Saturday May 06, 2006
now playing: Audioslave - Shadow of the Sun
After the crazy week Christine and I just had we decided to spend a day outside and hit up one of Dubai's beaches - considering the ocean is only a 5 minute drive from our apartment it's pretty sad that this was only the third time we've been. Friday is the big day off here which means it's madness to go near one of the public beaches in town, the only choice to avoid the crowds is to head over to one of the many private beach clubs. Like private golf clubs, these places offer an annual membership where you get unlimited access to their pool, beach, and other facilities, or if you're like us think it's insane to spend 10,000 Dhs (about $3000 Cdn) for the privilege to go to a quiet beach, many places in town also offer a day rate of which is a little more reasonable. After a bit of cab hopping we found a great little place tucked away in the Marina district and were on the beach a little after 2pm.
Like every day here now it was pretty damn hot out - the sky was clear and the sun was beating down, so it was essential to take shelter under one of the big umbrellas. At least I've finally adjusted to the temperature here, even two weeks ago I would've melted at the prospect of sitting outside during the heat of the day. The beach and ocean were fantastic, we were next to one of the new Palm Island developments which meant that we were sheltered from most of the waves, so the conditions were ideal for just floating around. What really blew me away was how warm the water was - though not quite hot-tub conditions yet, it certainly isn't what you'd consider a cool refreshing ocean swim either. I've been told that by July the ocean is too warm to swim in during the day, and now I believe it. Apparently during the summer the only thing to do is to head to the beach at night, and on a weekend any beach around Jumeirah is packed between 10pm and 2am. Now that I have to see for myself.
posted by Jason Boyer at 03:48 PM EST |
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