Support local tourism #stayandwander

2020: a year many will remember for when the world went into lockdown. Schools closed their doors, face masks fast became the new fashion accessory and major travel halted for a period of time.

Now, as the world starts to slowly awaken, I, like most am desperate to board a plane, and travel internationally.

One question I’m thinking though is, should I?

One of the issues I’m struggling with is that it’s difficult to keep up with each countries’ restrictions, depending on where you are travelling to and from, so why not stay and wander?

How often have you ever found yourself saying, “you never really explore far into your home country” or “I didn’t even know this existed” before recommending it to a friend?

Part 1 The United Arab Emirates

Dubai has been my home for the past three years, and it’s not until late that I’ve really started to explore more than just this one emirate.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller after her first brunch at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in front of the Burj Al Arab

The United Arab Emirates has 7 emirates in total and while Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the most popular, you can experience each of the others as single day trips (at a push), or maybe take two or three with the odd staycation along the way.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller captures Dubai Marina at night

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller exploring The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Sharjah

Over the years, Sharjah has grown into a centre for arts, culture and water sports. Whether you want to experience standing in the rain room at Sharjah Art Foundation, or spend a weekend out on the water cooling off from the hotter temperatures at Al Mamzar Beach Park, there is so much that this emirate can offer.

If you want to make a day trip into a little more, how about an authentic nights stay at The Chedi Al Bait.

Chedi Al Bait pic credit https://www.instagram.com/thechedialbait/

Here are Sharjah's local tourism instagram and website for more ideas.

Ajman

At 16km long, it’s the smallest of the emirates, lying on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, between Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Some of the main tourism landmarks are

• Ajman Museum

• Masfout Castle

• Masfout Gate

• The Red Fort

However what most will know it for, is its mangroves. I recently visited and stayed at The Oberoi, Al Zohra, which nestles between the coast and the mangroves.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller exploring The Oberoi Al Zorah

I chose this as my husband loves to play golf, and they have a course which is set within the beautiful mangroves, he says “there’s nowhere else like it in the UAE to play golf” and whilst he’s playing golf I can relax with a good book by their pool.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller captures the hotel pool at sunrise

Here are Ajman's local tourism instagram and website for more ideas.

Umm Al Quwain

The emirate has rich coastal mangroves on the coast and many islands lie to the east of the mainland. The biggest island, Al Seniah, is home to Arabian gazelles, falcons and turtles.

Umm Al Quwain offers numerous recreational activities; from sailing to skydiving. Traditional activities such as dhow building and sports such as falconry and camel racing are also popular.

Dreamland Aqua Park I’ve heard is a good day out if you have children, I personally haven’t been, so you’ll have to let me know.

Ras Al Khaimah

Ras Al Khaimah over the past few years has reinvented itself as a tourism hub. It’s probably the most scenic of all the emirates because of its diverse landscape consisting of sandy deserts, coastal strips, mangroves and mountains. The Jebel Jais are the highest mountain range in the UAE, which offer trekking up to the top to zip lining across and back down. Check out Ras Al Khaimah's official tourism website for more.

Jebel Jais image credit from https://www.instagram.com/visitjebeljais/

I’ve been fortunate enough to stay at the Waldorf Astoria but would love to return staying at The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert, it reminds me slightly of my honeymoon, when on safari, but I’ll save that for another time.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller captures sunset at Siddharta Lounge by buddha-bar, The Waldorf Astoria RAK. The Siddharta lounge was a 6 month pop up.

Fujairah

The emirate that’s located completely on the eastern coast of the UAE along the Gulf of Oman with access to the Indian Ocean stole my heart when I found out that spotting sea turtles is quite common.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller, pictures of one of the sea turtles

If you’ve not heard of Snoopy Island (yes as in the cartoon character asleep on the top of his dog house) it is a small rock formation outcropping the sea. Just beyond there, (5 minute boat ride) is a small cluster of rocks and this is where I spent two hours snorkeling, which is where I spotted and swam with turtles alongside other marine life. It will go down as one of the most memorable moments of living in the Middle East.

I stayed at the Intercontinental and the paid boat trip was organised by their water sports company. There were a host of other activities such as hiking and sunrise yoga which were available at no extra cost for guests.

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller captures the grounds of the Intercontinental

Sandy Beach Hotel at Al Aqah is immediately in front of Snoopy Island with roughly a 100m swim across the coral, however I don’t know if they offer trips to the rocks where I swam nor have I personally stayed there.

There’s more to Fujairah than snorkeling, here’s the link for the tourism website.

I hope this blog post has showed you how you can #stayandwander across all of the emirates in the UAE. Now I want to turn it over to you:

Which of the emirates are you going to explore first?

Have you visited one already, what did you do?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

One final thing, here’s another Instagram account you might find useful to follow regarding tourism in the UAE or if you fancy seeing some of the emirates from the sky then check out Sea wings the seaplane tour company.

Happy travels!

Naomi The Ordinary Traveller

// *** Disclaimer, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic please be mindful that all suggested activities or locations may not be operating, you will need to check with each provider *** //