Umm Suqeim 3, Jumeirah · Dubai

Kite Beach

The most used public beach in Dubai and the best organised: free entry, lifeguards, showers, a 14-kilometre running track behind it, food trucks along the back, and kitesurfers out front most afternoons. The Burj Al Arab sits in the frame from almost anywhere on the sand.

Calm shallow water and pale sand on a Dubai public beach

Why go

Free entry, lifeguarded, with free showers and changing rooms
14 km running and cycling track along the back
Kitesurfing, kayaks and paddleboards for hire
Food trucks, skate park and beach volleyball

What is actually there

Kite Beach is a working public beach rather than a strip of empty sand. Behind the beach runs a soft-surface track used by half of Jumeirah at six in the morning and again after dark, with outdoor gym equipment, a skate park and a row of food kiosks. On the sand there are volleyball nets, kayak and paddleboard hire, and the kitesurfing school the beach is named after.

Changing rooms and showers are free. Sunbed and umbrella hire is the only thing on the beach itself that costs money, and plenty of people simply bring a towel.

Timing and etiquette

From October to April it is usable all day. May to September, the sand is genuinely too hot to walk on barefoot at midday and the sea reaches bath temperature — go before eight or after five. Some stretches are floodlit until midnight in summer, which is when residents actually swim.

Swimwear is fine on the beach. Walking off it into a supermarket in it is not — cover up once you leave the sand. That is a rule everywhere in the UAE and it is the one visitors trip over.

Kite Beach, answered

Is Kite Beach free?

Yes. Entry, lifeguards, showers and changing rooms all cost nothing. Only sunbeds, watersports hire and food are paid.

Can women swim at Kite Beach?

Yes, ordinary swimwear is normal here and nobody will comment. If you would prefer a women-only beach, Sunset Beach has segregated days and Al Mamzar Beach Park runs ladies' days midweek.