From Kite Beach along Dubai Municipality's free beach track past the groynes, the night-swimming beach and the Umm Suqeim 2 fishing harbor to Umm Suqeim 2 Beach, the closest public beach to the Burj Al Arab.
Start · Kite Beach: A Beach With a Job
DirectionsStops
- 1
Kite Beach: A Beach With a Job
A free public beach with kites offshore. Umm Suqeim 1 Beach, better known as Kite Beach: 2.4 km of Dubai Municipality sand with a kite-surfing area, open around the clock.
- 2
Jogging Track: A Beach for Every Day
A running track built for the neighborhood. Dubai Municipality's jogging track, access corridors and beach wheelchairs, on a beach approved for a 3.1 km redesign in February 2026.
- 3
Groynes: Holding the Sand in Place
Five groynes hold this beach in place. Planned in 2014 after what Dubai Municipality called severe erosion due to offshore development, with about 760,000 cubic meters of new sand.
- 4
Kite Beach Cafes: Shade and Manners
The busiest stretch of the whole beach. Free toilets and a row of cafe kiosks with a little shade, and the walk's one stop for dress, photography and Ramadan manners.
- 5
Night Swimming Beach: Lit for the Dark
A beach built for swimming after dark. One of three lit night-swimming beaches Dubai Municipality opened on 14 May 2023, with light poles and safety screens.
- 6
Last Groyne: The Island Going Up
Cranes rise on a new island offshore. The fifth groyne, with The Island across the bay: an artificial island for three MGM hotels, due to open in 2028.
- 7
Burj Al Arab View: The Sail Across the Bay
The sail rises over a newer hotel. The Burj Al Arab, 321 m, on an island built for it about 280 m offshore, designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins and inaugurated in 1999.
- 8
Fishing Harbour: The Working Coast
A fishermen's harbor rebuilt by Dubai Customs. Umm Suqeim 2 Fishing Harbour, one of three rebuilt from 2008 to 2014 with 466 berths, 348 of them for fishing boats.
- 9
Umm Suqeim 2 Beach: The Surf Zone
The public beach closest to the sail. Umm Suqeim 2 Beach, 615 m long and about one kilometer from the Burj Al Arab, split into swimming-only and surfing-only areas.
- 10
Swimming Beach: Flags and Lifeguards
The rules that keep swimmers safe here. Buoys, flags and a lifeguard tower: Dubai Municipality's beach rules in one place: swim inside the buoys while lifeguards are on duty, never under a red flag.
- 11
Burj Al Arab: The Closest Public Beach
The sail seen across the water. The Burj Al Arab about one kilometer off, beside the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Marsa Al Arab, the three ship shapes Jumeirah calls its trilogy.
Details
Best Time to Visit
November to March only, in the morning or the late afternoon: there is almost no shade until the palms at stop 9. Best: start about 90 minutes before sunset to reach the end as the sun sets beside the sail. Sunset at the walk is about 17:34 on 10 November, 17:29 at the end of November and 18:12 in mid February (computed, NOAA algorithm, not an official table). The beaches are open around the clock; lifeguards sunrise to sunset. The track is lit along the night beach (stop 5) and by street light elsewhere; the harbour driveways on the way to stop 9 are easier in daylight. Checked 10 November 2026.
Pro Tips
- •Getting there: a taxi to Kite Beach, the Kite Club end of Umm Suqeim 1 Beach, is the easy way. RTA buses run along Jumeira Street, a few minutes inland (cross at the signals), but no route number was verified for these stops: check the RTA S'hail app before you go. No Metro station is within walking distance. Checked 10 November 2026.
- •Getting back: a taxi rank stands on the beach car park about 80 m back along the curved promenade from stop 11, with free toilets beside it. The nearest bus stop is on Jumeira Street, about 375 m inland; cross Jumeira Street only at the signals. Checked 10 November 2026.
- •Free toilets: at stop 1 (with a cold shower), stop 4, stop 9 and by the taxi rank at the end. Kiosks at stop 4; cafes on the land side at stop 9.
- •Madinat Jumeirah is about 1.5 km further south-west, on Jumeirah's resort ground; the footway along Jumeira Street passes resort walls, so a taxi is easier.
- •Photographs: the Burj Al Arab is best from stops 7 and 11, backlit at sunset. Never photograph people, especially women and families, without asking.
Safety & Precautions
- •Between stop 8 and stop 9 the track crosses three driveways into the fishing harbour, two of them close together, with no marked crossing. Cars turning in come from your left and from behind you; cars leaving come out of the gates on your right. Stop at the edge, look left, behind you and right, and cross only when it is clear; never squeeze behind a car waiting at a gate.
