Dubai's Half Desert Roads and What Not To Drive With Them On
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One oddity you will not find on Atlas Obscura is Dubai's Half Desert Roads and there is not just one but many roads along with real smallish roundabouts. With no signs and just a bunch of small blog posts it is a little hard to find, and some of the co-ordinates I found online were not correct or risky. How did I find the area? Half Desert Masjid (mosque) @ https://maps.app.goo.gl/po4RaNrtKq9K8bXX7 and I entered from near Academic City which is about 24kms from central landmarks such as Burj Khalifa.
You may be wondering what are Half Desert Roads. Remember the UAE and many chunks of the GCC are just deserts; sandy or rocky. Whole swathes of civilised cities of the UAE are reclaimed land, and many islands are man-made as well. Thus, removing all the sand is not feasible and if you build roads the sand will naturally invade. Half Desert Roads are quality roads with roundabouts with the sand invading most of the roundabouts and parts of the roads (one or both lanes).
Move off the roads and you are on sand along with some small dunes. In the cooler months the locals come out to setup camps, have barbecues, play with drones, fly model aeroplanes and even bring their hawks/eagles/falcons with them. Beware some of the photos you see online are fake which show a straight road, sand and the city centre with the Burj Khalifa in the middle of the photo in the distance. The area is maybe up to 4km square and there are no services or shops there.
Off-Roading and Off The Beaten Path In The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)
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Mention Qatar, UAE, Oman, KSA, Bahrain and Kuwait to anyone, and they will likely say there is little to do there. Shopping malls, skyscrapers, indoor theme parks and maybe a fort will come to mind. Excuses will include I am chicken, it is too hot, or I am not adventurous. Visiting such typical sites will mean you have little else to do.
I am known for my adventurous spirit and have little fear when travelling, especially when in a car. -10 or +40 I will still drive or walk for a few kilometres, and I’ll be the only person on the road or pavements. Atlas Obscura is my go-to app to find unusual things to do and in the GCC many locations are deserts or ghost towns. Like the very cool and allegedly haunted: Buried Village of Al Madam of Sharjah.
The photos in this article are from Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman.
What about my car?
Many of these places are based on dirt tracks, rocky deserts or full-blown sand dune deserts. Either an average car will suffice, something entry level like a Mitsubishi Outlander AWD, or Toyota Prado, Suzuki Jimny, Mitsubishi Pajero or Montero Sport will be needed.
What about preparation for off the grid trips?
Many folk will think I will be out of phone coverage and in the remote deserts of Qatar the signal is still strong. Of course, take water, food, a full tank of fuel & jerry cans and a car pump to inflate/deflate your car tyres. Tyre pressure should vary depending on what you will be driving on and a good place to see suggestions for PSI depending on the scenario is https://skippaoffroad.com/suzuki-jimny-tyre-pressures/. In some desert start points there are men who inflate/deflate tyres at start and end of the trip to sand dunes.