After just about three hours of resting from the city tour that ended up food tripping at SOY, we agreed to an impromptu invite from Leonel’s high school friend, Louella, who’s based in Sharjah. She invited us for a night walk and swimming at Jumeirah Open Beach.
We left Deira at around 6:00 PM and took a taxi bound for Jumeirah instead of the Metro for economical and convenience reasons. We reached the place in about 35 minutes.
Darkness already fell by the time we alighted from the taxi. The place looked so different from what we’ve seen when we passed by the area during the morning city tour. The marriage of lights and darkness gives Jumeirah Open Beach a dramatic and dreamy look.
Jumeirah is currently one of the most frequented tourist spots in Dubai because of the rustic white beach resorts in it that’s for free—most of them. It’s like Tahlia Street in Riyadh adorned with trendsetting shopping centers and restaurants—without the beach of course—that give a decent contrast to its modernity. It’s located just after Palm Strip Mall at the lower end of the beach road—the opposite end to Burj Al Arab.
Jumeirah Open Beach’s strategic location is another reason why expats and locals are crazy about hanging out here. No millennials or youngsters could resist the idea of a relaxing hangout that entails getting the best of both the urban jungle and rural playground flair. A white-sand beach alongside a commercial area equipped with upscale entertainment facilities, you could be imagining yourself in Beverly Hills.
Dubai has many beaches but only a few of them are for the public. If you happen to visit Dubai for a couple of days or more, a stopover at any of the public beaches is a must. Caution must be observed though because there were already a considerable number of recorded swimming-related accidents at the beaches—which usually look calm but strong rip tides and currents that could sweep out (even) skilled swimmers lie within. One precautionary measure is to never swim alone especially at night.
We had to gorge on some Pinoy food at Chowking restaurant before we dipped ourselves and frolicked in the sea water. Subsequently, we went for a night walk in Jumeirah’s citified jungle.
We all felt the need for some refreshments after almost two hours of traipsing and, in a way, photowalking.
Walking in a city at night is something so underrated in this day and age where the abundance of information portable on screens mediate our connection to the so-called concrete jungle. As a result, it distanced us not only from the physical but psychological realities as well.
Majority of people nowadays would rather browse the internet, scroll on Facebook statuses, watch clips on YouTube, and/or the like.
Thank God someone invited us for a stroll around Jumeirah’s Open Beach area during our second night. I should’ve been sucked into the usual internet wormhole. I was truly mesmerized by the visceral views I saw and shot while leisurely walking around the place. This part of Jumeirah turned into something more than what I saw in the morning during the city tour. Never felt that kind of joy when walking in concrete jungles at night until that time. This is one of the invaluable lessons I learned from that three-day trip to Dubai last year or in July 2016.
Our night walk and swimming experience could be summed up in a combination of fun and great tonic for the urban stress.
Related Articles
Sights and attractions – Beach parks – Jumeirah Open Beach (discover-dubai.ae)
The Open Beach at Jumeirah Beach Residence (dubaitravelblog.com)
Dubai’s Top 10 Beaches to Visit (expatwoman.com)
Jumeirah Open Beach – Beaches in Dubai (visitdubai.com)
Enhancements at Jumeirah Beach Hotel (jumeirah.com)
STORIES OF THE WANDERING FEET & MIND 
Amazing pictures!
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Many thanks, Doc!
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Hi it would be a pleasure if you would check this out! https://tanyatale.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/the-big-break
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I want to go to Dubai so bad!
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It looked like such a lovely night walk in Jumeirah. So many lights, and there must have been others walking around too. Interesting to hear of beaches side by side the metropolis – yet they feel like they are another world altogether. Some places are special like that, having and embracing different worlds within each other.
Also it looked like such an enjoyable night swim for you and company. Doesn’t sound like it was too cold at all 🙂
Agree that so often many of us spend so much time in front of screens like laptops and phones. I’m guilty of it because it helps me achieve my passions and of course, talking to lovely blogger friends like Sony… But on the other hand, there is a whole world, stories and moments away from our screens to experience. There is much to learn from reality and just being in the moment…and to be honest, if I didn’t step away from blogging and my phone, there would be no stories for me to write or blog and I probably wouldn’t have connected with you.
Another great post from you. Take care, stay safe and be good 🙂
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