Best Gift Experiences In Dubai

Best Gift Experiences In Dubai

Although material gifts can be thoughtful and well-intentioned, they can also cause stress on the receiver, especially when traveling. You need to know what is OK to bring home, as well as find space in your luggage to tote it all. That is why giving the gift of experiences is the perfect route to take. While visiting Dubai, you’ll find no shortage of experiences to gift.

Best gift experiences in Dubai: Dubai has many luxury spas, casual and fine dining, and plenty of sightseeing. They also have tours of the city, historical tours, and tours for foodies. There are experiences for adrenaline lovers as well as animal lovers.

There is no doubt that your loved one would enjoy receiving a gift experience in beautiful Dubai. There are so many interesting and adventurous activities to choose from that will be bound to make great memories. Here is a list of experiences to gift someone.

Pampering Gift Experiences in Dubai

What’s a better gift than giving someone a luxury indulgence? Dubai has many spas that include a range from relaxing massages to body wraps and traditional Arabian baths. There is a wide selection of treatments to choose from. Here are a few great spas in Dubai:

Heavenly Spa

The Heavenly spa offers more than 10 fragrant therapeutic rooms that offer a wide range of treatments using products by ELEMIS, which is an award-winning British skincare brand.

Treatments include:

  • Massages
  • Body treatments
  • Facials
  • Nail treatments
  • Pro-definition lift
  • Contour facial

Packages include access to the pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, and beach access. A day spent relaxing here would be a great gift experience.

Hours: 8 am to 10 pm

Talise Spa

The Talise Spa offers 26 luxurious spa villas that allow you to enjoy nature by walking down foliage pathways leading to your choice of one of their award-winning treatments.

Treatments include:

  • Massages
  • Body treatments
  • Facials
  • Spa and wellness rituals

The spa also has guided meditation, yoga, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, saunas, and steam rooms.

Hours: 10 am to 9 pm

Amara Spa

Amara Spa is an Arabian oasis offering indoor and outdoor treatments with eight treatment rooms. They use ancient healing by using the natural elements of sapphire, ruby, diamond, and emerald.

Treatments include:

  • Sapphire treatment – Serenity, peace and harmony
  • Ruby treatment – Regenerates youthful endurance
  • Emerald treatment – Physical cleansing and emotional healing
  • Diamon treatment – Clarity and stabilizes physical and emotional imbalance
  • Massages
  • Facials

The jewels have their own physical and spiritual benefits and are combined with Arabian teas and other fine products to give you a rejuvenating experience.

Hours: 9 am to 10 pm

ShuiQi Spa

The ShuiQi Spa has 27 Japanese-inspired treatment rooms that allow you to enjoy relaxing therapies. They offer a jacuzzi, sauna, or steam sessions.

Treatments include:

  • Facials
  • Body treatments
  • Massage
  • Stone massage

They also have a salon, men’s grooming, and a gym to maintain your exercise routine.

Anantara Spa

The Anantara Spa has 24 treatment rooms, a wet facility that includes an aroma steam room, crystal and gemstone steam room, bamboo sauna, herbal bath, liquid sound pool, Kneipp walk, salt inhalation room, ice grotto, and experience shower.

Treatments include:

  • Massages
  • Body treatments
  • Facials
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Hot oil treatments

Their large spa menu is meant to soothe and rejuvenate the mind, body, and soul.

Hours are: 10 am to 10 pm

Foodie Tours

A great way to experience Dubai and enjoy their authentic cuisines is to give the gift experience of a foodie tour with Frying Pan Adventures. This is a four-hour walking experience that will bring you through the streets of Deira, where you’ll enjoy dishes from Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iran.

This is a walking food trail where you’ll experience an interactive cooking demo and experimental meals.  

They have several different tours available to buy a gift voucher for:

  • Middle Eastern food pilgrimage: AED 425.75 ($115)
  • Little India on a plate: AED 425.75 ($115)
  • Dubai Souks and creekside food walk: AED 425.75 ($115)
  • Dubai food tour on wheels: AED 487.75 ($132)

You can call to schedule a tour between Saturday through Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Adrenaline Experiences

Dubai has many adventures for any adrenaline lover. From being thrown out of a plane to walking next to sharks, there are plenty of experiences to gift someone.

Sky Diving

There are two different kinds of skydiving you can partake in:

  • Outdoor – This is the form of skydiving that professionals consider to be “real” skydiving. This is where you will take a flight up to 13,000 feet high and jump from the plane with a parachute strapped to your back.

There is also the option for beginners to tandem skydive with a professional where you will be tightly-fastened and secured to the instructor.

