My wife and I were both wide awake by 3:30am. We simply couldn’t get back to sleep so we spent some time planning what we’d try to do that day. We decided to head to JBR Beach for a low key day near the beach if not actually spending much time on the beach.
The sun started to come up and we could see what the place looked like in the day. As we found throughout the trip things look totally different at night than during the day. Not better or worse, just different. We could see the buildings on the palm island, though the air was hazy (or dusty?) and we didn’t have a clear view of much. The area in the ocean right in front of our hotel was still under construction building more of the islands and we got to watch that progress during our stay.
Around 8:00 we decided to wake the kids. That wasn’t happening. They were sound asleep and in no mood to get up so we let them sleep another hour. At that point we needed to get them up so we didn’t miss breakfast.
The breakfast buffet was well above average. With Arabian as well as western offerings including fresh cut fruit, cereals, breads and pastries, and an omelet station. There was a lot to choose from. There were also 4 fresh juices on offer as well as water, tea and coffee. We all made sure to get our fill.
Making Plans
The night before during checkin the agent had told us about the travel agent that could tell us about additional tours during our stay. We met with him and he gave us pricing on a few different things including a desert safari, a walking tour of old Dubai, and a day trip to Abu Dhabi.
Back in our room we processed our options and decided on doing a Desert Safari. For the four of us it was going to cost about $250 and would include transportation to and from the hotel, dune bashing in the desert, a show and BBQ at the tour operator’s desert camp so we decided to book that trip for the following night.
Off to JBR Beach
From our hotel we could see part of the beach. In the picture at the top of this post, it’s the beach area in the middle right of the photo. Since we could see it, we figured we’d try to walk there. Not to save money on taxis or anything, but rather to try to see more of the city on foot.
After a good 20 minutes of walking we found that while we knew where the beach was, we weren’t exactly sure how to get there from where we were. There were several buildings and hotels in the way and we couldn’t walk through them to get to the beach so we ended up getting a taxi to take us the rest of the way.
The taxi ended up dropping us off in what is essentially a shopping mall on the beach. The area is called JBR Beach. We passed by all the well known high end stores you’d find in any upscale suburban mall and dozens of popular US chain restaurants. From the drop off point it was a few hundred fee to the waterfront with a nice clean beach with lots of activities.
There was an inflatable water park floating in the water. On shore there was a inflatables and ropes course area, and a separate kids splash park. There was a playground and lots of restaurants, food stands and other vendors. The beach itself was nice as well. The sand was clean and the water clear and calm. Along the edge of the beach was a nice padded walking/jogging trail as well.
The kids spent some time in a sort of ball pit funhouse. That got some of the jet-lag cobwebs out. After that we played on the playground for a bit. The boys really enjoyed the zip line there.
While the kids were playing, we saw some guy bringing his camels for a walk on the beach.
Not something you see every day in New England!
The kids soon got hungry so we ate lunch and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon. They weren’t really in a mood for the beach.
Lazy Afternoon
Back at the hotel we checked out the pool on our way to the room. It was interesting in that women had a different entrance to the pool area than the men. We each went our separate ways to get to the pool and checked it out once we met on the other side. The pool was medium sized and there was a hot tub as well. There were a half dozen other groups using the pool and a number of them were families with kids. It didn’t seem overcrowded at all and as the pool was on the northern side of the building it was in the shade. That was a plus for us as we would have to worry less about sunburns but might be a negative for those looking to get a tan.
The weather itself was in the low 70’s. We expected and packed for it to be closer to the 80’s but it was still warm enough for us to go to the pool.
Back up in the room the kids got changed and I decided to stay back in the room. The next thing I knew it was 5:00 and I had fallen asleep for 3 hours. Oops. I didn’t wake up when they got back because our “room” was so large. They were watching TV in the other wing and I never heard them.
Global Village
After I woke up we needed to figure out where to go next. My wife had read about the Global Village and the agent at checkin the night before had recommended it. It’s apparently a sort of theme park that’s only open a few months of the year and there are some shows, rides and country themed pavilions with all sorts of different types of foods. In sounded a lot like Disney’s EPCOT and it’s not all that far off.
We hopped in a taxi at our hotel to take us there. It took about 35 minutes and from the parking lot we knew it was going to be a pretty impressive place. There were lights on the pavilions and we could see several of the amusement rides.
We bought our tickets for about $4.50 each and went inside. Everything was over the top as we came to expect as the trip progressed. There were huge pavilions for different countries. Most of the countries were Arabic and or Middle Eastern countries. Within each pavilion/storefront there were booths selling different things based on the theme of the country. Things weren’t always the most authentic, but the thought was there. At night the lights really made the pavilions stand out.
We made our way around the village to see all the food booth options and got some dinner. There was a stage area that had various shows scheduled but the kids were most interested in checking out the amusement park rides. We bought a pass to allow them a few rides. They chose to go on the bumper cars a couple times and then a small roller coaster a few times. They were smiling ear to ear and really enjoying themselves.
It was getting late and we headed towards the exit when we found an open area that had a TV that was showing a soccer match so the boys and I sat there on some beanbag chairs while my wife did some browsing of the shops and sampled some of the more authentic food booths.
Getting Home
By halftime of the game it was getting late and we needed to get back to the hotel so we could try to get onto a more local time zone schedule. On our way out we weren’t sure where the taxis were. We asked someone who was offering a private Lexus ride back. The price they quoted wasn’t too bad so we decided to do that. The ride was nice, but when we arrived we found they didn’t take credit cards. They advertised an app at the booth where you got into the car which I assumed meant you could pay with Apple Pay or through the app, but that turned out not to be the case. Luckily I had enough cash on me. I’d have to keep that in mind for next time.
Back at home we got the kids to bed right away and went to sleep as best we could. We were still not quite in the right time zone.
Tomatico Travels 
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