| What: Dune Bashing in Qatar: off-roading adventure Where: Doha to Arabian Desert to Persian Gulf Time: 4 hours |
Qatar’s desert vistas are vast, undulating, and beautiful. Dune bashing is a four-wheel exploration of these desert dunes. Modern nomads can admire the stunning wind-blown landscapes and unlock adventures across the sand. At the Arabian Desert, you can go sandboarding, ride a camel, and dip your toes in the Inland Sea.
Camels and Sandboards | Dune Bashing | Inland Sea | Road to Doha | Video Tour
Riding Camels and Sandboards
From the supertall skyscrapers of the capital city of Doha, it is a one-hour van ride south, past Al Wakrah. At a local camel camp south of Mesaieed, we sip karak tea. There are many forms of entertainment in the desert. You can hold a falcon. A brief camel ride takes you to a hill and back. Then, it is off to a secret spot for a quick sandboarding session.
Dune Bashing
After refreshments, our guide Ahmed drives our Toyota Land Cruiser down the Qatari coast for about half an hour. Although the Persian Gulf is to the west, there aren’t really any roads. The sandy terrain is tan and golden with some large dunes, hills, and ridges. There are tracks from other SUVs, a few cones, and some cell phone towers, but that’s it for navigational aids.
In the soft sand, the truck slides and fishtails when it corners quickly. Ahmed expertly times the turns and speed so the SUV doesn’t flip over. It’s slightly shocking to see the truck lunge straight up or down a tall dune. Along the dune’s crest, the truck hugs the top edge and glides gleefully to the sound system’s banging beats.
Our guide finds a spot above a particularly steep dune. While parking, he pretends he is going to run over one of the guests, which really freaks everyone out.
Inland Sea (Khor Al Adaid)
The Arabian Peninsula is the world’s largest peninsula and is west of the Persian Gulf. Qatar is a small peninsula on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. At Qatar’s southern border, a tiny peninsula shields most of the Inland Sea from the rest of the Persian Gulf. (That’s three nested peninsulas!)
Saudi Arabia is so close you can see it across the sea less than a mile away. The sea border is only 0.2 miles away on the map. You could probably swim across the border if they didn’t stop you.
The crystal-clear water isn’t too cold and has streaks of blue and green. The sand extends for twenty feet or so, and then drops off a cliff where the water turns dark blue. This spot is a popular place for Qatari families to go camping.
As we admire the sunset, the Qatari Air Defence performs some low altitude maneuvers. A pair of F-15s buzzes the beach and rockets away.
Road to Doha
On the way back, Ahmed tells us his family is from Yemen. He grew up in Qatar, and his kids were born here. Sadly, there isn’t a path to citizenship even after multiple generations.
There are many natural gas pipes shooting out flames. Before leaving the desert, we stop at an air station to make sure the tires are neither over or under-inflated. The setting sun looks like a super massive red orb. Photos don’t do this optical illusion any justice.
Dune bashing is a great getaway from Doha. My time in the desert is the highlight of the Qatar World Cup trip.
Directions
| From Doha, take the red line on the Metro to Al Wakra station. A van will drive south for an hour past Mesaieed’s oil refineries to the Desert Safari Camel Ride center. After a camel ride, a Land Cruiser goes dune bashing to a sandboarding site, and then onto the Inland Sea. |
Plan Your Visit
Go sandboarding, dune bashing, camel riding, and explore the Inland Sea. Try this unique Qatari experience:
Get Your Guide – Desert Safari
Video Tour