Fujairah and Dubai October 2024
We arrived in Dubai Airport, what an airport, looks great and is so super organised. We collected our bags which didn’t take long to come through on the belt. Then we headed out the baggage hall and the kids were excited to see the driver of our transfer holding up a sign with our name on it.
So, we had decided to go to Fujairah for 3 nights to begin our trip. Now this is a near 2-hour transfer from Dubai airport. Luckily the drive was OK, all be it long. We drove through lots of desert and saw flamingos and camels. We also drove past lots of little towns which were still being developed.
Fujairah is located on the Gulf of Oman, part of the Indian Ocean. We stayed at the gorgeous Fujairah Rotana Resort and Spa. As you can imagine after a long flight and then a long car ride, in 37-degree heat, we were all feeling a bit tired and low. However, the staff at check in and the concierge were brilliant. We were here on an All-Inclusive Plus basis and our room wasn’t quite ready so we left our bags and headed down past the pool to Sharkey’s Beach Bar and Restaurant. This was our first proper view of the Indian ocean and the hotels amazing private beach. We were able to sit back and relax and let the welcoming sea breeze wash over us. The food at this beach bar was really good as was the children’s menu and the portion sizes were unreal.
After heading to our room, we got changed into our swim wear and headed down to the pool. We took a walk again down the to the beach and decided to go for a swim in the Indian Ocean. It was warm, and clear and the sand was soft, and you could see fish swimming. The kids were in their element. I said to Louise, do you think the taxi ride was worth it and we both agreed that getting to swim in the Indian Ocean was hands down the best we had felt the whole trip. We spent a lot of time in the sea over the next couple of days.
We also spent time in the pool, they had a large pool with a bar and they also had a children’s pool with a slide which of course the kids loved! Louise even went down it too.
The food in the buffet area was lovely, lots of variety and was always busy.
It was Halloween when we were there, and they did a trick or treating event for the kids. Well, they went all out…. All the staff were dressed up and took the kids on a massive trick or treating experience around the resort. They even provided little bags for the kids to collect their sweets in.
Alex and Jack really enjoyed the kids club here, which can sometimes be a hit or a miss for them.
We really enjoyed it here and have said we would love to go back for a longer trip. The transfer was long, but we think it was worth it.
We got a transfer to Dubai from the hotel. The driver was really friendly and he even pointed out different places and the camels etc to the kids on the way there.
On arrival into Dubai it was amazing to see all the buildings and the skyline. This was our first trip to Dubai and we really wanted to try and fit in as much as possible. We decided to stay at The Sonder Dubai in the Business Bay area. We had an apartment here; we loved it as soon as we opened our door. Me and Louise had a massive bedroom with a balcony and en suite, the kids had a massive double sofa bed in the living room with a massive balcony. We also had a kitchen, dining area and a bathroom.
Our balconies overlooked the pool which again the kids used plenty.
We were really close to the Burj Khalifa and also the largest shopping mall in the world, Dubai Mall. We tried to walk to the shopping mall when we arrived but we quickly learnt our lesson as it was just too hot to walk any distance. This is basically when we learnt that Uber and Careem were going to be our friends.
The shopping mall was unreal, so big we prob didn’t explore even half of it. We ate there a lot though on our trip, mainly in places like TGI’s, The Cheesecake Factory and McDonalds.
We went to the Aquarium and underwater Zoo, which was good. However, we wouldn’t do it again.
We also enjoyed watching the Burj Khalifa Fountain Show which was actually spectacular. We watched it many times over the duration of our trip and it was the never the same twice. We also went up to the viewing deck on the Burj Khalifa and the views were excellent. You could see how much land there is still to be developed on.
We took the kids to a place called The Green Planet which we had read about and in case you hadn’t picked up on this yet from our other blogs, Alex loves animals, all kinds of animals.
The Green Planet is a unique indoor biodome that recreates a tropical rainforest with over 3000 plants and animals. It’s located at city walk and offers you an immersive experience in the tropics. It has four levels of interaction and the animals are literally on the loose. When we first walked in, we decided to take the lift to the fourth floor and work our way down. WOW is all I can say. Got out the lift and there were Parrots flying around and a Lemur just sitting chilling on the railing. I even got a selfie with a sloth who was awake and moving around, at a pretty decent speed btw. We went round this biodome twice. We easily spent 2-3 hours here and when we came out the kids played in a park which was shaded from the sun and had misting sprayers all around. We really loved it here and would highly recommend. We would go back.
When we are away, we like to try and travel around like the locals do and so we used the metro and the tram to visit The Palm. We went to Atlantis and had some ice cream. We also got a good view of the waterpark. All things which we need to go back and do.
So YES, we loved Dubai and we cannot wait to go back. We still need to do the Safari in the Desert, the water park, the marina, the Burj al Arab, the souks and so much more.
We flew home from Dubai on the inaugural Emirates Edinburgh flight, which I was really excited about being an aeroplane enthusiast. We got a free gift when boarding, the flight itself was good, quite quick really and there was a pipe band on the runway after we landed.
Overall we had a great time here and cannot wait to book to go back!
