General Information

Surfers are sometimes surprised to discover that they can surf in the Arabian Gulf. Conditions for surfing are not quite the same as Hawaii's North Shore but on a good winter's day you'll have a blast! There's plenty of sunshine of course, the crowds aren't too bad and you don't really need a wetsuit (water temperature is refreshing in Dec/Jan).

Usually in the winter season you'll get between 0 and 5 ft wave faces of wind generated swell from the northwest. Once or twice a year a big shamal (storm) will generate 8-10 ft faces. Back in March 2000, one of the SODs reckoned he was surfing double overhead.

You'll get small surfable waves once or twice a week from November to April but it can be completely flat for more than a week or two at a time. The summer months are almost completely flat, and the water and air temperatures are unpleasant.

The east coast also gets occasional waves but is more inconsistent than Dubai. Further afield, you can get surf in Oman on the eastern coast facing the Indian Ocean, with some good swells from April to October and especially July and August (but with strong winds and currents). Definitely worth a trip if you can get the right combinations of swell and weather conditions.

Surfers here are a friendly bunch and if you live here, you'll recognize the same faces out in the water soon enough. You can even get surf lessons if you've always wanted to learn. Join the Surfers of Dubai mailing list, visit the surf discussion forum and/or come along to our monthly video nights.

Visit the Surfers of Dubai website for more information and surf photos.