Camel Ride Dubai
Ride at our own desert camp as part of a safari, from USD 27 per person in a private car.
The honest version: the short ride at the camp is free and takes a few minutes. The long ride is the one worth paying for. Here is what each costs, how long it really lasts, and what to wear.
Camel Ride in Dubai: The Short Answer
The honest version: the short camel ride at a desert camp lasts a few minutes and is included free with every safari we run.
Camel ride Dubai price depends on your package, and the camel ride cost is shown on the package card; a desert camel ride is part of the camp programme, with a sunrise camel ride on the morning safari. For a camel ride in the desert safari, light clothes and closed shoes are the best answer to what to wear for a camel ride.
- How much is a camel ride in Dubai?: With us the short ride at the camp is free with every safari, and a long ride is USD 82 / AED 300 for two people.
- How long is a camel ride?: The short ride at a desert camp is roughly 3 to 5 minutes on a led loop. The long ride is roughly 20 to 30 minutes and goes out past the camp into open sand.
- Can children ride a camel?: Yes, with an adult or led at walking pace beside the handler. Tell us their ages when you book.
- Is a camel ride safe?: Yes. The camel is led on foot by a handler the whole time and nobody rides unaccompanied at a tourist camp.
- Where can I ride camels in Dubai?: At a desert camp as part of a safari, which is what most people book; at a working camel farm on the outskirts, which is better if the animal interests you more than the evening; or as a photo opportunity on a beach or at a mall, which is not really a ride.
Want your camel ride with the red Lahbab dunes behind you? Our private red dune desert safari in Dubai includes a camel ride, dune bashing, BBQ dinner and live shows.
Camel ride packages first, then everything else we run in Dubai
Each card states what the price covers: per person, for two, or per car. You are booking the operator directly.
Camel ride options, with the price on the card
3 to 5 minShort Camel Ride at the Camp
A handler-led camel ride at the desert camp, included in every Dubai desert safari. Short on purpose. The long ride below is the one for people who want more.
- Included in every desert safari
- Always led by a handler
- Children under 3 travel free on the safari
- Free cancellation up to 12 hours before
- Pay on the day, no deposit
20 to 30 minLong Camel Ride
Out into open sand with a handler, quieter and longer than the camp loop. The price covers two people on one camel, booked together with your safari.
- Price is for two people
- Always led by a handler
- Add it when you reserve the safari
- Free cancellation up to 12 hours before
- Pay on the day, no deposit
6 hoursPrivate Safari With Camel Ride
Your own car and driver from the hotel, the camp camel ride included, and the long ride added whenever you want it.
- Private car, up to 6 guests
- Hotel pickup and drop included
- Short camel ride included
- Free cancellation up to 12 hours before
- Pay on the day, no deposit
1 to 3 hoursStand-alone Camel Ride, Abu Dhabi
Book the camel ride on its own, about one hour on a long track with a camel guide. Two or three hours are possible if you want more.
- Children under 3 ride free
- Own car: come straight to us, our team receives you
- No car: private pickup car from Abu Dhabi city, sedan or 4×4 USD 190 (AED 699), Land Cruiser USD 272 (AED 999)
- Free cancellation up to 12 hours before
- Pay on the day, no deposit
More tours we run in Dubai
4 hoursHalf-Day Dubai City Tour
Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Frame, Old Dubai, the Creek abra and the Gold Souk in a private 4×4.
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Private vehicle, no other guests
- Morning or evening, same price
- Photo stops, not a drive-past
8 hoursFull-Day Dubai City Tour
New Dubai in the morning, Old Dubai in the afternoon, Palm Jumeirah, Marina, the souks and the Creek.
- The only route reaching both Dubais
- Up to 6 people in one car
- Lunch stop where you choose
- Ends at the Fountain show
4 hoursOld Dubai and the Souks
Al Fahidi wind-tower district, the USD 0.27 / AED 1 abra across Dubai Creek, the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk.
- Abra crossing costs USD 0.27 / AED 1 each
- Short, flat walking
- Best in the morning
- Car waits, you walk
4 hoursDubai by Night
The Fountain show, Downtown at full light, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Marina, JBR and Bluewaters.
- Starts around 5:30 PM
- Fountain show every 30 minutes
- Most of the stops are free
- Good after a day out
6 hoursDesert Safari From Dubai
Dune bashing, camel ride, sandboarding, a Bedouin camp with BBQ dinner and live shows.
