Hot Dam(n) Dubai Day-Trip! Kayaking in Hatta, UAE

{Kayaks rented from @hatta.kayak and #visithatta}

Looking for something fun and outdoorsy to do with your friends in Dubai? If your answer to that is YES, I would highly recommend kayaking in gorgeous Hatta Dam!

This UAE National Day, my friends and I took a two hour road-trip from Dubai to get to Hatta for kayaking to celebrate the four-day long-weekend. As I’ve moved here recently, I didn’t quite associate the Dubai area with outdoor adventures, but as soon as we entered the Hajar Mountains I got to see a completely different side of my new city.

The Hatta Dam is filled with striking natural green waters that immediately delight any nature and photography enthusiast. Studying the serpentine queue of cars, we chose to park our SUV amongst the make-shift line-up of cars on off-road dirt patches and climb a towering set of block-steps up the mountain to the dam. Definitely leave the flip-flops at home if you take this route!

Kayaks of every color speckled against the green waters of Hatta Dam. Considering it was  beautiful weather and a long-weekend, the crowds were plentiful and it was a pretty rowdy wait at Hatta Kayaks. We jockeyed hard to get our kayak token numbers selected at the docks, but all the pushing and debating between single versus double kayaks was worth it as soon as the five of us paddled out into the water.

It was absolutely serene amidst the rocky mountains…except of-course when novice kayakers like me collided into friends! People were very friendly, and if the boats were close enough they didn’t mind taking our photos or deflecting wayward kayaks. The water was calm, and a light December breeze kept us refreshed without feeling chilly even though we kayaked till 6pm.

Hatta Kayaks lets you rent your kayak for an unlimited number of hours so you and your friends don’t even need to worry about cutting short your fun! In case you’re wondering, our single kayaks were only for Dhs. 60 (double kayaks were Dhs. 130, I think) and we got to stash all our stuff in free lockers to keep everything safe and dry.

If you’ve got more idea for interesting road trips to do from Dubai, definitely let me know 🙂 Until next time, keep exploring! xoxo #nikitalyfe ❤

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