Guests ask us this more than anything else, and the honest answer is short: light clothes, closed shoes, and a jacket you will not need until the sun goes down.
The longer answer is worth two minutes, because the two mistakes people make are the same two mistakes every time.
Mistake one: sandals
Sand gets into open shoes within about four seconds of you standing on a dune, and it stays there for the rest of the evening. It is warm sand, too — in the afternoon the surface is hot enough to be genuinely unpleasant barefoot.
Wear trainers or any closed shoe you do not mind getting sandy. If you are doing the quad bike ride or the buggy, closed shoes are not optional at all.
Mistake two: not bringing a layer
Afternoon in the dunes is hot. That is expected. What surprises people is how fast it drops once the sun is down — the sand does not hold heat, and by 8:00 PM at the camp you can be sitting in a noticeably cold breeze.
From November to March, bring a light jacket or a hoodie. It will feel ridiculous when you get into the car at 3:00 PM, and you will be glad of it at dinner. On the overnight safari this is not optional — sleeping in a tent in January without a warm layer is a long night.
What we would actually pack
- Clothes: loose and light. Cotton or linen. Long sleeves are more comfortable than you expect, because they keep the sun off.
- Shoes: trainers, or anything closed.
- A layer: hoodie or light jacket, for after sunset.
- Sunglasses: the glare off pale sand is strong even late in the afternoon.
- Sunscreen: put it on before pickup, not in the car.
- Phone, fully charged. You will take more photos than you plan to.
What not to bother with
Leave the good shoes, anything white you care about, and heavy makeup at the hotel. Do not bring a big bag — you will be getting in and out of a 4x4 and walking on sand, and there is nowhere useful to put it.
You do not need to bring water. It is included on every tour, along with tea and soft drinks at the camp.
A note on modesty
You are in the UAE and the camps are relaxed, so shorts and t-shirts are completely fine at a desert camp. Where it matters is the city tours: if you are visiting the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, shoulders and knees must be covered, and women need a headscarf. The mosque lends abayas at the entrance if you arrive without one, but bringing your own scarf saves the queue.
If you are riding, not being driven
For quad bikes and buggies, helmets and goggles are provided and you will get a briefing before you ride. Wear something you do not mind getting dusty, tie long hair back, and skip the loose scarf — it is the one item that genuinely gets in the way.
That is the whole list. If you have a specific worry — a bad back, a toddler, a friend who cannot do heat — tell us when you book rather than on the day, and we will plan around it.
