steep hill. That's dune bashing, and it's the reason most people book this evening safari. You get maybe thirty to forty minutes of it, which is enough to feel the rhythm of it, to stop gripping the handle quite so hard.

After the driving settles down, there's the camel farm stop, where you can walk around and then actually ride one of the animals across the sand. It's slower than you'd think, and the camel's gait is nothing like a horse — you feel every step. Then comes the ATV section: thirty minutes on a quad bike if you want it, which means you're steering your own machine across the dunes instead of sitting in a passenger seat. Some people skip it; most don't. The sand is soft enough that you can't really hurt yourself, and the guides keep the pace manageable. After that, sandboarding happens — basically a snowboard on sand, which works better than it sounds, especially if the slope is steep enough.

By the time you reach the desert camp, the sun is down and the sky has that deep blue color it gets just after sunset. The camp is set up with cushions and low tables, and the food starts arriving: grilled meat, rice, bread, soft drinks. There's Arabic coffee and dates, shisha if you want it. Then the entertainment begins — a fire show first, which is exactly what it sounds like, followed by belly dancing and the Tanoura show, which is a spinning dancer in a massive skirt that lights up. It's not subtle, but it's not trying to be. You can get henna done on your hands, wear an Arabic costume for photos with a falcon, and just sit there watching the stars come out properly. The whole thing — from pickup to drop-off — runs about five to six hours.

What makes this different from other desert tours is the ATV piece. Most evening safaris stick to camel rides and dune bashing in a vehicle. The thirty minutes on a quad bike gives you something to do with your hands and your own sense of control, which changes how the evening feels. The camp itself is standard — you'll see similar setups on other tours — but the combination of activities and the timing around sunset means you're not sitting around waiting for dark. Things move.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Abu Dhabi, transport in a 4x4 vehicle, dune bashing session, thirty-minute ATV or quad bike ride, camel farm visit and camel riding, sandboarding, barbecue dinner with grilled meat and bread, soft drinks and water, Arabic coffee and tea with dates, shisha, live entertainment including fire show and belly dance performance, Tanoura dancing show, henna tattoo application, Arabic costume photoshoot with a falcon, stargazing time at the desert camp, and a sunset photo stop.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Desert Holidays Abu Dhabi

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want more than just a camel ride and dune bashing — the ATV section and the camp activities give you something to do with your hands and keep the evening moving instead of waiting for dark.