Speed boats
Speed boat tours in Dubai
A speed boat tour in Dubai costs from AED 150 per person for sixty minutes on a rigid inflatable running from Dubai Marina past the Burj Al Arab. It covers the same coastline as a yacht charter in a third of the time and at a fraction of the price, with none of the sitting down.
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- From
- AED 150 per person
- Speed
- About 30 knots
- Length
- 60, 90 or 120 minutes
- Departs
- Dubai Marina, hourly through the day
A RIB does about 30 knots where a charter yacht does 10, which changes the trip entirely. You are outside, low, wet if you sit at the front, and the guide narrates over an engine. Ninety minutes on a RIB covers what four hours on a yacht covers, and you will remember it as a ride rather than an afternoon.
The standard sixty-minute run goes Marina, Ain Dubai, JBR and a stop off the Burj Al Arab. The ninety adds Atlantis and the Palm crescent. Two hours adds the Burj Khalifa view from offshore and a longer stop at each landmark.
Tours are sold per seat and run to a schedule, which makes them the cheapest way to get on the water in Dubai. Private hire of a whole RIB is available from about AED 1,800 an hour if you would rather not share.
What is included
- Seat on a rigid inflatable with a guide and a driver
- Life jacket and a safety briefing before departure
- Stops with engines idling at each landmark for photographs
- Commentary over the boat's sound system
- Dry bag for phones and cameras
Worth knowing
- You will get wet. Wear something that dries and leave anything loose in the dry bag.
- Not recommended in pregnancy, or with back or neck problems. The ride is genuinely bumpy.
- Minimum age is usually three, but under-eights are better on a yacht charter than a RIB.
Speed buys coverage, not a better look
A rigid inflatable runs at about thirty knots against a charter yacht's ten, which is why it covers the whole coastline in ninety minutes rather than half a day. If the aim is to see the length of Dubai's waterfront in one short trip, nothing else does it as efficiently or as cheaply.
What you give up is the looking. At thirty knots you are holding on, facing forward and taking spray, and the coast goes past rather than being watched. A charter yacht at ten knots is quiet enough to talk over, stable enough to walk around on, and slow enough that the Marina channel becomes a view rather than a transit.
So the honest split is this: a RIB for covering ground and for the Burj Al Arab specifically, a charter for an afternoon on the water. They are different products that happen to share a coastline.
What the route reaches
Everything runs from the Marina mouth and the difference between the tours is simply how far along the coast you get. A short tour covers JBR, Bluewaters and Ain Dubai from the water. The standard hour adds the run down to the Burj Al Arab with a stop beneath it, which is nearer than any road gets you without a reservation.
Longer tours add the Palm crescent and the Atlantis frontage. Nothing lands anywhere: the Burj Al Arab island is private with a controlled causeway, and Bluewaters has no public jetty, so every stop is engines-idling rather than an arrival.
Who it suits, and who it does not
It suits anyone short on time, anyone travelling alone or as a pair where a private charter's per-head cost is hard to justify, and anyone whose main objective is the Burj Al Arab. At about AED 150 a head it is the cheapest way onto the water here after the dhow cruises and the RTA water taxi.
It suits small children, elderly passengers and anyone with a back problem considerably less well — a RIB at thirty knots slams through chop and the ride is genuinely percussive. It is also the wrong choice if you want to swim, eat, or sit down: none of those happen on a RIB, and all three are what a three-hour charter is for.
Ways to do this
Burj Al Arab, 60 minutes
From AED 150 per person
Marina, Ain Dubai, JBR and a stop off the Burj Al Arab. The standard run and the best value.
Palm and Atlantis, 90 minutes
From AED 220 per person
Adds the Palm crescent and the Atlantis frontage. The one to take if it is your only trip on the water.
Full coast, 120 minutes
From AED 320 per person
Everything above plus the offshore view of the Burj Khalifa and longer stops throughout.
Private RIB
From AED 1,800 per hour
The whole boat to your group, up to twelve, with the route set by you rather than a schedule.
Ask about Speed boat tours on your date.
Leave the date and the headcount and we will come back with what is free and what it costs. No deposit, and no obligation to book.
- No deposit to enquire
- A reply within a couple of hours
- Licensed boats, licensed crew, price all-in
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Send an enquiry
Questions people ask
How much is a speed boat tour in Dubai?
From AED 150 per person for sixty minutes, AED 220 for ninety and AED 320 for two hours. Private hire of a whole RIB starts around AED 1,800 an hour for up to twelve people.
What is the difference between a speed boat tour and a yacht charter?
A RIB runs at about 30 knots and covers the whole coastline in ninety minutes, sold per seat from AED 150. A yacht runs at 10 knots, is private, and lets you anchor, swim and eat, from AED 750 an hour for the whole boat.
Do speed boat tours in Dubai stop at the Burj Al Arab?
Yes. Every route stops with the engines idling directly off the Burj Al Arab for photographs. Landing at the hotel is not permitted from the water.
Are Dubai speed boat tours safe for children?
The minimum age is usually three, but the ride is bumpy and loud. Under-eights generally do better on a yacht charter. Life jackets in children's sizes are carried on every boat.
Where do speed boat tours leave from in Dubai?
From Dubai Marina, with departures roughly hourly through the day from about 9am until sunset. Some operators also run from the Palm and from JBR.
The questions people ask before booking this
- The Burj Al Arab from the waterThe Burj Al Arab stands on its own artificial island about 280 metres offshore, and from the water a boat gets closer to it than any road does.
- Ain Dubai and Bluewaters seen from a boatAin Dubai sits on Bluewaters Island a few hundred metres off JBR, and every boat leaving Dubai Marina passes it within about five minutes of clearing the breakwater.
- The Madinat Jumeirah waterwaysMadinat Jumeirah is a resort complex behind the Burj Al Arab built around roughly three kilometres of artificial waterways, with wooden abras running through them.
Tell us when, and we will tell you what is free.
Weekends and sunset slots go first between October and April. Leave the date and the headcount below, or message us on WhatsApp. If your date is close, WhatsApp is quicker than any form.
- No deposit to enquire
- A reply within a couple of hours
- Licensed boats, licensed crew, price all-in
WhatsApp only — messages and calls