Category Archives: Dubai Ferry Trips

New Year’s Eve 2021/22

new years eve dubai ferryThe RTA has for many years now organised trips on the Dubai Ferry to see the New year’s Eve fireworks and this year is no different. These trips are always very popular and sell out fast so if you want to get tickets then check out the information below and contact the RTA on the email or number listed.

Here are the details: Continue reading New Year’s Eve 2021/22

Ferry Services for New Year’s Eve 2020/21

Dubai Ferry services for New Year's Eve
The annual Dubai ferry trip for New Year’s Eve is on again this year.

Once again, the RTA has announced that there will be special Dubai Ferry services for New Year’s Eve this year.  The trips will run from 3 marine transport stations and will cost 300 dirhams for silver class and 450 dirhams for the gold class tickets. For full details of when they run and how to get tickets please see below: Continue reading Ferry Services for New Year’s Eve 2020/21

New Tourist Route – SZR Station on Dubai Water Canal

Dubai Water Canal signThe RTA have announced that they are starting a new circular trip starting from the Sheikh Zayed Road Marine Station on Dubai Water Canal on a trial basis.

The trip will leave Sheikh Zayed Road station and travel towards Business Bay and Festival City and then enter the Creek. It will take in quite a few of the landmarks of the area including the Burj Khalifa and Al Seef so would be a really great route for tourists to take to see a lot of the city from the water. It will exit the creek and return to SZR Marine station via the sea and Dubai Water Canal Station, thus taking a circular route.

We are endeavouring to find out the duration of the trip but by the looks of the route we believe it should take at least 90 minutes to complete.

The RTA announcement is as follows:

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a new circular marine line served by Dubai Ferry starting from Sheikh Zayed Road Station. The service, which will run on a trial base, aims to explore tourist attractions and increase the marine tourism amongst visitors, citizens and residents.

“The new line is launched as a test-run on a route starting from Sheikh Zayed Road Station on Dubai Water Canal. It passes through Burj Khalifa, Festival City, Dubai Creek, Old Souq, Al Seef, Spice Souq, La Mer (Jumeirah) and back to Sheikh Zayed Road Station. The launch of this line is part of RTA’s efforts to enhance the tourist profile of these areas, which have an attractive array of captivating urban landmarks,” said Mohammed Abu Baker Al Hashimi, Director of Marine Transport at RTA’s Public Transport Agency.

RTA has provided parking spaces for users of this service around Sheikh Zayed Road Station on Dubai Water Canal. The service is available on Thursday at 09:00 pm or 10:00 pm, and on Friday from 04:00 pm up to 10:00 pm every week.

The service is subject to demand and will be operated if there is a minimum of 21 adult riders. The fare is AED50 for silver class and AED75 for gold class. Children from age 2 to 10 years will have a 50% discount, and the journey will be free for those under the age of two. Interested riders can communicate with RTA Call Center (8009090) to know more about the journey.

“RTA is always keen on launching initiatives to boost beach tourism in Dubai, especially as Dubai has a long coastal line with huge tourist attractions. The launch of this line will support RTA’s strategic plans aimed at attracting more fans to marine tourism,” added Al Hashimi.

Eid al Fitr Ferry Timings 2019

The RTA has announced the timings for marine transport for the period over the Eid holiday and they are as follows:

The timing of marine transit services during the first three days of Eid Al-Fitr holiday will be as follows: The Water Bus will operate at Marina Stations (Marina Mall, Marina Walk, Marina Terrace, Marina Promenade) from 12:00 (at noon) up to 00:00 (midnight).

