Rain and the Desert Safari: What Happens, in Writing
Abu Dhabi gets about fifty millimetres of rain in an entire year. If the weather is ever bad enough to stop the trip, we cancel it ourselves, rebook you free, and you pay nothing — because nothing was ever taken.
- 5 min read
- ~50 mm rain a year
- Free rebooking if we cancel
People booking from London or Frankfurt plan around rain out of habit. Here the habit is unnecessary — but “it never rains” is not a policy, and if you are flying across the world for one evening you deserve the actual answer: what the numbers say, what happens in light rain, and exactly what we do on the rare day the weather wins.
How much it actually rains
These are the official 1991–2020 normals for Abu Dhabi, not a brochure’s opinion:
| Months | Rain per month | What it means for a safari |
|---|---|---|
| June – October | 0.0 – 0.7 mm | Effectively none. Rain is not a factor at all |
| November | 2.4 mm | A light shower or two across the whole month |
| December – March | 7.8 – 12.9 mm | The “wet” season — still less in a month than London gets in a week |
| April – May | 5.2 / 0.3 mm | Tapering back to nothing |
The whole year adds up to roughly fifty millimetres. For comparison, that is one rainy afternoon in most of Europe. Even in January, the wettest weeks, the overwhelming majority of evenings are dry — and when rain does come to the desert it tends to arrive as a short, hard burst rather than a grey day.
Light rain: the trip runs
A shower does not cancel a desert safari. The sand drinks it, the dust settles, the air clears, and an hour later the desert smells like nothing you have smelled before. Some of the best photographs guests take all year are on the evening after rain, when the light is scrubbed clean and the ripples hold their shadows.
The camp evening carries on: the seating is in Bedouin tents, dinner is cooked and served under cover, and the shows go on. What the driver may change is the dune route — wet sand behaves differently and he reads it on the day, the same way he reads it dry.
So if the forecast shows a rain icon for your date, do not cancel your evening over it. Message us instead and we will tell you what that icon actually means for that day — usually nothing.
If we have to cancel
Most cancellation policies are a list of your obligations. This is the other half — ours, in writing.
If the weather is genuinely bad enough that we cancel your booking — and the same goes for a vehicle problem or a driver taken ill — we contact you the moment we know, and we rebook you at no charge on the next date that works for you. You pay nothing for the cancelled evening.
There is nothing to refund, because nothing was ever taken: no deposit, no card details, no booking fee. A cancelled booking with us costs you a WhatsApp message and nothing else. That is the practical difference between this and a prepaid tour, where a weather cancellation starts a refund process you then have to chase from another country.
Your side is unchanged: you can cancel free of charge up to twelve hours before pickup, for any reason, weather included. The full picture of how booking without payment works is on the pay on arrival page.
Sandstorms, honestly
The weather people actually worry about here is not rain, it is sand — so let us deal with that too.
There is a dusty season, and it is short. The shamal — the dry north-westerly that lifts dust into the air — runs roughly June to the middle of August. Those are hazy weeks, not dangerous ones, and the trip runs through them every year; the summer safari page is honest about what they look like.
There is no autumn or winter sandstorm season. By September the air has cleared, which is exactly why October to March gives the cleanest horizons and the best stargazing of the year.
A genuine sandstorm is rare, forecast in advance, and treated like bad weather: if it is serious enough that the evening should not run, we cancel it ourselves and the rebooking policy above applies. Nobody drives you into one to keep a booking alive.
How you would hear from us
The same WhatsApp thread you booked on. That thread has your date, your pickup and your total in it, and it is where any change would reach you — a real person, not an automated notice.
Two practical notes. First, weather serious enough to change anything is visible a day or more ahead, so you would not be finding out in the hotel lobby. Second, if you are ever unsure, just ask — a message the morning of your trip gets a straight answer about that evening, not a reassurance script.
Rain and weather questions
Does it rain on desert safaris in Abu Dhabi?
Almost never. Abu Dhabi receives roughly fifty millimetres of rain in an entire year, and from June to October effectively none at all. Even in the December-to-March weeks, the great majority of evenings are completely dry.
What happens if it rains on my desert safari?
Light rain does not stop the trip. The seating is in Bedouin tents, dinner is served under cover and the shows go on; the driver may adjust the dune route because wet sand behaves differently. Rain in the desert usually passes quickly and clears the air.
What if the weather is bad enough to cancel?
Then we cancel it ourselves, contact you the moment we know, and rebook you free on the next date that suits you. You pay nothing, and there is nothing to refund because we never took a deposit or card details in the first place.
Can I cancel because of a rain forecast?
Yes — you can cancel free up to twelve hours before pickup for any reason. But message us first: a rain icon on a forecast app almost never means a wet evening here, and we will tell you honestly what your date looks like.
Is there a sandstorm season in Abu Dhabi?
The hazy shamal weeks run roughly June to mid-August, and they are dusty rather than dangerous. There is no autumn or winter sandstorm season — October to March has the clearest air of the year. A genuine storm is rare, visible in the forecast, and treated exactly like bad weather: we cancel and rebook free.
Do I lose money if the safari is cancelled for weather?
No. Nothing is paid until you are at the camp, so a weather cancellation costs you nothing and there is no refund to wait for. You choose the next date that works and the booking simply moves.
Read next
Month-by-month conditions, with the same official figures, are on best time to go — January and March are the two wettest and still barely qualify. How booking with no money down works is on pay on arrival, and the wider safety picture is on is it safe?. Everything else worth checking first is on before you book.
Your date, our answer — before you commit to anything
Send the date and we will tell you what that week actually looks like out there. If the weather ever takes an evening away, the next one is on the same terms and nothing has left your pocket.