Sarah
Dubai can be a really expensive city – and a lot of beaches are private hotel beaches. Luckily, there is also a nice selection of public beaches that are entirely for free! Let me show you the best beaches in Dubai that you can visit without paying a single cent!
Of course, I also included a map for you to find them more easily. I also marked down some offer free beaches that I have not personally visited but found during research. I checked multiple websites and blogs and I am fairly confident, that this is indeed a COMPLETE list of all public beaches in Dubai.
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JBR Beach Dubai / The Beach Dubai
Jumeirah Beach Residence (short for JBR) also has a public beach – JBR Beach (or sometimes called “The beach Dubai”). The northern access is quite hidden between Rixos and Mövenpick hotel.
JBR attracts much more visitors than the other public beaches in Dubai as lots of expats live directly in Dubai Marina. Also, large portions of the beach are taken by private hotels (namely, the Ritz Carlton, the Le Royal Meridien and Habtoor Grand Resort). It is also close to my personal recommendation for a hotel in Dubai Marina: Grosvenor House Dubai!
Read: Grosvenor House Dubai – a review with 3D tour
The public beach is beautiful – with fine sand and calm, clear waters.
The main focus to come to JBR is, however, not only the beach – but also the fantastic “JBR The Walk” – the promenade running along the beach with shops, cafes and restaurants. It’s really highly worth visiting and leisurely strolling along here!
Read: Things to do in Dubai (soon to come)
Jumeirah Public Beach / Umm Suqeim Beach / Kite beach / Sunset Beach
Jumeirah Public Beach is just north of the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel. Sometimes people call the northern part of it Umm Suqeim Beach or Kitesurfer’s beach (Kite Surf) or Sunset beach. Despite it’s many names, it’s essentially one beach – with the same facilities and views!
Jumeirah Public Beach was really empty when I visited on a Monday afternoon – I couldn’t almost believe it! There is fine white sand and clean azure blue water, stunning (and highly instagrammable) views on Burj Al Arab and yet, so few people are around.
Jumeirah Public Beach is a fantastic option to cool off in the hot summer days in Dubai. There is free public toilets, public showers and even three “smart flowers” where you can charge your mobile phone for free (if you forgot your power bank…)
There is areas for swimmers – and for surfers! This was, no one will bother the other. And there is live guards that watch over you – even though the water is shallow and there is no currents here.
Towards the northern end (next to the washrooms) you can also find a small kiosk selling food and drinks. However, this one was closed during Ramadan – so prepare for that!
La Mer Beach Dubai
I found the best beach in Dubai at the end – and that’s also where I placed it in my blog post. Meet the awesome La Mer Beach:
La Mer Beach Dubai is the least known of the public beaches in Dubai in this list. It’s a newer development by Meraas Group and lies north of Jumeirah Public Beach. And you won’t believe all the facilities they have!
First, the Central complex looks like a theme park and is full of restaurants and cafes.
The actual beach is to the South (left) and is just plain gorgeous! I mean like in “I just dreamed of the perfect beach with all the facilities I could imagine and then it was for free”
There is numerous free and clean showers and public toilets in cute houses.
And there is even free sun chairs and umbrellas!
Aaaaand – drumrolls – there is FREE WIFI!!!!
Seriously – this offer is better than what I have seen on most beach clubs or luxury hotels – making this the best beach in Dubai in my opinion.
You can also do water sports – but at least those are not for free. 🙂
Some hotels offer complimentary shuttles to La Mer Beach Dubai – I have seen Hilton, Steigenberger, Rove Hotels, Arabian Park Hotels – but there might be more!
Want more? How about visiting a beach club?
If all those beaches weren’t enough for you, you can also check some of Dubai’s beach clubs for beach access.
Some of them offer quite good value for the price – including drinks and food in their entry. Most of them also have a pool if you want some fresh water contact.
One of them is free and open all the time – that is Barasti Beach Club. You can find more about this iconic beach club in Dubai in my post about ladies days in Dubai:
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