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Change to Sunday Ferry Times

There will be changes to ferry departures from Dubai Water Canal Station on Sundays

The RTA is advising that there are changes to the times of the ferry that leaves from Dubai Water Canal and travels to Al Jadaf on Sundays until the end of March 2019.

The change is to the ferry that normally leaves at 1405 from Dubai Water Canal towards Al Jadaf – this ferry is now expected to leave at 1500 instead.

The change also applies to the ferry that is running on Wednesday 26th December from Dubai Water Canal station to Al Jadaf – that will also now run at 1500 rather than 1405.

Obviously this change will also impact the timings of the ferry arriving at the stations along the Dubai Water Canal, so you will need to add 55 minutes to the expected times of arrival that you can find specified on the routes and timings page.

It is worth contacting the RTA’s Customer Happiness Centre to ensure that you have the correct time of departure before you travel.

There are currently some upgrades being worked on by the RTA in respect of the marine transport options. In particular, the Dubai Water Taxi is currently not operating pending an upgrade so it is always worth checking with the RTA before your journey.

Dubai Ferry Timings Eid al Adha 2018

The RTA has announced the timings for public transport in Dubai and the timings for the Dubai Ferry will be as follows:

“The schedules of marine transit services during the Eid holiday will be as follows:  The Dubai Ferry will be calling at Ghubaiba and Dubai Marina Stations at 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, 03:00 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm. It will be running service from Al Jaddaf Station to Dubai Water Canal Station at 12:00 pm and 05:30 pm and from Dubai Water Canal Station to Al Jaddaf at 02:05 pm and 07:35 pm. Round trips will be running from Sheikh Zayed Road Station from 06:00 pm to 00:00 (midnight). “

Dubai Ferry Timings for Eid al Fitr 2018

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has announced the timing of its services during Eid Al-Fitr holiday covering customers’ happiness centres, paid parking zones, public buses, Dubai Metro & Tram, marine transit means, and centres of service providers (technical testing).

During the first three Eid days, the Dubai Ferry will be calling at Ghubaiba and Dubai Marina Stations at 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, 03:00 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm. It will be running serve from Al Jaddaf Station to Dubai Water Canal Station at 12:00 pm and 05:30 pm and from Dubai Water Canal Station to Al Jaddaf at 02:05 pm and 07:35 pm. Round trips will be running from Sheikh Zayed Road Station from 04:00 pm to 00:00 (midnight).

 

Dubai Ferry Ramadan Timings 2018

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced changes to the business hours of its services during the holy month of Ramadan. RTA services affected by the Ramadan timing include Customers’ Happiness centres, paid parking zones, public buses, Dubai Metro and Tram, marine transit modes, and service-provider centres (Technical Testing).

Dubai Ferry will be operating at Ghubaiba and Marina Stations at 11:00 am, 5:00 pm, and 6:30 pm. The Ferry will operate from Al Jaddaf Station to Dubai Water Canal Station at 5:30 pm and from Dubai Water Canal Station to Al Jaddaf Station at 7:35 pm.

This means that some sailings are being cancelled during Ramadan which are:

  • the 2:05pm sailing from  Dubai Water Canal Station,
  • the midday sailing from Al Jadaf,
  • the circular trips from the Marina and Al Ghubaiba at 3pm
  • the one way trips between the Marina and Al Ghubaiba at 1pm.

Dubai Ferry – New Years Eve 2017/18

dubai ferry new year 2017/18
The RTA runs ferry trips at New Year to see the fireworks in Dubai
New Years Eve

Every year the RTA run special ferry trips for New Years Eve (31st December) to enable passengers to get a good view of the festivities that are happening over the Emirate and in particular the fireworks at the various venues.

This year is no exception and the RTA has in fact increased the number of trips that it will be running for 31st December 2017 by laying on extra boats at additional locations.

