Boat trips here split into two worlds that sit barely twenty minutes apart. The first is Dubai Creek, where a wooden dhow — a hull shape built along this shore for generations — drifts past the warehouses of Deira and Bur Dubai while cargo is still stacked on the quay for the run to Iran. Two hours, a buffet on deck, and a view of the town that existed before oil.

The second is Dubai Marina: catamarans and yachts threading between glass towers, with the Ain Dubai wheel on Bluewaters Island and Palm Jumeirah along the route. A sightseeing run from here lasts 90 minutes to two hours, and sunset departures go first — the light lands on the facades, then the whole skyline switches on at once. A yacht with a skipper for two to four hours works out barely above a group ticket once eight people share it.

Further out the water calms down. Fishing boats leave before first light, and the short run from the Umm Suqeim shore to Burj Al Arab produces the photograph most visitors came for. Boats keep to a calendar of October through April; from June to September, sail in the evening or not at all. For liners in the literal sense — Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi — the terminal is Port Rashid and the season runs November to March. When booking, check whether drinks and hotel pick-up sit inside the price.