Forget the desert safari where you follow 37 identical LandCruisers into the dunes before joining a buffet queue. There’s another way to do the Arabian desert.
Around an hour from Dubai, the skyscrapers disappear, the traffic thins and the landscape turns increasingly red. Welcome to Mleiha National Park in Sharjah, where the dunes hide marine fossils, ancient human history and, happily, some rather powerful dune buggies.
This is the playground of Zerzura Experiences, recently named Middle East’s Leading Adventure Tour Operator at the World Travel Awards for the second consecutive year, taking out the title in both 2025 and 2026. Mleiha National Park itself was also named the Middle East’s Leading National Park for 2026.
And after its seasonal break, Zerzura is firing up the engines again.From 15 October 2026, paid dune buggy experiences return to Mleiha, with the full Zerzura operation (including its desert dining experiences) reopening from 1 November. First, make some noise.
These aren’t the little quad bikes you occasionally see circling a patch of sand beside a highway.
Zerzura puts you behind the wheel of a 2,000cc automatic dune buggy and sends you out in a guide-led convoy across Mleiha’s rolling red dunes. No previous off-road experience is required, although after an hour sliding through the sand you may begin behaving as though you’ve been doing this professionally for years. The complete on-site adventure takes around two hours, with approximately an hour spent driving.
But Zerzura hasn’t simply created a racetrack in the desert. Stops along the way reveal why Mleiha is considerably more interesting than your average pile of sand.
At Fossil Rock, you climb out and start looking for evidence of an ancient marine world preserved in a landscape that today couldn’t look less aquatic. Then it’s on to Camel Rock for panoramic desert views and the opportunity to strap a board to your feet and discover just how elegantly you can sandboard down a dune.There’s also a guided nature walk and fossil discovery, turning what could easily have been an hour of simply planting your foot into something that actually connects you with the landscape.
And then comes the best bit. You turn the engine off.
From 2,000cc to complete silence. After an afternoon roaring across the dunes, the desert suddenly becomes very, very quiet. The temperature drops. The light softens. The red sand changes colour. Stars begin appearing overhead. And dinner is served.
Dinner at Zerzura deliberately avoids the giant buffet-and-busload approach of many traditional desert safari camps. Numbers are kept low, guests sit down and dinner is brought to the table.
The four-course Arabic and Emirati menu is inspired by the extraordinary human history of Mleiha, tracing the region through four eras: Paleolithic, Neolithic, pre-Islamic and Islamic. It’s a clever idea. Instead of simply eating in the desert, you’re effectively eating your way through its history.
The experience includes a welcome drink, table service, live entertainment and a fire show, but the real entertainment remains outside the camp: a huge dark desert and a sky that hasn’t had to compete with a skyscraper, shopping mall or six-lane freeway for your attention.
For those wanting to take things even further, Zerzura also offers a private dinner in the dunes, with your own secluded setup and four-course meal beneath the night sky. Pair that with a private buggy experience and you can add Fossil Rock, Camel Rock, sandboarding, a nature walk and a visit to Mleiha’s archaeological museum before disappearing into the dunes for dinner.
It’s quite the gear change. One minute you’re wearing a helmet and goggles, throwing sand behind a dune buggy. A few hours later you’re sitting beneath the stars eating dinner inspired by people who crossed this same landscape thousands of years before anyone thought to put a 2,000cc engine in it.
Desert adventure? Tick.
Dinner under the stars? Even better.
Get There
Mleiha National Park, Sharjah, UAE, approximately 45–60 minutes from central Dubai.
Buggy Season
Paid dune buggy experiences resume 15 October 2026.
Dinner
Dinner at Zerzura and combined buggy-and-dining experiences resume 1 November 2026.
The Adventure
Approximately two hours on site, including around one hour self-driving a dune buggy, Fossil Rock fossil discovery, Camel Rock, sandboarding, briefing and a guided nature walk.
Stay for dinner
A heritage-inspired four-course Arabic and Emirati dinner at Zerzura’s desert camp. Sharjah is a dry emirate, so the experience is alcohol-free.
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