A Dubai exclave in the mountains with a turquoise dam, a restored village and air ten degrees cooler than the coast.
Hatta is part of Dubai but not attached to it — an exclave about 130 kilometres inland, in the Hajar Mountains, surrounded by Sharjah, Oman and Ras Al Khaimah territory. It sits at around 300 metres, which makes it noticeably cooler than the coast, and the landscape is bare rock rather than sand.
For anyone who has only seen Dubai’s coastal strip, it is a corrective: this is what most of the country actually looks like.
Hatta Dam
The image everyone comes for — turquoise water held between ochre mountains. Kayaks, pedalos and donut boats are hired at the waterside, and paddling into the gorge at the far end is the best hour available.
Go early. It is busy by mid-morning at weekends in season, and the car park fills.
The water is a reservoir and swimming is not permitted.
Hatta Heritage Village
A restored settlement of stone and mud-brick houses, two defensive towers, a mosque and a falaj irrigation channel, with a small museum. It gives a clear picture of mountain life before oil — different in almost every respect from the pearling coast, which is the point of coming.
Free or nearly so, and worth an hour.
The rest
Hatta Wadi Hub is an adventure centre: mountain bike trails at several grades, a zip line, axe throwing, wall climbing and a drop slide. The mountain biking is the real attraction — over 50 kilometres of marked trails, and the best in the country.
Hatta Hill Park gives the panoramic view. Hatta Honeybee Garden runs beekeeping tours. There is camping, glamping and a Sedr Trailers Resort of Airstream caravans.
Rock pools in the wadis nearby — Hatta Pools proper are over the Omani border and access has varied; ask locally rather than relying on old blog posts.
The drive
About ninety minutes from Downtown on the E44. The route no longer passes through Omani territory, but carry passports — this was required for years, older sources still say so, and checkpoints do ask.
There is a bus, E16, from Sabkha bus station in Deira, taking around two hours.
When
November to March. Hatta in summer is cooler than Dubai and still above 40°C, and the outdoor activities are the entire point.
Winter weekends are busy. A weekday visit is much better.
