Camel Rides at the Al Badayer Desert Camp

Camel rides at the Al Badayer desert camp

Experience one of the desert's oldest forms of travel. A short camel ride of roughly five to ten minutes is included with most of our desert safari packages, and it happens at the camp rather than out in the dune field, so it is calm, supervised and suitable for families.

What to expect

• A handler leads the camel; you are not steering it.
• The mount and dismount is the memorable part — a camel stands rear-legs first, so you tip forward before you go up. Hold the front handle and lean back.
• Photographs are part of the stop; the handler will usually take them for you.
• Longer rides out into the sand can be arranged on request.

Ages and suitability

Suitable from around three years old with an adult for under-eights. The ride is gentle and short, which makes it a good alternative for guests who are sitting out the dune drive for medical reasons.

Included with these packages

A short camel ride is included with the shared evening desert safari, the private evening safari, both luxury packages and the early morning private tour. Always check the inclusions on the individual tour page, because standalone and combo products differ.

Camel riding in Dubai, in context

The dromedary — the single-humped Arabian camel — is the reason people could live out here at all. Before the Dubai–Hatta Road (E44) cut through to Hatta, the route across the Al Badayer sand was walked at camel pace, and a caravan covered in a day what our 4x4s now cross in twenty minutes. Sitting on one, even for five minutes at the camp, is the closest most visitors get to that older desert.

Our camels live at the camp beside Big Red and are handled by the same team every day. They are worked in short sessions at the cooler ends of the day, not continuously, and they are led on foot rather than ridden freely — which is what makes a camel ride suitable for a seven-year-old and a seventy-year-old on the same afternoon.

Camel ride photographs that actually work

• Shoot at the mount, not the walk. The camel rising back legs first is the shot everyone wants and nobody expects.
• Get low. Crouching puts the camel against open sky instead of the fence line.
• Late afternoon beats midday. Long shadows across the sand, warm colour on the animal, no squinting.
• Hand your phone to the handler. They take this photo fifty times a day and they know the angle.

Camel welfare at our camp

A fair question, and one we would rather answer plainly. Our camels carry one adult or two small children at a time, work short rotations with rest between them, and are stood down in the hottest part of the day. Anyone who would be too heavy for a comfortable ride is offered a led walk and photographs with the camel instead, which nobody has ever complained about.

Where the camel ride fits in your day

It is a five to ten minute stop, not an expedition, and it sits naturally between the 4x4 dune bashing and the evening BBQ and live shows. Guests who are sitting out the dune drive for medical reasons usually do the camel ride and the sandboarding instead and still get their desert afternoon. Riding something with an engine is a different day — that is quad biking or a dune buggy.