12 Desert Driving Tips From Our Safari Drivers
Our team drives the Dubai–Al Lahbab desert roads every single day, in July heat and January fog. These are the tips we give friends who are doing the self drive safari for the first time — the highway part any visitor can and should do — plus a few for those heading further off-road. For the legal side of it, see our desert driving rules guide.
Before you leave the city
- 1. Fuel up before the highway. Stations get sparse once you pass the last suburbs. Leave Dubai with at least half a tank; you'll use more fuel than usual running the A/C at speed.
- 2. Check tyres — including the spare. Hot tarmac is brutal on old rubber. A two-minute pressure check beats a roadside change in 44°C heat.
- 3. Load water you don't plan to drink. Keep a separate 2–3 litres in the boot per person. In summer this is a safety item, not refreshment.
- 4. Download offline maps. Coverage is good on the main highways but drops in pockets. Save your route — and the camp pin we send on WhatsApp — for offline use.
- 5. Time your drive around the sun. Driving east out of Dubai in early morning, or west back into the city at sunset, puts the sun exactly in your eyes. Sunglasses in the car, always.
On the desert highway
- 6. Watch for camels — seriously. Camel crossings are real and mostly unfenced on smaller roads. A camel at dusk is nearly invisible until late. If you see one near the road, slow right down; they move unpredictably and rarely alone.
- 7. Respect sand on the tarmac. After windy days, thin sand drifts sit on the road surface and behave like ice at speed. If the road ahead looks "smoky", ease off before you reach it.
- 8. Keep right, cruise steady. Left lanes on E44 and E66 run fast. Sitting at a calm 100–110 km/h in the middle or right lanes is the relaxed way to arrive.
- 9. Fog happens in winter. December–February mornings can drop visibility badly for an hour after dawn. If you're driving to a morning safari in winter, leave a buffer and use fog lights, not hazards, while moving. More on picking the right month in our best time to visit guide.
If you go off the tarmac
- 10. Deflate before you regret. 14–16 PSI transforms how a 4x4 floats on sand. Carry a deflator and a compressor to reinflate at the end — driving highway speeds on deflated tyres destroys them.
- 11. Momentum is your friend; sudden inputs are not. Steady throttle up dunes, no sharp braking on crests, always crest at an angle you can see over. When in doubt, stop before the dune, walk up, and look.
- 12. Never off-road alone. Two vehicles minimum, tow rope rated for sand recovery, shovel, and let someone know your route. Every experienced desert driver in the UAE follows this — it's how they got to be experienced.
The honest shortcut: everything in that last section is our day job. Drive the easy highway part yourself, park free at the camp, and let drivers with 15 years of dune time deliver the adrenaline. That's the whole idea of the self drive desert safari — from AED 20. Book your slot and see for yourself.
Planning your outfit and kit next? See what to wear on a desert safari and our desert photography guide. Or read what past guests thought of the drive in our reviews.