Beaches in the United Arab Emirates

A country that has built most of its own coastline. The natural Gulf shore is low, hot and shallow, with sabkha salt flats behind it; what exists now in Dubai is engineered — imported sand, constructed profiles, reclaimed islands and breakwaters holding it all in place. That makes the register's Emirati records unusually honest examples of a beach as a designed object, and they are worth reading as such rather than as a lesser version of a natural one. The east coast at Fujairah is the exception and the opposite: it faces the Gulf of Oman across deep water, has reef, and is where divers in the country actually go. Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain hold the quieter Gulf beaches, and the mangrove on Abu Dhabi's channels is a protected habitat paddled rather than swum. Practically: entry to public beaches is free and several are well equipped for accessibility, with matting and beach wheelchairs; ordinary swimwear is normal on the beach and covering up on leaving it for the promenade or a mall is the local expectation; and Friday and Saturday are the weekend. Sea temperatures exceed thirty degrees from July to September, warmer than most people find refreshing, and with air temperatures to match, so the practical season runs November to March.

Three of the four are artificial and reclaimed beaches; the rest are grand resort beaches. The sand is quartz sand throughout. Together they account for 15 km of shore. · computed from the 4 records below