  • Indoor – This is where a vertical wind tunnel gives the simulation of an actual free fall. This is indoor and doesn’t involve any natural elements. This is a good version for younger skydivers or someone who is afraid of outdoor heights.

Skydive Dubai has two locations in Dubai and has a great reputation for safety and expertise and also is one of the leading skydiving companies in the world. They hold several Guinness World Records.

The two locations are the Desert Campus drop zone and the Palm drop zone.

  • The Desert Campus drop zone is outside of the city, offering a view of desert dunes.
  • The Palm drop zone delivers a view of the Palm Islands and the Dubai city skyline.

Prices:

  • Tandem: AED 1,499 ($408)
  • Experienced divers: AED 120 ($32)

At In-Flight Dubai, you can experience the sky diving feel in an indoor wind tunnel if you aren’t ready or willing to jump out of an airplane. For beginners, you can “earn your wings” at AED184 ($50).

Walk With Sharks

At Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, you can be given an oxygenated helmet and then put into a cage where you will be descended into their 10 million liter tank to walk with the sharks.

You don’t need to have diving experience, know how to swim, or even get your hair wet.

Guests must be medically fit to dive and at least 12 years old.

The experience lasts about 25 minutes and will surround you with 33,000 fish, rays, and sharks. This costs AED 620 ($168) and allows free access to the Aquarium tunnel and Underwater zoo.

Dubai Autodrome

Dubai autodrome is a place you can go to satisfy someone’s need for speed. You can choose from a variety of different cars that can accelerate very quickly and give them a whip around the track.

There are several different “experiences” to choose from at different costs, a few options include:

  • Easy drift experience: AED 1000 ($272)
  • McLaren sprint experience: AED 2365 ($643)
  • Ferrari GT experience: AED 2995 ($815)
  • F1 experience for the elite: AED 9995 ($2721)

There is also the option to be a passenger while a professional driver for AED 250-825.

Indoor Ski

You wouldn’t think of skiing when you thought of Dubai; however, Ski Dubai is a famous indoor ski resort located inside the Mall of Emirates.

For experienced skiers/snowboarders, a two-hour pass will cost AED 210 ($57). A full day costing AED 310 ($84)

Ski Dubai also has a snow park that gives you access to bobsledding, tubing, snow bumpers, a climbing wall, a snow playground, and an ice cave. The price of this will cost AED 190 ($51)

In The Clouds

The Lounge on the 152nd floor of the Burj Khalifa is known to be the world’s highest lounge, making you feel like you are dining in the clouds. They have large windows that give you a beautiful view of the Dubai skyline.

There are different dining experiences to choose from:

  • Breakfast in the clouds: AED 618 ($168)
  • Tea in the clouds: AED 618 ($168)
  • Bubbly sundowner: AED 667 ($181)
  • Cocktails under the stars: AED 618 ($168)

Fly An A380

Located at the Dubai Mall, the Emirates A380 Experience allows you to experience the excitement of flying the world’s largest aircraft with their flight simulator.

You can choose your destination from one of the many airports around the world and select from a range of different flight paths, flight times, and weather conditions.

Tickets cost AED 160.

Dinner In The Sky

Dinner in the sky is a different type of dining experience than what you are used to. Forbes selected them in their list of the 10 most unusual restaurants in the world.

The table is suspended by a crane 50 meters high in the sky to allow you to enjoy your dining experience while experiencing Dubai’s scenery,

During the week, there are several different sessions to choose from. The pricing goes up a bit on the weekend:

Meal Time Cost Monday-Thursday Cost                  Friday and Saturday
Lunch #1 2:00 – 3:00 pm AED 599 ($163) AED 699 ($190)
Late #2 3:30 – 5:00 pm AED 599 ($163) AED 699 ($190)
Afternoon tea 5:00 – 6:30 pm AED 499 ($135) AED 599 ($163)
Dinner #1 6:30 – 8 pm AED 699 ($190) AED 799 ($217)
Dinner #2 8 – 9:30 pm AED 699 ($190) AED 799 ($217)
Dinner #3 9:30 – 11 pm AED 699 ($190) AED 799 ($217)

Shipwreck Scuba Diving

The waters of Dubai are home to some of the world’s best dive centers, so giving the gift of scuba diving is a great experience to give. Shipwreck scuba diving is an interesting experience that allows you to view and learn about history.

