Following on from the previous list of routes there are also:
Festival City Abras
The Festival City abra runs from the back of the Festival Centre, just near the outside the Intercontinental hotel at Dubai Festival City across the water to Al Jadaf. Currently there is a lot of building work ongoing at Festival City so it can be a little bit difficult to actually get to the abra station.
This abra service enables people to get over to the Al Jadaf marine transport station so that the Ferry can be taken along the Dubai Water Canal and it costs 2 dirhams per person. The Festival City abra now only takes payment by Nol card.
The operational hours of the abra service at Dubai Festival City are:
Saturday to Thursday: 7am to midnight.
Fridays and Public holidays: 7am to Midnight
The service runs at regular intervals as shown in the graphic below:
The trip only takes a couple of minutes to cross the water.
See the map below to find out the location and the route of the Festival City abra.
A few years ago abras were introduced to the man made canal at Global Village. Again they are the eco friendly abras that are electrically powered and which are going to be the future of sustainable transport in Dubai.
Abra rides have become popular at Global Village and they travel the 500 metres or so along the canal and give you a great view of the pavilions and the general hubbub of the area. It’s not exactly a long route but it does provide a nice change to walking around all of the pavilions and something that the children are likely in particular to enjoy. Global Village is generally only open over the Winter months so you will need to check when it is open if you plan to take a trip there. You can easily spend a number of evenings wandering around the village and there are lots of stalls, food outlets and funfair rides to keep everyone entertained.
You can check out a short video of the Global Village abras here:
Madinat Jumeirah Abras
There is an abra service within the Madinat Jumeirah. This is not only available for guests of the hotel but also for visitors. The abra trip costs 75 dirhams for adults and 40 dirhams for children over 4 years old (free for children under 4 years).
You can take the abras from close to the Italian restaurant Toscana, and in busy times you may need to book in advance. The abra tour runs for about 20 minutes and is available from 10am until 11pm in winter and an hour shorter, starting at 11am in summer.
The madinat abra is a nice way to see around the waterways of the Madinat Jumeirah – you can check out a short video of the Madinat abras here:
Al Mamzar Abras
Electric abras were introduced at Mamzar lake in 2014, giving people to opportunity to take a ride around the Al Mamzar lagoon for 30 or 60 minutes. The whole abra can be hired for these periods for a cost of either 60 dirhams or 120 dirhams, depending on the duration of the trip. Each abra can take up to 20 passengers so this could make a nice excursion for a group of friends at Al Mamzar park.
The abras operate from 4pm until 8pm (except for Ramadan when timings may differ – see the news section for any announcements on Ramadan timings).
The abras run from the Al Mamzar Marine transport station which is right next to Al Mamzar beach, just before the entrance to Al Mamzar Beach Park.
Souk al Marfa
With two routes, connecting Souk Al Marfa to Dubai’s Old Souq and Deira Old Souq, the 25-minute abra journey operates from 5 pm to 10 pm on weekdays, and 10 am to 12 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).