Water sports
Water sports in Dubai: parasailing, flyboard and the rest
Water sports in Dubai run from AED 100 for a ten-minute banana boat ride to AED 400 for a flyboard session, with parasailing at AED 350 for fifteen minutes in the air. Everything launches from Dubai Marina or JBR and none of it needs experience or equipment of your own.
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- Parasailing
- From AED 350, about 15 minutes airborne
- Flyboard
- From AED 400 for 30 minutes with an instructor
- Banana and donut
- From AED 100 for 10 to 15 minutes
- Launches from
- Dubai Marina and JBR
Parasailing is the one most people come for and the one that photographs best. You are winched off the back of a boat to about 150 metres and towed along the JBR shoreline with the whole Marina behind you. It lasts about fifteen minutes in the air, you can go in pairs, and you get back on the boat dry unless you ask not to.
Flyboarding is harder and more fun than it looks. A board fed by a jet ski hose lifts you a few metres out of the water and you spend the first ten minutes falling over. Most people stand up properly inside twenty. An instructor is in the water with you throughout.
The towables (banana boat, donut ride, wakeboarding) are cheap, quick and best booked as a set. A group of eight can do all three inside an hour for less than the cost of one parasail each, which is why they are the standard add-on to a birthday or a stag afternoon.
What is included
- All equipment, life jackets and a safety briefing
- Instructor or operator with you for the whole session
- Boat transfer out to the launch point where required
- Photographs from the boat on most activities
- Locker for phones, keys and clothing
Worth knowing
- Parasailing has a combined weight limit for tandem flights. Tell us the two weights when booking.
- Flyboard has a minimum age of sixteen and is not suitable with shoulder or knee injuries.
- Wind cancels parasailing more often than anything else here. We move the booking rather than run it badly.
Parasailing in Dubai is worth the money. Some of the rest is not
The watersports sold along this coast fall into three groups. The ones worth the money for almost everybody are jet skis and parasailing: the first because you are driving, the second because the view from three hundred feet over the Palm is genuinely unlike anything at sea level and the ride itself is gentle.
The towed inflatables — banana boats, donuts, sofas — are cheap, brief and mostly for teenagers. They are fine as ten minutes of a longer session and thin as a booking in their own right.
Flyboarding is the one that divides people. Ten or fifteen minutes of instruction gets most reasonably fit adults a few feet out of the water, and some people never get there at all. Book it because the attempt appeals, not because you have seen the photographs.
Booking on the beach or in advance
Most operators here sell at the point of use on the JBR and Kite Beach sand rather than in advance, and prices are negotiable. Walking past the first two stands and comparing is normal and expected, and the quality of equipment varies more than the price does.
Booking ahead is worth it for two things only: anything at sunrise or sunset, which is when the best slots go, and anything for a group of more than about six, where turning up unannounced means waiting. For a single jet ski on a Tuesday afternoon, arriving and asking is fine.
Season, and the hours that actually work
The water off Dubai runs from about 21°C in January to 33°C in August, and the air is the constraint rather than the sea. From May to September the usable hours are before about ten in the morning and after five in the afternoon; the middle of the day on an open beach with no shade is not worth booking at any price.
October to April everything works all day, and the mornings are flat. The one thing that stops watersports outright is wind — the same shamal that moves charter bookings closes the beach operators for a day or two at a time each winter.
Ways to do this
Parasailing
From AED 350 · 15 minutes airborne
Winched to about 150 metres behind the boat, single or tandem, along the JBR shoreline. Dry take-off and landing.
Flyboard
From AED 400 · 30 minutes with instruction
Jet-powered board that lifts you out of the water. Expect to fall in repeatedly for the first ten minutes.
Wakeboarding
From AED 300 · 30 minutes
Towed behind a boat in the flat water inside the Marina breakwater. Beginners get a coach in the boat.
Banana boat and donut
From AED 100 · 10 to 15 minutes
Towable rides for groups of up to eight. The cheapest thing on this page and the one children ask to repeat.
What it costs
Per person unless the activity is a whole-boat towable. Booking two or more activities together is usually cheaper than each alone.
| Option | Detail | From |
|---|---|---|
| Banana boat or donut | 10 to 15 minutes, groups up to 8 | AED 100per person |
| Wakeboarding | 30 minutes with a coach | AED 300per person |
| Parasailing | About 15 minutes airborne | AED 350per person |
| Flyboard | 30 minutes with an instructor | AED 400per person |
Ask about Water sports 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 parasailing in Dubai?
From AED 350 per person for about fifteen minutes in the air, launching and landing on the boat. Tandem flights for two are available and are usually a little cheaper per head.
What water sports can you do in Dubai?
Parasailing, flyboarding, wakeboarding, jet skiing, banana boat and donut rides all run daily from Dubai Marina and JBR. Prices start at AED 100 for a towable ride and AED 400 for a flyboard session.
How much does flyboarding cost in Dubai?
From AED 400 for a thirty-minute session including the board, the jet ski that powers it, a life jacket and an instructor in the water with you. Minimum age is sixteen.
Is parasailing in Dubai safe?
Yes, when run by a licensed operator with a winch boat and a certified crew, which is what we book. Flights are cancelled in high wind rather than run in it, and the take-off and landing are both on the boat.
Can water sports be added to a yacht charter?
Yes. Jet skis, a seabob or a towable can meet the yacht at the anchorage and stay for the swim stop. Arrange it when you book the boat, since each needs its own operator.
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