- •Almost no shade from stop 1 to stop 8. Carry water and wear a hat; walk November to March, mornings or late afternoon. The running track and sand get hot underfoot in the afternoon.
- •Swim only inside the buoyed areas while lifeguards are on duty (sunrise to sunset) and never under a red flag; no swimming after sunset outside the lit night beach at stop 5, where you follow the lifeguards and signs (Dubai Municipality).
- •On some public holidays Dubai Municipality reserves these beaches for families (Umm Suqeim 1 and 2 were on the lists for New Year and Eid Al Adha 2026). Check before you go; if the track is closed to you, the sidewalk of the street alongside runs the same line. Next to watch: Eid Al Etihad, 2 to 3 December 2026.
- •Works: a master plan for the Umm Suqeim beaches was approved on 1 February 2026 with no start date announced; fences or detours may appear on the track. Follow the signs. Checked 10 November 2026.
- •Swimwear on the beach only; cover up for the street and cafes. Drones need a permit. During Ramadan (expected from about 8 February 2027) avoid eating or drinking openly in daylight.
- •From stops 7 and 11 the lower part of the Burj Al Arab is hidden behind Marsa Al Arab's newer hotel block; the upper sail stands clear.
Travel advisory: Reconsider Travel (Level 3).
Gallery
Related Reading
Go deeper on what you'll see, hear, and walk through.
Read the walk
The full story of Jumeirah Beach and the Burj Al Arab: A Coast Built by Hand, in words. Prefer to listen? Play it narrated, from home or on location.
Introduction
Dubai's beach coast looks like nature at its easiest: sand, sea, palms, and the Burj Al Arab's sail on the horizon. Very little of it was left to nature. The beach is held in place by long walls built out into the sea, and topped up with new sand. It is lit so people can swim after dark. The fishermen's harbor was rebuilt by the state. And the sail itself stands on an island made for it. This walk follows Dubai Municipality's free beach track from Kite Beach to the public beach closest to the Burj Al Arab.
There are eleven stops over about two and a half kilometers, a little over a mile and a half, and it takes about seventy minutes. It is flat and step-free, with no road to cross, but later on, behind a fishing harbor, the track crosses three driveways: take care there. There is almost no shade. The best months are November to March, in the morning or the late afternoon, with water and a hat. Best of all, start about an hour and a half before sunset, which comes at about half past five in November and after six by February, and you reach the end as the sun drops beside the sail. On some public holidays these beaches are reserved for families, so check before you go. The walk ends at the far end of Umm Suqeim Two Beach, near a taxi rank. When you arrive at Kite Beach, begin with stop one.
1. Kite Beach: A Beach With a Job
Stop on the beach track, with the sand and the sea on your right and the street on your left. In front of you is Umm Suqeim One Beach, which everyone calls Kite Beach. Far ahead, down the coast, you may already see a tall white sail standing over the sea. That is the Burj Al Arab, and that is where this walk is going.
Dubai Municipality runs this beach. Its own page gives it two point four kilometers of sand, a jogging track, a boardwalk, and an area set aside for kite surfing, with motorized water sports kept apart from the swimmers. On a windy day the kites hang over the water out there. On a calm day there may be none at all.
The beach is free, and open around the clock. On this coast that matters. Much of the shoreline to the south is hotel ground, and the public beaches are the city's shared space: families at the weekend, runners in the early morning, people out for the cooler air after dark.
Now look at the sand nearest you, about fifty meters off. A long, straight arm runs out from the beach toward the sea. It is one of five like it on this beach, and they are the reason the sand is still here. More on that in two stops.
There are free toilets and a cold shower here, by the club building. Drink some water before you set off.
Follow the route along the track, with the sea on your right. Next is the jogging track itself.
2. Jogging Track: A Beach for Every Day
Walk on to the outdoor fitness station beside the track, and stop there. The track runs straight both ways, between the sand and the street, and every so often a path leads off it, across the sand, toward the water.
Those paths are part of the design. Dubai Municipality lists access corridors on these beaches for people of determination, the UAE's term for people with disabilities, and for the elderly. It names both the Umm Suqeim beaches on this walk among its accessible beaches, with beach wheelchairs and floating wheelchairs at selected ones. Across the street, the low villas of Umm Suqeim face the sea. For the people who live in them, this is the neighborhood beach, and this track is where they run.
It is due to change. On the first of February twenty twenty six, a master plan was approved for three point one kilometers of the Umm Suqeim beaches. The Dubai Media Office described smart lighting over a hundred and thirty thousand square meters, for evening use and night swimming, and a thirty eight meter observation tower. The National newspaper added a two kilometer retaining wall and raised beach levels, with about thirty percent more beach. No start date has been announced. If you meet fences or detours along here, that is probably why: follow the signs.
