Aquarium Lives Dubai United Arab Emirates

Dubai shows most of its animals behind glass, because the climate leaves little else. The two trips on this page both end at a tank rather than an enclosure. One of them is genuinely strange.

Dubai Crocodile Park

It opened in April 2023 in Mushrif and holds around 250 Nile crocodiles. The point of it is the underwater gallery. You watch them from below the waterline, hanging still, which is nothing like the view from a walkway.

• The museum. A room on how the animal evolved, which is a longer story than the building suggests.
• Indoors. Most of the route is air-conditioned, which is what makes it a summer day out.
• Length. An hour and a half covers it at a normal pace.
• Who it suits. It works with children, and nothing in it asks you to walk far.

The Atlantis day

The second thing sold here is a full day at Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah, waterpark and aquarium together. It runs about eight hours with a private car both ways. The two outings share only the water.

Practical

• Summer. Being indoors, the crocodile park stays open and bearable in July, which the city's gardens and safari park do not.
• Getting there. A taxi is the only sensible way in, about twenty-five minutes out from Downtown, with no metro line running near.
• Light. The gallery is kept dim and the glass throws reflections, so hold the lens against it and turn the flash off.
• Tickets. Cheaper booked ahead than bought at the gate.
• Pairing. Mushrif Park is next door if you want grass and shade afterwards.