Dubai with Kids: Water Parks and Air Conditioning

Dubai has spent two decades building attractions for families, and it shows: water parks, aquariums, indoor ski slopes and theme parks, most of them large, modern and efficiently run. For a family holiday it is one of the most straightforward destinations in the world — everything is signposted in English, everything takes a card, and the whole place is engineered around comfort.

The constraint is the heat, and it is not a detail. From roughly May to September, daytime temperatures make outdoor activity genuinely unwise for children in the middle of the day. In those months the city runs indoors and after dark, and a family plan has to do the same.

Key facts

• Best for: all ages
• Time needed: one day for this plan; a week if you want the theme parks properly
• Getting around: the metro is cheap and clean; taxis and ride-hailing are inexpensive and often easier with children
• Best months: November to March is comfortable outdoors; June to September is not

9:00 — A water park

Start with water, and start early. Dubai's two big water parks — Aquaventure at Atlantis on the Palm, and Wild Wadi near the Burj Al Arab — are the most reliable family days in the city, and both are far more pleasant in the first two hours after opening than at midday.

Aquaventure is the larger of the two, with a wide range of slides plus a long lazy river and separate zones for small children. Wild Wadi is smaller, easier to navigate with young children, and generally cheaper.

Both provide lockers and towels for a fee, sell food inside, and require swimwear rules to be observed. Sun protection is not optional here: rash vests for children, and shade breaks on a timer.

13:00 — Lunch and the mall

This is where Dubai's mall culture stops being a punchline and starts being useful. The malls are where the city goes in the afternoon, and they are effectively climate-controlled town centres with food halls, play areas and attractions inside them.

The Dubai Mall, beside the Burj Khalifa, holds the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo — a very large viewing panel you can see for free from the walkway, with a paid tunnel and zoo behind it — plus an ice rink and a large indoor entertainment centre.

Mall of the Emirates holds Ski Dubai, an indoor snow park with a slope, toboggan run and penguins. For children who have never seen snow it is memorable; for those who have, it is a novelty that lasts about an hour.

16:00 — The old city, by water

When the sun drops, go to Dubai Creek. This is the older, low-rise, far more atmospheric part of the city, and the crossing is the point: abras, small wooden boats, ferry passengers between the Deira and Bur Dubai sides for a fare of a few dirhams as of writing. It takes five minutes and it is the cheapest genuinely good thing in Dubai.

On either bank are the spice and gold souks. The gold souk is astonishing in the way a shop window is astonishing, and the spice souk smells extraordinary. Both involve persistent sellers; a firm, friendly "no thank you" and keep walking is the local rhythm.

Al Fahidi, on the Bur Dubai side, is a restored quarter of low wind-tower houses and narrow lanes — shaded, quiet, and the only part of the city that gives a child any sense of what was here before.

19:00 — The fountain, then dinner

The fountain show on the lake at the foot of the Burj Khalifa runs every evening at regular intervals and costs nothing to watch. It is short, loud and genuinely impressive, and the surrounding promenade has a great many restaurants with outdoor tables that are pleasant once the sun is down.

If you want the Burj Khalifa observation deck, book a timed slot in advance — sunset slots cost more and sell out first.

The big days out

Dubai Parks and Resorts, south of the city towards Abu Dhabi, gathers several parks on one site including Legoland Dubai and a Legoland water park, aimed squarely at roughly ages 2 to 12.

IMG Worlds of Adventure is a very large indoor theme park — an advantage in summer — with Marvel and Cartoon Network zones and some serious rollercoasters.

A desert safari is the classic half-day trip: dune driving, a camp dinner, camels. It is genuinely good, and worth knowing that the dune-bashing portion makes some children car-sick. Ask for a gentler drive when booking; operators will accommodate it.

Practical notes

Tap water is generally safe but almost everyone drinks bottled; hotels provide it.

Dress codes are relaxed in hotels and beach clubs and more conservative in malls, souks and public areas — shoulders and knees covered is the simple rule for the latter.

Friday is the main day of prayer and some things open later; the working week runs Monday to Friday.

And plan the day around the sun rather than the map. In Dubai the timetable is set by the temperature, and a family that accepts that has a much better week than one that does not.