  •  Jumeirah Beach: This location allows you to dive into the deeper parts and experience many different fish species and other sea creatures. You will also get to see ancient shipwrecks.
  • Zainab Wreck Diving: Zainab is a shipwreck that is said to have been illegally transporting fuel from Iraq in 2001 when the crew willingly sank it in order to avoid the US Navy. This wreck allows about 20 meters of diving where you can still see the equipment is used to smuggle.
  • Mariam Express shipwreck: When caught up in the heavy sea, the Mariam Express sank in 2003, leaving behind all its cargo, including construction vehicles.
  • MV Dara shipwreck: In 1961, the MV Dara sank after an explosion killed 238 people. This ship is now 17 meters below the surface and is home to plenty of marine life.  

Tours of Dubai

There are several different types of city tours you can partake in, they have hop-on hop-off busses, guided city tours, and private tours. Some will have a focus on the old town while some will focus on a modern city or a combination of both.

Dubai Marina Dinner Cruise

Alexandra Dhow Cruise is a traditional Arabic wooden dhow that allows you to enjoy sights from the water. The boat features a bar, a female singer, and a male Tanura dancer. 

Pricing for Ramadan and summer: EUR 42.49 ($11)

No entertainment during Ramadan.

Pricing for dinner cruise: EUR 43.03 ($11)

Dubai Sightseeing Boat Tours

A lot of great sights in Dubai are best admired on the water. Here is a list of some of the best sightseeing boat tours in Dubai:

Desert Tours

When visiting Dubai, it is a great experience to visit the desert. Dubai has popular desert tours that allow you to take camel rides, enjoy a BBQ dinner, or ride the dunes.

Al Khayma Desert Camp has many different activities you can partake in. There is dune bashing, camel rides, sandboarding, Tanoura and Belly dancing, and others. There are several different tours you can choose from that will bring you to this camp.

  • Dubai morning desert safari, sandboarding, camels, and quad bike. This is a 4-5 hour. You’ll be picked up at your hotel in a 4×4 Land Cruiser to be brought to the sand dunes for about 45 minutes of dune bashing.

Once the ride is over, you can participate in sandboarding. After that, you will be brought to the Al Khayma camp where you can take camel rides and enjoy brunch. AED 128 ($34)

  • Premium red dunes and camel safari with BBQ –  This is a 6-7 hour tour that will begin by being picked up at your hotel in a 4 x 4 Land Cruiser and brought on a 60-minute ride in the desert, followed by dune bashing and sandboarding before arriving at Al Khayma camp.

At the camp, you can take camel rides, enjoy coffee, and Arabian clothes before enjoying a buffet-style BBQ dinner. AED 146 ($39)

  • Dubai sunrise balloon flight – This 6-hour experience will begin before the sun rises, where you will be picked up and brought to the desert where you will float above in a hot air balloon to enjoy the morning sunrise.

Once the ride is over, you will be able to enjoy breakfast. AED 1248 ($339)

Camel Ride Tours

Some desert tours only allow a short camel ride. However, there are tours specifically designed to be led on a camel.

  • Sunrise camel trek – You will be picked up before the sunrise and brought to the desert where you’ll be able to take a 25-minute camel ride through the desert while the sun is rising. You’ll take a break and then continue the camel ride for another 20 minutes and then enjoy breakfast. AED 220 ($59)
  • Sunset camel trek – You will be picked up and brought to the desert where you’ll get to enjoy a 30-45 minute ride while the sun is setting. You can then enjoy tea or coffee and partake in traditional activities before having a BBQ dinner. AED 253 ($69)

Dubai Helicopter Sight Seeing

Dubai has a stunning skyline, so taking an exhilarating helicopter ride to view Dubai’s beauty is a perfect experience gift. A helicopter ride can allow you to see Dubai in a completely different way.

You’ll be able to view famous landmarks such as Burj Al Arab, Palm Island, the historic Dubai Creek, as well as the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

There are several different tours to choose from:

  • 12-minute flight – Take off from Palm Jumeirah to head towards the Burj Khalifa and circle back toward the Palm Jumeirah while being able to view other special landmarks. AED 125 ($34)
  • 15-minute flight – Take off from Palm Jumeirah to head over the beach hotels to give you a beautiful view of the coastline and Dubai’s most famous landmark, Burj Al Arab. As the helicopter ride takes you back, you will see Union Square, Sheikh Zayed Road, the Mall of Emirates, and the Burj Khalifa. AED 154 ($41)
  • 25-minute flight – This flight encompasses all of the 15-minute flight but with an added 25-minutes over the Camel Racetrack, Naad al Sheba Racetrack, the Emirates gold club, and the historic Dubai Creek. AED 253 ($68)

Wrapping up

As you can see, there is almost no limit to the experiences available in Dubai. You can gift them to a loved one and even go along to share in them. Best of all, you don’t have to find room for them in a suitcase!

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