Discover the natural riches of the UAE desert on this 5-hour conservation expedition from Dubai. Board an air-conditioned Land Rover Defender with a safari driver-guide, and explore the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, a natural sanctuary that helps protect the country’s ecosystem. During your drive, look for rare Arabian oryx, desert monitors, gazelles and native plants as your guide shares facts about desert, its animals and traditional Bedouin customs. Finish with delicious light snacks at the upscale Al Maha Desert Resort as you soak in the serene surrounding desert and dunes.

5-hour conservation drive tour with round-trip transport from Dubai
Discover the unique desert habitat of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve in a Land Rover Defender
Look for Arabian oryx, gazelles, monitors and other protected wildlife
Learn about the ecosystem, wildlife and the Bedouins’ use of desert flora from your expert guide
Take advantage of fantastic opportunities to snap photos of the wildlife and flora
Relax over delicious light refreshments at the plush Al Maha Desert Resort
Enjoy a hotel pickup and drop-off service from central Dubai

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off in luxury Land Rover Defender
Breakfast at the Al Maha desert resort
National Park fees
Professional guide
Nature Safari inside the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:30 AM

Pickup details

We pick up from any hotel in Dubai. Pickup from a residence or an apartment is possible if booked in a private vehicle. Pick-up times will vary throughout the year based on sunrise times. Please use the following schedule as a guideline when planning your day and preparing for pick-up between 06.30am – 07.00am. A confirmation of your exact pick-up time will be communicated to you via e-mail or a phone call around 17:00h on the day before the excursion. Should you not hear from us, please contact us.

What To Expect

After pickup from your Dubai hotel, climb into your inviting Range Rover, and journey deep into the desert around Dubai.

An hour or so later, pull up at the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The UAE’s first-ever national park, this beautiful sanctuary helps conserve the area’s unique ecology and wildlife; providing a haven for countless animal, bird and plant species.

After a professional safari guide has taken the wheel of your Mercedes-Benz G Wagon, start out on your exploration of the reserve. As you travel, hear revealing facts about the ecosystem and the work being done to help safeguard the 100 or so animal species here, some of them highly endangered.

Look for the wildlife that roams free here through the provided, powerful binoculars, and with luck, spot creatures such as the elusive Arabian oryx, Ethiopian hedgehog and Gordon’s wildcat, as well as more common animals such desert monitors and gazelles. Keep your camera poised at all times, as sightings can be sudden and fleeting!

On route, your guide will identify indigenous plants and explain how the Bedouin peoples have traditionally used them for culinary and health purposes.

After roughly 1.5 hours of exploring, continue to the Al Maha Desert Resort, an upscale hotel and spa resort tucked deep in the park. Here, nibble on light snacks of pastries, cakes and other tidbits teamed with fruit juice, tea or coffee. Discuss your wildlife quest and admire the ocean of rolling dunes that frame the resort.

After a return to Dubai by minivan, your tour ends with a hotel drop-off.

Dubai

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Dubai

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
Minimum age is 10 years

Please note: Guides in the following languages (Arabic, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Italian) are upon request and availability.
A minimum of two guests is required to operate this experience
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

ConstanseMjeldheim_B

Fantastic start to the morning followed by a scrumptious brekkie with great views. Interesting to learn about the desert conservation area

Reviews

5.0

167 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 167 reviews

Oryx in UAE

Marlene_D, Apr 2024

What a day! The vast number of Arabian oryx was a surprise. Seeing them behind a fence was ok but we were sure hoping to see them roaming the dunes. After some rather anxious minutes with a few gazelles and some sand fish…there they were! Oryx on the red sand and munching on native plants. It was just great! We had a pleasant but a rather new guide who did not know too much about the birds or plants which would have been nice. The oryx were outstanding so that was why we were there. Lunch at the resort was really great and we enjoyed the view of the water hole as a few gazelles strolled by. If you want to see oryx then this is the trip for you!

Great start to the am

ConstanseMjeldheim_B, Mar 2024

Fantastic start to the morning followed by a scrumptious brekkie with great views. Interesting to learn about the desert conservation area

Excellent desert tour, great tour guide / driver

Richard_H, Feb 2024

The tour guide, John, was excellent. Provided lots of information about the desert environment and wildlife. He stopped at some nice photo spots and took some excellent picture of my wife an me. The breakfast was great and in a nice setting. This was one of our best tours in Dubai.

This was an awesome with...

Kacy_G, Feb 2024

This was an awesome with a very knowledgeable tour guide. The desert and wildlife in the UAE were wonderful to get to see and experience. My only real complaint with this tour is that the cost was a bit high for what it involves. It was the most expensive activity that we booked for our week and was shorter and involved less then many of the others.

What a great day in the desert!

Nellie_T, Feb 2024

What a great day in the desert! We saw lots of birds, learned about the desert plants and got up close to the oryx and gazelles. Even saw some fox tracks and snakes burrows. Oscar was the best guide with a wealth of knowledge on Dubai and the desert reserve, and also really fun to bird with.

Fabulous trip highly recommended

Keith_D, Feb 2024

Fabulous trip I would definitely recommend, our guide was friendly and knowledgeable made the whole experience so much nicer. It was lovely to see the animals running free in a safe environment. The breakfast was lovely with so much choice, there would definitely be something there to suit everyone.

I did this tour with my...