- Private 4×4, up to 6 guests
- Hotel pickup and drop included
- Licensed operator, DCT Abu Dhabi
- Shared seats from USD 14 / AED 50 per person
Full dayDubai to Hatta Tour
Hatta Dam, kayaking, the heritage village and the Hajar Mountains. No passport, no border crossing.
- 90 minutes each way
- Kayak hire paid on site
- Best October to April
- You set the timings
One wayDXB Airport Transfer
Meet and greet with a name board at arrivals, flight tracking, luggage handled, one fixed price at any hour.
- Name board at arrivals
- Flight tracked, delays covered
- No surge at 3 AM
- Fixed price, per car
By the hourCar with Driver, As Directed
No fixed route. Your own car and driver by the hour, shopping, meetings, whatever the day needs.
- USD 68 / AED 250 per hour sedan or SUV
- USD 95 / AED 350 per hour Land Cruiser
- Four-hour minimum
- Wait time included
Per attractionDubai Attraction Transfers
A private car to Burj Khalifa, the Mall, the Frame, the Palm or the seasonal parks, with the driver waiting outside.
- Waiting time included
- Salik, fuel and parking included
- Tickets bought direct, not by us
- Child seats on request
Per rideQuad Biking
An automatic quad on a marked desert track with a guide riding ahead. The cheapest way to add adrenaline.
- USD 54 / AED 200 single rider
- USD 82 / AED 300 double
- Guide rides with the group
- No licence needed
30 min blocksDune Buggy
A Can-Am buggy on the dunes, booked by ride time. Sold as an add-on to the safari, not instead of it.
- USD 218 / AED 800 per 30 minutes
- Two-hour minimum
- Helmet and briefing included
- Decide before you arrive
Quick answer: a camel ride in Dubai is almost never sold on its own. It comes attached to a desert safari. With us the short ride is free with every safari, and a long ride is USD 82 / AED 300 for two people. The safari itself starts at USD 14 / AED 50 per person on a shared coach and runs to USD 190 / AED 699 per car for a private 4×4, or USD 272 / AED 999 in a Land Cruiser.
The part nobody puts on a booking page: the free camel ride is a short loop of a few minutes, on a led camel, at the camp. It is a photograph, not a journey. If you came to Dubai to ride a camel across the dunes, book the long ride and say so when you book, otherwise you will queue, sit down, go around once and be helped off, and you will feel short-changed. We would rather tell you now.
How much is a camel ride in Dubai?
Prices below are ours, per the same ladder published across this site. Nothing here is per-person unless it says so.
Camel ride price and what a camel ride desert safari includes are covered in the FAQ below.
| What | Price | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Short camel ride at the camp | Free with any safari | Everyone. It is included, not an upsell |
| Long camel ride | USD 82 / AED 300 for 2 people | People who actually want to ride, not just sit |
| Shared safari, by bus | From USD 14 / AED 50 per person | Budget, and you share the vehicle |
| Private safari, sedan or SUV | USD 190 / AED 699 per car | Up to 7, your group only |
| Private safari, Land Cruiser | USD 272 / AED 999 per car | Groups of 5 to 7 with space |
If you see a camel ride advertised anywhere in Dubai as a standalone product for a few dirhams, read what it includes. It is usually the same short camp loop, sold separately from a safari you would have to buy anyway to get to the camp.
How long is a camel ride, honestly?
This is the most common disappointment, and the reason this section exists.
| Type | Real duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Short ride at the camp | Roughly 3 to 5 minutes | A led loop around a marked circuit. Handler leads on foot. You will get your photograph. |
| Long ride | Roughly 20 to 30 minutes | Out past the camp perimeter and into open sand, at walking pace, still led |
| Camel-only trek elsewhere in the emirate | An hour or more | Specialist operators, booked separately, usually at dawn |
Nobody rides a camel unaccompanied at a tourist camp, and you should be suspicious of any listing that implies you will. Camels are led. That is the industry norm here and it is the safe way to do it.
Where can you ride a camel in Dubai?
There are three honest answers, and only one of them is us.
At a desert camp, as part of a safari. This is what almost everyone means and what almost everyone books. The camps sit in the desert conservation areas inland from the city, roughly 45 to 60 minutes from Downtown depending on where you are collected. The camel is at the camp; the ride is one of eight or so things you do there alongside dune bashing, sandboarding, henna, the buffet and the shows.