During the first three days of Eid Al-Fitr holiday, Dubai Ferry will be calling at Ghubaiba and Marina Stations at 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, 03:00 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm. It will call at Jaddaf Water Canal at 08:00 am, 11:50 am and 03:40 pm.

and 05:30 pm. At Dubai Marina Station it will operate (round journey) at 05:00 pm and 10:00 pm. It will operate journeys from Dubai Water Canal to Jaddaf Station at 09:55 am, 01:45 pm and 5.35 pm. At Sheikh Zayed Road Station and Al Seef Station, the Ferry will be calling at 09:55 am, 01:45 pm, and 05:35 pm. Sheikh Zayed Road Station and Al Seef will run roundtrips from 04:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

The Ferry service from Al Wajeha Al Maeyah Station to Marasi Station will be at 08:00 am, 09:15 am, 11:05 pm, 12:35 pm, 02:05 pm, 03:55 pm, 05:20 pm, 06:30 pm and 08:20 pm. From Marasi Station to Al Wajeha Al Maeyah Station, the Ferry service will be at 08:55 am, 10:25 am, 12:15 pm, 01:45 pm, 03:15 pm, 05:05 pm, 06:15 pm, 07:40 pm and 09:30 pm.

The timing of the Ferry service from Marasi Station to Sheikh Zayed Road Station will be at 08:15 am, 09:35 am, 11:25 am, 12:55 pm, 02:25 pm, 04:15 pm, 05:35 pm, 06:50 pm, and 08:40 pm. From Sheikh Zayed Road Station to Marasi Station, the Ferry service will be running at 08:35 am, 10:00 am, 11:50 am, 01:20 pm, 02:50 pm, 04:40 pm, 05:55 pm, 07:15 pm, and at 09:05 pm.

Dubai Ferry – New Years Eve 2017/18

dubai ferry new year 2017/18
The RTA runs ferry trips at New Year to see the fireworks in Dubai
New Years Eve

Every year the RTA run special ferry trips for New Years Eve (31st December) to enable passengers to get a good view of the festivities that are happening over the Emirate and in particular the fireworks at the various venues.

This year is no exception and the RTA has in fact increased the number of trips that it will be running for 31st December 2017 by laying on extra boats at additional locations.

Trip Details

The RTA has announced that the trips will run from Marina Mall Station (Dubai Marina), Ghubaiba Station, Dubai Festival City Station (Dubai Creek) and Sheikh Zayed Road Station (Dubai Water Canal). However, there is no ferry stop at Festival City so we are checking to see if this is actually from Al Jadaf.

The trips all commence at 9pm (with boarding from 8.30pm) and go on until 1.30am allowing passengers a full evening’s viewing of the festivities from the water.

Last year there was no seating on the ferry trips so this may well be the case this year too.

Tickets

Tickets for these New Year ferry trips often sell out very fast and we get many queries on this website about how and when people can buy tickets for New Years Eve in Dubai.

This year details have been announced earlier than usual which gives people more time to book.

Ticket prices are 300 AED for silver class tickets and 450 AED for gold class. Children between 2 and 10 years old pay half price and under 2s go free.

If you want to buy your tickets then you need to go to the relevant departure point where you wish to take the trip and book at the ticket office there.

There is no other way of booking at the moment. If you are not in the country at present then you will need to find someone to book for you.

You can get further information about the trips by calling the RTA on the toll free number 800 9090 or else use the mobile number 050 7932662.

This year is set to be bigger and better than ever!

Refreshments

UPDATE: There are refreshments available on board to purchase as there is a small refreshment bar on the Ferries. You can also bring your own small snacks and soft drinks with you. There is no meal included in the ticket price.

 

Emirates NBD Free Ferry Trip

Emirates NBD Go4It Credit/Debit Card

For those people who have an Emirates NBD Go4It Credit or Debit Card, you can avail of a free ride on the Dubai Ferry either from Al Ghubaiba or the Marina and the details are shown below.

This information is from the Emirates NBD Website and is subject to change so please check before you travel as this may not be the most up to date information.

There is also conflicting information about how many free tickets you can get and how often so please check with Emirates NBD.

The following information is from the Emirates NBD website:

Emirates NBD Free Ferry Ride

Free rides on Dubai Ferry – as per Emirates NBD April 2022:

Your Go4it Card entitles you and one accompanying guest to a free ride on the Dubai Ferry. The Go4it Platinum provides a free ride in the Business class (Gold ticket). The Go4it Gold provides a free ride in the Economy class (Silver ticket).