Jasmin_H, Jan 2024

I did this tour with my mum and sister as an alternative to the more common dune-bashing drives which I heard can make you feel sick, and we all rated this as one of the top experiences in Dubai. The breakfast at the luxury resort was incredible - the view was amazing and the food was generous and really tasty. Our guide Austin was also very knowledgeable and very funny so the whole drive was really fun and insightful. Given it's a conservation area, you are guaranteed to see animals which is also a big plus. Would definitely recommend this!

Mehdi is a great guide!...

Jamie_M, Dec 2023

Mehdi is a great guide! He arrived early to pick us up from our hotel and was fun, informative, and entertaining. Nice morning trip to the reserve!

Beautiful way to experience the desert

Wendi_B, Nov 2023

This was such a beautiful way to spend a Saturday morning in Dubai. I live in Dubai and my sister is visiting for the first time so wanted to give her something more than a tourist attraction experience of the desert. This experience was beyond expectations. After an hours drive out of central Dubai we arrived in the reserve, we were given a flask to fill with water (a keepsake gift) and had the headscarf applied. We then drove into the reserve for our first stop. Our very knowledgable guide insisted we took our shoes off to experience the sand beneath our feet and be at one with the earth, this gives you a flavour of how sincerely our guide took his responsibilities as host, ensuring we didn’t miss a single experience, taking photos for us, and teaching us so much about everything around us. We finished the tour with a delicious breakfast where we were joined at the table by a gorgeous gazelle who lacked a few table manners but was excused on the basis of being utterly adorable. This tour is a must for anyone looking for something authentic, educational and gentle.

Hot day and new friends

Lehman_E, Sep 2023

The guide was exactly on time to start the tour and the communications I had with the tour operator were easy and answered in a timely manner. The trip was exactly as expected. The guide was knowledgeable about the area and pointed things out in time for all to see, even stopping where possible to allow photographs to be taken. Yes it was hot and dry but the guests had plenty of water if needed and were cautioned about how to deal with conditions. The guide spoke English very well. I was surprised to find myself paired up with a couple from France. The guide was from Cameroon and of course spoke French. I actually welcomed this experience as it was very nice to practice my fractured French adding to the good experience of this trip. The expected wildlife was easily located as were a few unexpected animals. I would take another tour with the guide if I was staying longer. I got everything I wanted from this tour.

Wonderful Morning

Tina_M, Apr 2023

Wonderful morning and saw plenty of wildlife. The breakfast was also luxury. You may even spot a gazelle or two joining it!!!

Great experience and...

Graham_M, Feb 2023

Great experience and memorable Friendly guide with lots of info. Lovely breakfast and made to feel welcome. Nice keepsake items too

5 star Wildlife Conservation Tour and Breakfast in the Desert

Lisa_M, Oct 2022

I cannot select just ONE highlight. This tour was one of the best (from beginning to end) I have ever had. Such a beautiful project (wildlife conservation efforts), a wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide (Leesa from South Africa) and an amazing HUGE breakfast that was soooo good! Thank goodness it was at the end of the tour as I needed a nap after this breakfast. The menu in the photo was for items you wanted to order. This was in addition to numerous other items available on a buffet. After you place your order from the menu, they still offered pancakes, waffles and french toast if you were still hungry. Beautiful area for breakfast! There were hundreds of animals but the windows didn't allow for that great of photos and of course with all the sand, we didn't lower the windows. The manmade lake has fish and attracted numerous species of birds. I went in August (low season) so I was fortunate enough to be the only tourist with the tour guide and loved our one on one tour. She was so knowledgeable and absolutely seemed to love her job and shared my love for wildlife. Highly recommend this tour to anyone going to Dubai

Great private desert tour.

Kevin_P, Mar 2022

Great tour. Majeet our guide was awesome and informative. Definitely worth doing to see more of Dubai than just the city. Breakfast at Al Maha has many options with a desert view.

Perfect desert toor

EZRAEYAL_R, Dec 2021

Our guide Majed did a great job and made our day perfect. Two thumbs up VIsit to Al Maha resort beautiful with high quality breakfast.

Desert encounter

catherine_s, Nov 2021

It was lovely to be out in the real nature of the desert and see some if the animals that live there and for the nocturnal animals all their tracks were amazing I would have liked longer in safari and longer at the breakfast camp to see the birds that live there

Nice

Eric_L, Mar 2019

nice trip in desert among oryx and gazelle. Nice view from Al Maha during breakfast that we shared with gazelle !

A excellent choice

Hermann_W, Jan 2019

We where picked up at our hotel at the right time by our private guide Tiago. A 45 minutes drive with a stop at the Kamel racing station brought us to the the national park. Tiago had a lot of information about Dubai, so the time run short. The experience at the national park is amazing. We saw many antilopes and gazelles. Tiago had a immense knowledge about the dessert, animals and plants what he shared with us. The stop at the desert resort for breakfast was outstanding. We had a table on the outside with a beautiful view and gazelles around us. We where skeptical about a desert trip as there are many companies with camps of hundreds of people. We had the luck as we picked the best of the private tours. When you want a private tour viatours is the best choice. I lost my classes in the car. Tiago informed me and the day later he brought it back to me.

best experience

MICHAIL_K, Sep 2018

nice vehicleexcellent tourguide-drivernice hotel, it changed my opinion about dubai and is a reason to come back and stay at this hotel !

our driver and guide was wonderful...

Amanda W, Oct 2017

our driver and guide was wonderful and full of information, the dunes were stunning and so close to Dubai centre. Beautifully quiet and such a fantastic location. Breakfast count not be faulted. The only thing Dubai doesn't have is much wild life but I would recommend this trip for all the other things I have mentioned.