Camping + Kayaking in Hatta, UAE

Travel

Jan 16

Written By

Since getting little Laszlo we have been looking for more dog friendly adventures here in the UAE - which can be tricky! But we found out that Hatta Kayaking allows dogs and we were SOLD! Kayaking the dam had been on our UAE bucketlist since we moved here so Im so glad we never got around to doing it until now so that we could take Laz with us!

We love to kayak and be on the water so exposing him to being in a boat was important to us while he was still a puppy. We went when he was about 4-5 months old and he did GREAT! We drove up to Hatta in the afternoon, hiked up to the dam because we found some info online that there were hiking trails here - but it was CRAZY crowded and we couldn't find the trails, so we decided to just go find a camp spot for the evening and come back tomorrow to kayak.

Camping

In the UAE you can wild camp anywhere you can find - as long as its not private property - (which is denoted by a sign or fence). We drove around and did a U-turn at the Oman border crossing and camped off the side of E44. There are mountains on one side and some trees on the other - both are great choices.

We made camp, cooked burgers and watched Friends on our travel projector (we LOVE it) and slept in the tent for the first time with Laz. Spoiler alert - he is a better camper than we are! We tossed and turned all night and he slept like champ. Tip - this is a great place to camp, but you are close to the horse farm that takes tourists on tours and that big highway, so bring earplugs if you are a sensitive sleeper.

We woke up the next morning, as we made camp in the dark - fun fact: it gets dark in the UAE around 5:30 pretty much year-round. We woke up to find that we were camping under these gorgeous villas that are also on our bucket list! They are small, glass front villas that overlook the mountains and are so dreamy! So, can we check that off our list too?!

Kayaking

We packed a lunch and headed back to the dam. It was chaos again, so we were glad we went early. The day before we had to walk really far to get there, today we were able to park in the lot but it filled up super fast - so morning is best.

Laz has an adorable puppy lifejacket (that he only wiggled out of once and then was fine the rest of the day) and he was a ROCKSTAR. People were literally pulling him out of our hands to take photos with him - it was nuts. He is essentially a Kardashian here. I didnt get any pics of the drama because I was trying to get through it as quickly as possible. But once we were on the water it was smooth sailing - literally. The dam is certainly crowded and filled with other kayakers and boaters, but we felt like we had plenty of privacy and space to paddle. There isnt really anywhere 'to go' but there are some little coves to explore but the view of those stone mountains, the green water and the warm sun is heaven.

Hatta Kayak allows you to stay out as long as you'd like but you can't get out the boat. There are lifeguards and rescue boats (mostly towing the electric boats) everywhere. There are also lockers to store your stuff if you don't have a dry bag or car.

Costs

For the price (120AED for a double kayak), the beauty and the fact that they allow dogs (free) this was such a win! We had the most fun introducing our little bestie to our favorites - camping + kayaking and we see very much more adventure in his future!

For this trip, we brought all our food from home and camped for free, all we paid for was the kayaking. The trip took about an hour and a half from Sharjah - so it's very doable as a day trip and can be a super fun and inexpensive weekend if you like to camp. Id love to go back and hike and see more of Hatta. I was really surprised at how beautiful the city was - it has a very middle eastern - Palm Springs vibe.