Dreamland Aqua Park

Jamie, our South African friend William, and spent the entire day at the Dreamland Aqua Park. To get there you drive about an hour and half from Dubai, through the Emirate of Sharjah, and then through the Emirate of Ajman. There really is not much out there except a water park, a hotel, a Russian plane that had to make an emergency landing in that area twenty years ago, and a lot of sand. It is right on the coast which is more of tidal basin rather than a surf spot.



The water park was awesome! We all felt like kids again. Ok the rides are smaller and slower than those at White Water in Atlanta, but there wasn’t that much of a crowd and it was still fun.


This park has a pool with very salty water, similar to what if found in the Dead Sea. The water was very hot and you quickly realized if you had any small cuts or abrasion on you body. Because of the high salinity of the water you floated very easily. It was hard to go under water because you were so buoyant. (I bet if a swimming race were held in a this pool Olympics records would be broken because you were so buoyant).


An interesting thing about this water park is the strange juxtapositions you see in a small area. I remember as we crossed a bridge over the lazy river, on the way to a full service bar that serves liquor and beer, I saw a group of Whabi Muslim women (I call them Ninja Women) who were having a great time splashing in the water even though none of their skin except a small part of their eyes was exposed. After crossing the bridge we walked past a group of young, rowdy Russians, Brits, and Expat Arabs full of “spirits” and dancing closely to each other as Shaggy’s, “It Wasn’t Me” blasted out of speakers.
After leaving the park we stopped by a liquor store next door which does not require people to have a liquor license to purchase alcohol. This package store was packed. What was interesting is that many of the clientele were local men (Emiratis) and other Arabs wearing white robes (dishdashes).

That night as I trying to go to sleep my body was still curving along the slides. It was a fun day!