At a camel farm on the outskirts. A handful of working farms take visitors. You get closer to the animals and learn more, and you are not paying for a whole safari. You also get no dunes, no dinner and no show, and you need your own transport to reach them. If your interest is the animal rather than the evening, this is a better use of your time than a camp loop, and we will say so.
On the beach or at a mall promotion. Occasionally offered, usually a photograph rather than a ride. Fine for a picture with a small child. Not a camel ride.
What to wear on a camel ride
The single most searched question after price, and the answers are practical rather than cultural.
- Trousers, not a short skirt or a dress. You sit astride and the mount is high and lurching. This is the one that matters, and it is why the question is asked most often by women.
- Closed shoes you do not mind filling with sand. Trainers are ideal. Sandals fall off during the mount.
- Something over your shoulders in winter evenings. The desert drops sharply after sunset from about November to March.
- A hair tie and sunglasses. There is usually wind on the ridge, and fine sand with it.
- Nothing loose in your hands. Phones get dropped on the mount and the dismount, not during the ride. Ask the handler to take the photo, which they will.
You do not need to cover your head, and there is no dress code at a desert camp beyond ordinary modesty. That is different from visiting a mosque, which does have real rules.
The bit that surprises people: getting on and off
A camel kneels to be mounted and then stands back legs first. You are tipped forward, hard, then rocked back. It is brief and completely normal, and it is where nervous riders panic and where phones get dropped. Hold the front of the saddle with both hands, lean back as the animal rises, and let the handler do the rest. Dismounting is the same motion in reverse.
Anyone can do it. If you are pregnant, have a back or neck problem, or have had recent surgery, do not, the standing motion is genuinely jolting and no photograph is worth it. Small children ride with an adult or are led at walking pace beside the handler.
Animal welfare: the question people are too polite to ask
You are allowed to care about this, and most operator pages skip it entirely.
What you can reasonably check for yourself when you arrive: the animals should stand and kneel without being struck, they should have shade and water at the tethering line, saddles should sit on padding rather than directly on the hump, and there should be a queue system that gives each camel a break rather than a continuous rotation for four hours. Working camels in the Emirates are valuable animals and a well-run camp treats them accordingly, but camps differ, and you are entitled to look.
Two practical points people ask about but rarely find answered: we do not run a continuous queue of riders on one camel for hours, each camel gets breaks between turns, and we do not publish a fixed weight limit in kilograms. The handler looks at each rider on the day and will suggest the short ride instead of the long one if the long ride would not be comfortable for the camel or for you. That is a welfare call, not a judgment, and it is rare.
If what you see does not sit right with you, do not ride. The rest of the safari happens regardless, nobody will pressure you, and you have not lost anything because the short ride was free. That is worth saying out loud on a page that is trying to sell you a camel ride.
The best time of day, and the best months
Camels are comfortable in heat that people are not, so the limiting factor is you.
| When | Camel ride | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise safari | The best of the three | Cool, empty, and the low light is the good light for photographs |
| Evening safari | The most common | You ride in the last hour of daylight, then eat. Busiest queue. |
| Midday, June to September | Avoid | Not the camel’s problem. Yours. |
| November to March | The season | Comfortable all day; bring a layer for after dark |
If the camel is the main reason you are booking, take the sunrise safari and add the long ride. It is the version of this that people remember, and it costs the same as the evening.
Which page do you actually want?
What it costs, how long it lasts, what to wear, and whether to pay for the long one.
You are on the right page.
Dune bashing, camp, BBQ, shows, the camel ride is included.
Go to the desert safari prices or the evening safari.
Cool air, empty dunes, the best light for the ride.
Go to the sunrise desert safari.
Airport pickup, boarding-time margin, back in time.
Go to the safari from the airport.
Camel ride in Dubai: FAQ
How much is a camel ride in Dubai?
With us the short ride at the camp is free with every safari, and a long ride is USD 82 / AED 300 for two people. The safari itself starts at USD 14 / AED 50 per person on a shared coach, or USD 190 / AED 699 per car for a private 4×4 and USD 272 / AED 999 for a Land Cruiser.
How long is a camel ride?
The short ride at a desert camp is roughly 3 to 5 minutes on a led loop. The long ride is roughly 20 to 30 minutes and goes out past the camp into open sand. Anything advertised as an hour or more is a specialist trek booked separately.
Can I book a camel ride without a desert safari?
