Solo Desert Safari Abu Dhabi: No Single Supplement, No Awkwardness
One traveller pays the same per head as a family of six. Here is what the evening is actually like on your own — the sociable parts, the quiet parts, and the one thing worth arranging before you go.
- 5 min read
- From AED 35
- No single supplement
Solo travellers ask two questions about this trip and neither of them is about dunes. Will I be charged extra for being one person, and will I spend four hours being the only person at a table for six.
No to the first — the pricing is per head, so there is nothing to charge extra for. And the second turns out to answer itself, for reasons to do with how a desert camp is laid out.
One person pays what everybody pays
There is no single supplement because nothing here is priced per room or per vehicle — except the private car, which a solo traveller has no reason to book.
| How you get there | Per person | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Drive yourself | AED 35 | Cheapest by a distance. We send a pin and an arrival window. |
| Shared coach | AED 50 | Set city pickup points, fixed departure. The solo traveller’s bargain. |
| Shared 4×4 | AED 100 | Collected from your hotel door, sharing with three or four others. |
| VIP majlis seat | +AED 50 | Front bay with backed seating, if you would rather not sit on a carpet. |
The same eighteen inclusions apply either way — dune bashing, camel riding, sandboarding, the buffet, unlimited drinks, the shows, henna and the Arabic costume photos. Nothing on that list is priced per couple.
Sociable by accident, quiet by choice
The structure does the work for you. You share the 4×4 with three or four other guests, and forty minutes of dune driving is a very efficient way to stop being strangers — everybody is laughing or clutching a handle, which is much the same thing.
The camp is open carpets and low tables, not a restaurant with reserved covers. There is no host walking you to a table for one. You sit where there is room, and there always is.
And you can disappear whenever you want. Walk out past where the string lights stop, and within thirty seconds it is you, the sand and a very large sky. Most guests never do this, which is exactly why it is the best part of the site.
Nobody at a desert camp finds a solo guest remarkable. Between the layover travellers, the business visitors with a free evening and the photographers, you will not be the only one.
The straight version
You are with a driver who runs this route daily, in a vehicle with other guests in it, at a camp with staff and a hundred people around. The risks worth naming are ordinary ones.
Phone signal is patchy at the camp. That is the real inconvenience of going alone — tell somebody your plan before you leave the hotel rather than expecting to message from the sand. Take the photographs, upload from the car.
Charge your phone and bring AED 100 or so in cash. There is no cash machine in the desert.
For women travelling alone, Abu Dhabi is among the easier cities anywhere, and a camp with no alcohol and no drinking crowd removes the situation that causes most problems elsewhere. There is a fuller, less breezy treatment on is it safe for ladies.
And if dune bashing on your own does not appeal, the whole evening runs perfectly well without it, at the same price.
Getting a picture of yourself out there
The practical problem of solo travel, and it has an easy answer here. Ask your driver. They do the sunset stop several evenings a week, they know exactly where to stand and which way to face, and they will take the photograph without being asked twice.
The Arabic costume photos at the camp are free and included, and somebody is already holding the camera — so that one is solved for you.
Golden hour is the forty minutes before sunset. If a picture is the point of the trip, the sunrise run is better light and almost nobody in the frame.
Booking, timing and what to bring
Nothing is paid in advance. No deposit, no card details, no payment link. You agree the total on WhatsApp and pay at the camp, cash or card, VAT included. Free cancellation to twelve hours before pickup, which matters more when nobody else is depending on the plan.
A day or two’s notice is usually enough, except in December, the New Year fortnight and February half-term.
The camp is at Al Khatim — about an hour from the Corniche, forty minutes from Zayed International. Six hours door to door, home around half past nine.
Closed shoes and a layer. The desert at night between November and February is genuinely cold.
Solo safaris — your questions
Is there a single supplement on a desert safari?
No. Prices are per person, so one traveller pays exactly what each person in a family of six pays – AED 35 driving yourself, AED 50 on the coach, AED 100 with hotel pickup. The only package priced per vehicle is the private car, which no solo traveller needs.
Will I be on my own all evening?
Only if you want to be. You share the 4×4 with three or four others and the camp seating is open carpets, so conversation finds you whether you look for it or not. Plenty of solo guests also spend the whole evening quietly at the edge of the camp, and nobody thinks it odd.
Is it safe to do a desert safari alone?
Yes. You are with a driver who does this route daily, in a group vehicle, at a camp with staff and a hundred other guests. Tell us where you are staying and keep your phone charged – signal at the camp is patchy, which is the only real inconvenience.
Is it safe for a woman travelling alone?
Abu Dhabi is among the safer cities anywhere for a woman on her own, and the camp is a family environment with no alcohol and no drinking crowd. There is a fuller page on this, written properly rather than reassuringly.
What is the cheapest way to do it solo?
AED 35 if you have a car – we send a location pin and an arrival window. Without a car, the shared coach at AED 50 beats the AED 100 hotel pickup if you can reach one of the city pickup points.
Do I need to book in advance?
A day or two is usually enough. December, February half-term and the New Year fortnight are the exceptions – message us two or three weeks ahead for those. Nothing is paid to hold a date.
Read next
Prices and start times are on prices and timings. If you are a woman travelling alone, read is it safe for ladies; if you have your own car, self-drive is the cheapest way in. Everything else is on before you book.
One person, one price — send us your date
No single supplement, no deposit, no card details. Tell us where you are staying and we will tell you whether the coach or the pickup makes more sense for you.