Saadiyat Island - A Seashore with Western Flavor

I had been reading over internet about the nearby places to visit in and around Abu Dhabi. Suddenly I came across a beautiful sea beach with magnificent turquoise colored water. I wondered what it was and where it was. To my surprise, it was of a newly opened public beach in Abu Dhabi itself - at Saadiyat Island.

We decided that we had to visit this beautiful place once. So on one fine Friday afternoon, we took a taxi and reached to the front gate of the seashore. Yes, you read it right, the beach is accessible only through a gate and with a basic entry fee of 25 Dhs. In taxi it took us around 15 mins and 22 Dhs from Tourist Club Area, so it is not that far. See the map below for the driving directions. In a nutshell, take the highway for Yas Island through Mina, pass by ISC and follow the instructions for Saadiyat beach as the instructions are more than clear to reach to the front gate.

Once we reached there, as I mentioned there is an entry fee:

• 25 Dhs per person for basic entry fee
• 50 Dhs per person including lounger and towel

Once we entered to the beach, we were literally surprised as we did not expect what we saw. It seemed that we were in either Europe or USA, just for the sheer number of bikiniclad ladies around. There is absolutely no restriction on wearing any swimsuit or bikini. It was a fantastic place and heavily crowded. People were swimming, water-surfing, kayaking, photographing, playing music, barbecuing or just simply enjoying the sun - the place was indeed full of various activities.

We walked towards a less crowded side where we were compensated by the magnificent views.The water was so beautifully colored, that it looked like we were out of the world. The blueness of the water was simply fascinating to watch. The air was pure, the waves were gentle and the beach was clean - it is indeed a perfect beach to spend the time with family. At one side there was a lot of mangroves which added greenery to contrast of the the blue water and yellow sand.

We explored the beach away from the madding crowd. I read that there was turtle breeding farm or something but we couldn't find the same

We roamed across the mangroves, we passed by the seashore, we dipped our feet into the water, we collected sea-shells which were plenty and we enjoyed each others' company. We sat there till it was dark.There was a cafe just besides the front gate where we enjoyed a large cup of coffee before actually leaving the premises.

Now it was time to come back. The drawback of the beach is that there was not taxi stand. If you don't have your own vehicle better rent one or book a taxi in advance. Immediately besides the front gate there is a bus stop (Bus no 404) but the watchman informed that after dark the buses get very irregular. We were not sure whether the bus would really come or not, but we waited around 15 minutes and a bus arrived to our relief. It dropped us near the Al Diar Capital hotel from where we strolled towards our nest after joyfilled afternoon.

I also shot many pictures, some of which I have shared below.

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The Blue Sea

 

The Beach Activities

Sandstones and Footsteps

The quite stretch of the beach - there was a resort at the backdrop

Beach Activities

Industrial Area at one side

Floating..

Saadiyat Rotana Resort - Bang on the beach

Seashells and the Sea

Seashells and the Sea - with some blurring effect

Poshest Villas overlooking the sea

Proof that some Karting also took place

Experiment 1 - Subject Blurred, Background in Focus

Experiment 2 - Subject in focus (with lighting effect), background blurred

Really wanna shift to one of 'em Villas

Mangroves

Footprints

Sand Texture

Sand Texture - in monochrome

Walk by my side

Romantic Walk

A Romantic Walk - in monochrome

Diagonal

Crowded

Moments

Kayaking under the Sun

Sand Houses

Photographer and his subject

Watchful

Father and Son

Time to wrap up