Dubai is a Muslim city in a federation governed partly by Sharia-derived law, with a population that is about 90 per cent foreign and an economy built on tourism. The result is a set of rules that are more permissive than most visitors expect and enforced more seriously than the brochures suggest.
Almost nobody gets into trouble here. The people who do are usually the ones who assumed the rules were decorative.
Alcohol
It is legal, in licensed premises: hotel bars and restaurants, licensed standalone restaurants, and members’ clubs. There is a great deal of it and Dubai has a substantial bar and nightclub scene.
Since 2023, the personal licence requirement for residents to buy alcohol has been removed, and the 30 per cent municipality tax on alcohol sales was suspended. Tourists can buy from the licensed retailers — MMI and African + Eastern — on production of a passport and a free temporary licence.
What is not permitted: drinking in public, being drunk in public, and drink-driving, for which the limit is zero and the penalties include prison and deportation.
The one to watch is the drunk-in-public rule. It is applied when someone becomes a nuisance, most often after an argument, and being intoxicated becomes an additional charge on top of whatever else happened.
Sharjah, the emirate immediately north, is completely dry. Do not carry alcohol through it.
Dress
In practice, Dubai is relaxed. In malls, hotels, the Marina and Downtown you will see everything from abayas to shorts, and nobody looks twice.
The written guidance — shoulders and knees covered in public places — is signposted in malls and is genuinely applied in government buildings, courts, mosques and the more conservative districts like Deira, Bur Dubai and Satwa.
Swimwear belongs on the beach and at the pool. Walking into a shop, a mall or a taxi in a bikini is an offence, not a faux pas. Cover up before you leave the sand.
Mosques require covered ankles, wrists and shoulders for everyone, and a headscarf for women. Bring your own.
Public behaviour
Public displays of affection are restricted. Holding hands is fine for married couples and generally overlooked; kissing in public is not, and prosecutions have happened.
Swearing and rude gestures are criminal offences, including online and in text messages, and this is enforced more often than visitors imagine — road-rage incidents involving a raised finger have led to arrests.
Photographing people without consent is an offence, and it applies to putting strangers in the background of a video posted publicly. Be particularly careful about photographing women, government buildings, ports and military sites.
Same-sex relationships are criminalised under UAE law. Enforcement against tourists is rare and the practical situation in Dubai is more complicated than the statute suggests, but the law is what it is and discretion is sensible.
Ramadan
The holy month moves each year against the Gregorian calendar, shifting about eleven days earlier annually.
During daylight hours, eating, drinking — including water — smoking and chewing gum in public are not permitted, for everyone, Muslim or not. Restaurants in hotels and malls stay open, often screened; many other places close until sunset.
Public transport, offices and attractions run reduced hours. Live music and dancing are curtailed.
Then at sunset the city changes completely. Iftar is a large communal meal, and hotels and restaurants run iftar buffets and majlis tents that are among the pleasantest experiences available here. Everything reopens and stays open very late; the malls at eleven at night are busier than at any other time of year.
Visiting during Ramadan is not a mistake — it is a genuinely interesting time to be here — but it is a different trip, and anyone planning a beach-and-brunch holiday should check the dates first.
Other things worth knowing
Drugs: zero tolerance, including trace amounts, including substances legal elsewhere. Poppy seeds and CBD products have caused arrests.
Medication: several common prescription drugs are controlled. Check the UAE list and carry the prescription.
Debt is a criminal matter, which is why you hear stories about abandoned cars at the airport.
None of this should put anyone off. Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world for visitors, with very low crime and a strong presumption in favour of tourists. The rules are simply not ornamental, and reading them once before arriving is fifteen minutes well spent.
The practical summary
Almost none of this affects a visitor who behaves as they would in any other city with a conservative legal framework. Drink in bars rather than the street, cover up when you leave the beach, keep arguments quiet, do not photograph strangers, and check the medication list before you pack.
That is genuinely the whole of it, and the overwhelming majority of the millions of people who visit each year never encounter any of it.
If something does go wrong
Contact your embassy or consulate early rather than late. The UAE legal system moves quickly, detention before charge is possible, and a passport can be held while a case is open even for minor matters.
Travel insurance that covers legal expenses is worth having here more than in most destinations.