New Year’s Eve in Dubai: How to watch fireworks on board the Dubai Ferry, abra or Water Taxi

Dubai: If you want the best views of Dubai’s skyline during New Year’s Eve, how about watching the fireworks on the Dubai Ferry, Water Taxi or abra?

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) recently announced this service, which is available for both residents and tourists, with the option to even book an entire Water Taxi, if you want to celebrate with a bigger group of friends.

Here are the details:

Dubai Ferry

The Dubai Ferry is one of the more popular marine transport options in Dubai, as it offers an air-conditioned indoor seating area along with an outdoor deck. The ferry can seat up to 98 passengers and has rest rooms as well as a gold and silver class, with gold class offering wider seating.

Here are the timings for each station where ferries will take off for New Year’s Eve:

Timings

• 10pm - Marina Mall (Dubai Marina) Marine Transport Station.
• 10.30pm - Ghubaiba Marine Transport Station.
• 10.30pm - Bluewaters Station Marine Transport Station.

Cost:

• Dh350 per person for Silver Class
• Dh525 per person for Gold Class
• 50 per cent discount for children between the ages of two to 10.
• Free for infants under the age of two.

Also read:

https://gulfnews.com/going-out/updated-list-of-new-years-eve-2024-fireworks-in-dubai-abu-dhabi-ras-al-khaimah-1.1702375691598

Book a Water Taxi

RTA is also offering residents and tourists the option to rent out an entire Dubai Water Taxi, which can seat up to 20 passengers. The Water Taxi will leave from the Marina Mall (Dubai Marina) Marine Transport Station at 10.30 pm, with the trip ending at 1.30am the following day.

Cost:

• Dh3,750 for the entire Dubai Water Taxi.
• Free for children under the age of two.

Abra

You can also watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks on a traditional abra. According to the RTA website – rta.ae – you have the option to choose either an ‘open abra’ or an ‘air-conditioned (AC) abra’.

Abra stations for New Year’s Eve 2024

• Marina Mall (Dubai Marina) Marine Transport Station.
• Al Jaddaf Marine Transport Station.
• Al Fahidi Marine Transport Station.
• Al Ghubaiba Marine Transport Station.

The AC abra trips are only available in Marina Mall (Dubai Marina), Al Jaddaf and Al Fahidi.

Timings:

• 10.30pm – Marina Mall (Dubai Marina) Marine Transport Station.
• 10pm – Al Jaddaf Marine Transport Station.
• 10.30pm – Al Fahidi Marine Transport Station.

Cost:

• Dh150 per person.
• Free for children under the age of two.

How to book marine transport tickets for New Year’s Eve 2024

At the time of announcing the ferry service for New Year’s Eve fireworks, RTA said that interested individuals can book the service by calling the RTA call centre on 8009090 or sending an email to marinebooking@rta.ae.

However, currently the RTA website also allows people to book a slot for any one of the marine services for New Year’s Eve online, by following these steps:

• Visit the website - marine.rta.ae
• Under the 'area' category, select 'New Year Trip'.
• Select your mode of transport.
• Choose the route and click on the 'search' button.
• Next, select one of the available timings.
• Enter the ticket details, for example, the number of guests and whether you prefer gold or silver class.
• Next, fill in your personal details (mobile number, full name, and email address) and confirm the tickets.
• Then pay for the booking online via credit or debit card.