Trip Details

The RTA has announced that the trips will run from Marina Mall Station (Dubai Marina), Ghubaiba Station, Dubai Festival City Station (Dubai Creek) and Sheikh Zayed Road Station (Dubai Water Canal). However, there is no ferry stop at Festival City so we are checking to see if this is actually from Al Jadaf.

The trips all commence at 9pm (with boarding from 8.30pm) and go on until 1.30am allowing passengers a full evening’s viewing of the festivities from the water.

Last year there was no seating on the ferry trips so this may well be the case this year too.

Tickets

Tickets for these New Year ferry trips often sell out very fast and we get many queries on this website about how and when people can buy tickets for New Years Eve in Dubai.

This year details have been announced earlier than usual which gives people more time to book.

Ticket prices are 300 AED for silver class tickets and 450 AED for gold class. Children between 2 and 10 years old pay half price and under 2s go free.

If you want to buy your tickets then you need to go to the relevant departure point where you wish to take the trip and book at the ticket office there.

There is no other way of booking at the moment. If you are not in the country at present then you will need to find someone to book for you.

You can get further information about the trips by calling the RTA on the toll free number 800 9090 or else use the mobile number 050 7932662.

This year is set to be bigger and better than ever!

Refreshments

UPDATE: There are refreshments available on board to purchase as there is a small refreshment bar on the Ferries. You can also bring your own small snacks and soft drinks with you. There is no meal included in the ticket price.

 

Emirates NBD Free Ferry Trip

Emirates NBD Go4It Credit/Debit Card

For those people who have an Emirates NBD Go4It Credit or Debit Card, you can avail of a free ride on the Dubai Ferry either from Al Ghubaiba or the Marina and the details are shown below.

This information is from the Emirates NBD Website and is subject to change so please check before you travel as this may not be the most up to date information.

There is also conflicting information about how many free tickets you can get and how often so please check with Emirates NBD.

The following information is from the Emirates NBD website:

Emirates NBD Free Ferry Ride

Free rides on Dubai Ferry – as per Emirates NBD October  2024:

Your Go4it Card entitles you and one accompanying guest to a free ride on the Dubai Ferry. The Go4it Platinum provides a free ride in the Business class (Gold ticket). The Go4it Gold provides a free ride in the Economy class (Silver ticket).

The exclusive rides for Go4it Cardholders are as per below schedule.

Route Description Schedule*
F1 Round trip from Al Ghubaiba water transport station up to the area close to Burj Al Arab 2:30pm (for one hour), First Saturday of the month
Round trip from Al Ghubaiba water transport station up to the area close to Burj Al Arab 2:30pm (for one hour), Second Saturday of the month
F2 Round trip from Marina Mall water transport station up to the area close to Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah 2:30pm (for one hour), Third Saturday of the month
Round trip from Marina Mall water transport station up to the area close to Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah 2:30pm (for one hour), Fourth Saturday of the month

To avail of the benefit, you may arrive at the aforementioned station on any of the scheduled days. On presenting the Go4it Credit Card at the ticket counter the cardholder will be provided with the entry pass which needs to be presented prior to boarding the Dubai Ferry. The Dubai Ferry has a maximum capacity of 100 seats per trip (Economy 84, Business 14, Disabled 2). Additional guests will be charged as per the normal applicable rates of Dubai Ferry. Trip duration is approximately 1 hour. Ferry operation is subject to fair sea conditions. For details log on to www.rta.ae.

Terms and Conditions

  • *Ferry operation schedule is subject to changes without prior notice considering bad weather, summer months, etc. Emirates NBD reserves the right to cancel any trip due to unavoidable circumstances. All offers are made available on a best-effort basis and at the sole discretion of Emirates NBD. Emirates NBD makes no warranties and assumes no liability or responsibility in respect to the products and services provided by partner(s)/other entity(ies).

Obviously the trips are subject to weather conditions and unforeseen changes and may be withdrawn at any time.

You can also use your credit (and the debit) card as a Nol card to pay your transportation fares and parking tickets.

