PEDESTRIAN.TV’s partnered with Flight Centre to show off all the bells and whistles the nek-level city of Dubai has to offer. After checking out the pulse-elevating activities you can do over there, you’ll undoubtedly be wanting to get your damn-fine ass on a plane ASAP – let Flight Centre hook you up by heading HERE.
Dubai, being a city of affordable extravagance, provides an abundance of activities that aren’t particularly suited to those with high blood pressure.
We’ve pulled together some things – in ascending order of mild to wild – for you anti-chillaxers to get around if you’re ever in Dubai’s neck of the woods.
AQUAVENTURE WATERPARK
Aquaventure is the Ron Burgundy of waterparks and Trip Adviser agrees – ranking it the best in the Middle East, as well as in the top five globally.
Photo: Aquaventure.
They do it big in Dubai and their waterparks are no exception. Aquaventure Waterpark is a casual 17 hectares in size.
Photo: Aquaventure.
Two huge towers (insert Lord of the Rings reference here) are filled with rides including: the world’s largest diameter slide (who doesn’t love a bit of girth), the world’s first vertical banking family ride with a double hump at the end (Wednesday activity = sorted), the first double slide within a slide experience (double-down4what), the world’s first known zipline circuit to be integrated into a waterpark tower (the only social acceptable instance to scream ‘yippee’ past the age of five, and even that’s a stretch) and unique marine animal interactions with rays and sharks.
Aquaventure is a great stop for those looking for an adventure on the mild side of the spectrum. Visit their website HERE for more information.
INDOOR SKIING
Yeah, skiing in Dubai is a hard concept to grapple with – but then again, it’s Dubai we’re talking about. They’re all about making the impossible, possible.
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
The inside of Ski Dubai’s centre (22,500m² – roughly three football fields) is covered in real snow year round. With the temp sitting around a bearable -1º, it’s essentially a massive esky. Couple that with its multi-layered walls of insulation and you’ve got one hell of a beverage cooler.
The whole area is themed as a ski-resort which gives it serious Whistler vibes. You can even make a pit-stop mid-slope for a hot chocolate from an Alps-style chalet. Now this is living, Barry.
If hot beverages mid-ski don’t do it for you maybe Ski Dubai’s resident penguins (*squeals*) will.
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
There are five different runs you can ski, differing in difficulty, hardness and length. The longest of them is around 400 metres in length. And, for the ~cowabunga snowboarders~, there’s a permanent 1/4 pipe for ya.
Visit Ski Dubai’s website HERE for more information.
FLYBOARDING
Flyboarding, or Jetblading, involves a water jetpack attached to a personal water craft (the panel peeps stand on) that is propelled by water/air driven through it. In theory – simple. In execution – pretty hard.
The Flyboard was invented in 2012 by a French watercraft rider, Franky Zapata. Dubai, ahead of the curve as per usual, recognised its potential as an extreme sport.
The second edition of XDubai Flyboard World Cup went down not too long ago in December. Flyboarders from around the world congregated to compete, and as the video demonstrates, they’ve got some mad skills, brah.
If you manage to get the hang of this extremely difficult extreme sport you’ll be able to sample Dubai’s sights like no other (i.e. upside down and a couple of metres in the air).
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
You can book your own Flyboarding experience through Flyboards UAE right HERE.
SKYDIVING & INDOOR SKYDIVING
Skydiving’s, y’know, pretty epic in and of itself. What would compel you to leap out of a plane at roughly 13,000ft is beyond us, but each to their own etc. A way to elevate the experience, not that it needs any more elevating, is to dive through clouds with a view.
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
Yeah, look – falling through the air while admiring the Palm Jumeirah (^^^) isn’t something you’re going to forget anytime soon – not even if you’re a soap opera star who’s suffering their fourth bout of amnesia.
You can organise skydiving through Skydiving Dubai’s website HERE.
If you’re more interested in keeping two feet firmly on the ground, or at least a hell of a lot closer to it than conventional skydiving, then we’ve got something that could be more your noise.
Indoor skydiving is a thing that exists IRL.
We ain’t.
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
iFly Dubai has set several benchmarks in the vertical wind tunnel industry (admittedly an odd industry to pioneer, but we’re certainly not complaining) which you’ll be gagging to get around. The wind tunnel contains two giant fans, both of which are more than 3 metres in circumference. These bad-boys are capable of producing wind up to 200kph (talk about being blown away).
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
You’ll be able to get up to 10 metres in the air and have the whole affair recorded, vomiting ‘n all, for you to take home.
Hardcore skydivers go their to train, including a large mob of adrenaline-junky ’Strayans who now reside in the city.
Check out their website HERE to book.
Keen on hitting it / quitting it in Dubai? Flight Centre will sort you out. Head HERE to get around the ace deal they’re offering ATM.
Photo: Dubai Tourism.