The exclusive rides for Go4it Cardholders are as per below schedule.

Route Description Schedule*
F1 Round trip from Al Ghubaiba water transport station up to the area close to Burj Al Arab 2:30pm (for one hour), First Saturday of the month
Round trip from Al Ghubaiba water transport station up to the area close to Burj Al Arab 2:30pm (for one hour), Second Saturday of the month
F2 Round trip from Marina Mall water transport station up to the area close to Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah 2:30pm (for one hour), Third Saturday of the month
Round trip from Marina Mall water transport station up to the area close to Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah 2:30pm (for one hour), Fourth Saturday of the month

To avail of the benefit, you may arrive at the aforementioned station on any of the scheduled days. On presenting the Go4it Credit Card at the ticket counter the cardholder will be provided with the entry pass which needs to be presented prior to boarding the Dubai Ferry. The Dubai Ferry has a maximum capacity of 100 seats per trip (Economy 84, Business 14, Disabled 2). Additional guests will be charged as per the normal applicable rates of Dubai Ferry. Trip duration is approximately 1 hour. Ferry operation is subject to fair sea conditions. For details log on to www.rta.ae.

Terms and Conditions

  • *Ferry operation schedule is subject to changes without prior notice considering bad weather, summer months, etc. Emirates NBD reserves the right to cancel any trip due to unavoidable circumstances. All offers are made available on a best-effort basis and at the sole discretion of Emirates NBD. Emirates NBD makes no warranties and assumes no liability or responsibility in respect to the products and services provided by partner(s)/other entity(ies).

Obviously the trips are subject to weather conditions and unforeseen changes and may be withdrawn at any time.

You can also use your credit (and the debit) card as a Nol card to pay your transportation fares and parking tickets.

See the Emirates NBD website for more information on the free ferry rides.

Al Jadaf Ferry Terminal

2023 Update – this route no longer runs. Check the routes page for more info.

This is a spotlight post on Al Jadaf Ferry Terminal. This is the starting point  for ferry trips that run up the Dubai Water Canal to the Marine Station there.

Al Jadaf Waiting Room
There is a comfortable waiting room at Al Jadaf with customer toilets.

Walk From the Metro

Al Jadaf Marine Station is only a short walk from the Creek Metro station. It takes only a couple of minutes to walk from the Metro station to the Marine Station. Upon arrival at the Marine Station there is an air conditioned waiting room with seats where you can await your ferry or abra trip.

From Al Jadaf Marine Station you can not only get a ferry trip up the canal, you can also get an abra trip over to Festival City, which only takes a few minutes and so is a good route over that way if you do not have a car.

Dubai Ferry at Al Jadaf
The ferry leaves from Al Jadaf 3 times a day.

3 Trips

Ferries leave 3 times a day to go up the canal from Al Jadaf at 10am, 12pm and 5.30pm. The full trip takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes to Dubai Water Canal Station where you can link up with the ferries that go to Dubai marina and Al Ghubaiba.

Sunset on the Burj Khalifa
You get a fabulous view on the 5.30pm ferry from Al Jadaf.
Sunset Trip

If you take the 5.30pm trip from Al Jadaf in the cooler months then you can see the sun set  over the Burj Khalifa, so this is a lovely trip to take.

You could go as far as the Sheikh Zayed Road station (this is 4 stops and will cost 40 dirhams in silver class). Once you get there – it arrives at 6.55pm – you can wait for 5 minutes to see the spectacle of the colourful waterfall on the bridge over the canal.

Dubai Water Canal Waterfall Lights
The light show starts at 7pm on the Water Canal.

From here you can take a walk along the canal and go over any of the new bridges there, or you can walk to the nearest Metro station, Business Bay, which will take you about 15 minutes.

An evening trip on the ferry along the canal is a great trip to take if you have visitors staying with you in Dubai. It gives you a great view of some key sights in Dubai and is a nice relaxing journey.  The 5.30pm trip also gives you time to get dinner at one of the nearby hotels. The W Hotel Dubai Al Habtoor City is just across the road from the Ferry Stop.