Yes. Our stand-alone camel ride is USD 109 / AED 400 per adult and USD 82 / AED 300 for children aged 3 to 10, and children under 3 ride free. It is about one hour on a long track, and you can take two or three hours if you want more. It runs on the Abu Dhabi side, so the full details are on our camel riding page in Abu Dhabi. With your own car you come straight to us and our team receives you. Without a car we send a private pickup car from Abu Dhabi city: sedan or 4×4 USD 190 / AED 699, Land Cruiser USD 272 / AED 999. Free cancellation up to 12 hours before, no deposit.
Is a camel ride safe?
Yes. The camel is led on foot by a handler the whole time and nobody rides unaccompanied at a tourist camp. The jolting part is the standing and kneeling, not the walking. Hold the saddle and lean back as the animal rises.
Can children ride a camel?
Yes, with an adult or led at walking pace beside the handler. Tell us their ages when you book. There is no extra charge for a child on the short ride.
Should I avoid a camel ride if I am pregnant or have a bad back?
Yes. The camel stands back legs first and tips you sharply forward, then rocks you back. It is brief but genuinely jolting, and it is not worth the risk with a back or neck problem, after recent surgery, or during pregnancy.
Is the camel ride included in the desert safari price?
The short one is, on every safari we run, and it is not an upsell. The long ride is the only camel item that costs extra, at USD 82 / AED 300 for two people.
What is the best time of day for a camel ride?
Sunrise. It is cool, the camp is empty, there is no queue, and the low light is far better for photographs. It costs the same as the evening safari.
How are the camels treated?
Check for yourself when you arrive: shade and water at the tethering line, padding under the saddle, animals that stand and kneel without being struck, and a rotation that rests them. If it does not sit right with you, do not ride. The short ride is free, so you lose nothing by declining.
Do camels spit?
Rarely at people, and almost never the trained animals used for rides. Standing directly in front of the head at feeding time is the way to find the exception.
Can two people ride one camel?
What should I wear for a camel ride?
Can I wear shorts on a camel ride?
Do camels in Dubai have one hump or two?
Is a sunset camel ride better than a daytime ride?
Is a camel ride included in a Dubai desert safari?
Is a camel ride safe for children and older guests?
How much is a camel ride on a desert safari?
If we have to cancel, what happens?
A cancellation policy that covers your obligations but not ours is only half a document. Here is our side of it, in writing.
If we have to cancel your booking, for weather, a vehicle issue, or driver illness, we will contact you as soon as we know and rebook you at no charge on the next date that works for you. You pay nothing for the cancelled booking.
If we need to send a different vehicle than the one you booked, we will ask you first rather than turning up in something you did not book.
This is separate from your own cancellation rights, which are unchanged: you can cancel free up to 12 hours before pickup. Because we take no deposit and no booking fee, there is no money of yours sitting with us either way: nothing to chase, and nothing to wait for.
What Guests Tell Us After the Safari
Real messages guests sent us on WhatsApp after their trip. Names left out for privacy.
I would like to sincerely thank you for the wonderful desert safari experience we had today. Everything was truly amazing, from the excellent service to the breathtaking activities. A special thanks goes to our guide, who was absolutely outstanding. He made the trip even more enjoyable with his knowledge, kindness, and great energy. We are truly grateful for this unforgettable experience and will definitely recommend your company to our friends and family.
A lot of experiences for a very good price and in one place. Enjoyed everything including camel ride, dune bashing, dinner and the shows organized there. Overall it was an amazing experience.
We really enjoyed our safari desert experience with your help. From the reservations until we finished the tour it was all smooth. Thank you so much, we really appreciated it.
Yesterday was a great experience. Good service and nice show. Had fun riding the quad bike and taking pictures under the sunset.
We Also Run These Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours
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Abu Dhabi Desert SafariOur own camp at Al Khatim
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Abu Dhabi City TourThe Grand Mosque and Corniche
Dubai Layover TourPrivate car, back at the airport on time
Abu Dhabi Layover TourBack for your flight, from USD 190 per carBook this tour
No deposit and no card details. Message us and we confirm the plan and the exact price before you commit, answered at any hour.
- Send your date and guest countYour date, how many of you, and where we collect from. That is all we need.
- We send the plan and the pricePer car, not per person. You see the route, the timings and the exact figure first.
- Pay the driver on the dayCash or card, after the run. Free cancellation up to 12 hours before pickup.
Answered 24 hours · No deposit · No booking fee · Licensed operator