See the Emirates NBD website for more information on the free ferry rides.

Dubai Ferry Timings for National Day

The RTA has announced the timings for all means of public transport on the occasions of the Prophet Muhammed’s Birthday, Commemoration Day and National Day.

For the Dubai Ferry, there is no change to the normal daily timings and routes which are shown on the Routes page.

All routes run 7 days a week and are as shown on the routes page unless advised otherwise.

It is likely that on the occasion of the public holidays that the ferries will be busier than usual and some of the more popular trips may book up quicker than others (e.g. from the Marina).

People are advised to get to the ferry terminal with 30 minutes or so to spare so that they can purchase tickets at the relevant ticket office for their trip (no tickets can be bought online or in advance yet).

The trips from Al Jadaf have been less busy since they have been introduced and you can access the Marine Station very easily from Dubai Creek Metro Station.

Al Jadaf Ferry Terminal

2023 Update – this route no longer runs. Check the routes page for more info.

This is a spotlight post on Al Jadaf Ferry Terminal. This is the starting point  for ferry trips that run up the Dubai Water Canal to the Marine Station there.

Al Jadaf Waiting Room
There is a comfortable waiting room at Al Jadaf with customer toilets.

Walk From the Metro

Al Jadaf Marine Station is only a short walk from the Creek Metro station. It takes only a couple of minutes to walk from the Metro station to the Marine Station. Upon arrival at the Marine Station there is an air conditioned waiting room with seats where you can await your ferry or abra trip.

From Al Jadaf Marine Station you can not only get a ferry trip up the canal, you can also get an abra trip over to Festival City, which only takes a few minutes and so is a good route over that way if you do not have a car.

Dubai Ferry at Al Jadaf
The ferry leaves from Al Jadaf 3 times a day.

3 Trips

Ferries leave 3 times a day to go up the canal from Al Jadaf at 10am, 12pm and 5.30pm. The full trip takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes to Dubai Water Canal Station where you can link up with the ferries that go to Dubai marina and Al Ghubaiba.

Sunset on the Burj Khalifa
You get a fabulous view on the 5.30pm ferry from Al Jadaf.
Sunset Trip

If you take the 5.30pm trip from Al Jadaf in the cooler months then you can see the sun set  over the Burj Khalifa, so this is a lovely trip to take.

You could go as far as the Sheikh Zayed Road station (this is 4 stops and will cost 40 dirhams in silver class). Once you get there – it arrives at 6.55pm – you can wait for 5 minutes to see the spectacle of the colourful waterfall on the bridge over the canal.

Dubai Water Canal Waterfall Lights
The light show starts at 7pm on the Water Canal.

From here you can take a walk along the canal and go over any of the new bridges there, or you can walk to the nearest Metro station, Business Bay, which will take you about 15 minutes.

An evening trip on the ferry along the canal is a great trip to take if you have visitors staying with you in Dubai. It gives you a great view of some key sights in Dubai and is a nice relaxing journey.  The 5.30pm trip also gives you time to get dinner at one of the nearby hotels. The W Hotel Dubai Al Habtoor City is just across the road from the Ferry Stop.

Eid al Adha 2017

eid al adha ferry
Dubai Ferry Station

The RTA has announced details of all of the services that will run over the period of Eid al Adha 2017 for Dubai public transport services.

The Dubai Ferry will run all its standard services over the Eid period, with no changes to the schedule. You can see all of the routes and timings here.

The Eid al Adha holiday runs from Thursday 31st August until Sunday 3rd September 2017.

The ferries have a capacity of 100 people and may well get busy over the holiday period. Tickets can be purchased at ticket office at the relevant departure point but cannot be bought in advance.

It is advisable to get to the ferry terminal at least half an hour before the trip departs to ensure that you can get a ticket and get on board before the ferry departs.

All paid public parking in Dubai will be free over the holiday period (except multi storey car parks).