Follow the route along the track. Next is the first of those long arms running out into the sea.
3. Groynes: Holding the Sand in Place
Stop level with the long arm running out across the sand on your right, toward the sea. It is a groyne, and there are five of them on this beach. Look along the shore: at each one, the line of the beach steps out toward the water.
In twenty fourteen Dubai Municipality said this coast had a problem. The beaches of Umm Suqeim, a stretch of about three and a half kilometers running down to the Burj Al Arab, had suffered what it called severe erosion due to offshore development. Its plan, reported in the Khaleej Times newspaper, was five groynes on this beach, each between about a hundred and thirty five and a hundred and sixty five meters long, and about seven hundred and sixty thousand cubic meters of new sand. That is enough sand to fill about three hundred Olympic swimming pools. Five groynes of that length are mapped here today.
Here is the idea. Sand does not stay still on a beach: the sea moves it along the coast, a little at a time. A groyne is a wall across that flow. Sand gathers against it, and the beach there grows wider. Put a row of them along a shore, and the sand stays roughly where you want it.
And why was the sand leaving? The municipality's own answer was those two words, offshore development: the new land built out in the sea off this coast. So the beach under your feet is not simply a beach. It is a piece of engineering, held in place on purpose.
Follow the route along the track. Next is the busiest stretch of the beach, with shade and toilets.
4. Kite Beach Cafes: Shade and Manners
Walk on to the row of cafe kiosks facing the sand, and stop by the toilets. This is the busiest stretch of the beach. There are free toilets here, and the kiosk canopies give the first real shade since the start.
Come back in the evening, especially at the weekend, and you will see what this row is for. When the day's heat goes, people come out to the sand, the kiosks fill, and the track stays busy long after dark.
A few manners, said once for the whole walk. Swimwear belongs on the beach itself: cover up when you leave the sand for the street or the cafes. Never photograph people, and especially women and families, without asking first. In the UAE that is a matter of law, not only of politeness. Drones need a permit. And if you walk during Ramadan, which is expected to begin in early February twenty twenty seven, avoid eating or drinking openly in daylight, and expect opening hours to shift.
Follow the route along the track. Next, the tall lights of the night beach.
5. Night Swimming Beach: Lit for the Dark
Walk on to the open shelter beside the track, and stop in its shade. Look along the sand: tall light poles stand in a line by the water, and at the edge of the swimming area there are electronic screens. This is a night beach. Dubai Municipality opened it on the fourteenth of…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
6. Last Groyne: The Island Going Up
Stop level with the last of the long arms on your right, the fifth groyne. Beyond it, across the bay ahead and to the right, you can see cranes and concrete frames standing out over the water. That is a building site on a new artificial island, called simply The…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
7. Burj Al Arab View: The Sail Across the Bay
Walk on to where the track meets the open sand, and stop. Look ahead, across the bay, at the tall white sail. That is the Burj Al Arab, about two kilometers away. First, see what is really in front of you. The top of the sail stands clear against the sky, but its lower part is…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
8. Fishing Harbour: The Working Coast
As the track bends around the corner of the harbor, stop where a short path drops to the sand. The basin is on your right, with boats moored along its pontoons and a stone breakwater with a light at its mouth. This is Umm Suqeim Two Fishing Harbour, one of three fishermen's…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
9. Umm Suqeim 2 Beach: The Surf Zone
Walk on past the harbor's car park to the head of the next beach, by the toilets and the fitness station, and stop. The sand opens out ahead of you, and the Burj Al Arab is straight ahead, nearer now. This is Umm Suqeim Two Beach. Dubai Municipality calls it the closest public…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
10. Swimming Beach: Flags and Lifeguards
Walk on along the palms to the middle of the beach, by the lifeguard posts, and stop. Look at the water: a line of buoys and ropes marks out the swimming area, and a flag flies at the lifeguard tower. Dubai Municipality's rules for its beaches are simple, and they are the ones…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
11. Burj Al Arab: The Closest Public Beach
Walk on to the end of the track, where it curves into a small promenade, and stop. Ahead, across the water, is the Burj Al Arab, about a kilometer away. No public beach comes closer. Look at it carefully. A broad hotel block stands in front of its lower part, so the island and…
Full narration for this stop unlocks with the tour.
- This illustration is part of the Images from UAE in Lens Competition, it shows Birds and Boats at dawn in Umm suqeim port with Burj Khalifa — Yousrafayed, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Images may be cropped or resized. Other photos via Unsplash and Pexels.