Our dune buggy experience in Dubai was absolutely incredible! From start to finish, everything was well-organized, and the thrill of cruising over the golden dunes was unmatched. The buggies were powerful and well-maintained, making it easy to navigate the sandy terrain and enjoy the adrenaline rush.
One of the highlights of the experience was our guide, who went above and beyond to ensure we had a fantastic time. Not only did he lead us through some of the most stunning desert landscapes, but he also stopped at the perfect spots to take photos and even captured some amazing videos of us in action! It was a great touch that allowed us to relive the excitement afterward.
The pick-up and drop-off service from our hotel was also excellent. The company communicated with us very well, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience. Everything was on time, and the ride to and from the desert was comfortable.
If you’re looking for an adventurous and well-organized excursion in Dubai, this is the one to book. We highly recommend it and would do it again in a heartbeat!
My husband and I were so excited about this experience. We had high hopes, especially given the 5* reviews. We booked a sunset tour. Unfortunately it was an absolute disaster, extremely disappointing and anti-climactic, and resulted in me sustaining serious injuries.
We paid for the private transfer from our hotel. The driver was friendly but a terrible, dangerous driver. He was speeding for the whole journey (just over an hour each way). He did almost 100 in a 60 zone, was tailgating within inches of other cars, flashing other drivers, swerving, cutting people up, it was honestly terrifying. When my husband said he was driving too fast, the driver just laughed.
Upon arrival at the desert, it was like a scene from a Mad Max movie. Around the sides of the car park are various farm animals kept in tiny holding pens. There are dozens of dune buggy companies, including this one, crammed in a square to the side of the car park. Hundreds of quad bikes, ATVs and Land Rovers criss-cross and zoom all over the place; around people waiting and the poor camels tethered in the car park. It was complete chaos. I can only describe it as a human cattle market or a desert rally with no sense of order. I don’t know how there aren’t more crashes or people getting run over. The different dune buggy companies don’t seem to coordinate with each other so there’s just tonnes of people going out on quads and ATVs all at the same time. Getting to the toilet block is like trying to cross the M25. When we did get there, they were so unsanitary; I think we would’ve been better just digging a hole in the ground. There was an open sewer pipe in the women’s block with sewerage coming out. There’s only 3 toilets for the hundreds of people there which just adds to the chaos.
When we finally got onto our quad bikes, the tour guide asked me if I’d been on a quad bike before. I said no, never. He pointed to the accelerator and the brake and said ‘it’s easy’. We were then told to follow our guide at all times and not to stop without him. I naively assumed we might start out slow on some flatter areas for a practise run, as some of the other tour companies seemed to be doing. But our guide took us straight out at speed onto the dunes, some of which were very steep. There were so many other vehicles rallying around on the dunes that we really had to have our wits about us, as at any moment an ATV or Land Rover would just fly across the path in front of us or appear from behind a dune. Within a few minutes of starting out, we went up a steep dune and rode along the ridge. Being my first time on a quad bike and not used to it, I struggled to keep the bike straight along the ridge. The next thing I knew, I’d veered and was hurtling down the side of the dune at a steep angle. I crashed at the bottom and the quad bike overrolled with me underneath it. I hit my head so hard I saw stars. It took a minute or two for the guide to realise I wasn’t behind him anymore. He found me laying in the sand and asked if I was ok, I said no. He just stood there like he didn’t know what to do. He righted the quad bike which amazingly suffered no damage - it seemed I’d taken the brunt of the impact. He asked again if I was ok. I managed to stand myself up and again said no. He then took out his phone and I thought he was going to call for help but instead he began dismantling pieces off the quad bike and taking photos! My husband came over and I told him the quad bike had been in one piece with no damage at all, but now the guide was taking it apart (we can only assume it was to make it look like we’d broken it). The guide then phoned someone and began chatting in Arabic.
I really didn’t want to spoil our experience as we’d paid a lot of money for it, so I chose to continue the tour, but I rode on the back of my husband’s quad bike while he drove.
The scenery was breathtaking. We had the most perfect red sunset across the dunes, it was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately we didn’t get much chance to take it in, as our tour guide would not stop or slow down. We managed to stop once for one photo and that’s only because we waved at him and insisted we stop. Even then it was such a brief stop that we didn’t even get off our bike. We saw loads of other tour companies stopping with their groups multiple times and taking loads of photos with them, so it’s not like it wasn’t permitted. Our guide just seemed completely disinterested and from the minute we set out, it was obvious he just wanted to get round as quick as possible. We spent the whole hour just driving behind him, which actually became a bit boring after a while. It was a real shame. Even with my accident aside, it was a very disappointing, lacklustre experience with a guide who barely spoke two words to us the whole time and had zero interest in making it fun or interesting. It was obvious to see the stark contrast between our experience and what others were experiencing with other tour companies out on the dunes.
When we finally arrived back to the car park, we were told to wait for the tour group manager to come and speak to us. By this point the adrenaline was wearing off and it was becoming obvious I’d hurt myself pretty badly, (I later found out I had concussion and a fractured scapula amongst other injuries, and needed hospital treatment). The tour group manager said he was going to charge us for the damaged quad bike but seeing how unwell I was, he would let us go without charging us. My husband asked why we hadn’t been given helmets, as we’d noticed other groups out on the dunes wearing them. The man waved dismissively to a covered area on the other side of the car park that we hadn’t seen before and said ‘the helmets are there’. By this point I was too unwell to argue, so we just got back in the car. We had the same driver who’d brought us taking us back, so had to grit our teeth through the awful journey back to our hotel. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so unsafe.