Dubai: If your day is too tight or you find the sun too hot during the daylight hours, here's your big chance to hit the waves during the Dubai summer nights — another night beach is coming up.
Due to the overwhelming public feedback received by the Night Swimming Beach at Umm Suqeim, a new night swimming facility will now rise at Al Mamzar Beach, an official of the civic body announced on Monday.
Alia Al Harmoudi |
In a statement, Alia Al Harmoudi, director of the Environment Department at Dubai Municipality, said: “The Night Swimming Beach initiative launched recently at Umm Suqeim area has witnessed a remarkable success."
This was seen in a spike in number of beach users in the evening, she said. "(People) come to the beach for swimming in the Gulf waters at night — away from the sun and high temperatures during the day. The second night swimming beach will be built upon instructions from Director General of Dubai Municipality, Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah.
Al Harmoudi said Al Mamzar Beach was chosen for the new Night Swimming Beach as it is easily accessible to the residents of Deira area.
Happiness
The move also takes into account the project's value in achieving the happiness of the beach visitors — and in helping boost tourism in the emirate.
“Since the inauguration of the Umm Suqeim Night Swimming Beach in March, we have noticed the great demand from families to visit the beach, especially from Arab families.
"Families take their children to enjoy a unique fun experience in summer without the exposure to sun, and in a safe environment in terms of availability of all elements and requirements of security and safety. Al Mamzar Night Swimming Beach will also have similar facilities,” said Al Harmoudi.
During the Eid Al Fitr holidays, she said, the Umm Suqeim Night Beach witnessed a large crowd of visitors of different nationalities, who came to enjoy the night swimming atmosphere.
The beach is fitted with an integrated safety and rescue system in accordance with international standards to ensure a safe environment for visitors, the official said.
Rescue station
“The facilities include a main rescue station and a qualified crew of lifeguards equipped with all safety, rescue, ambulance and communication equipment, as well as beach and water rescue bikes that ensure a safe environment for beach visitors.
"Swimming at night is prohibited on the public beaches in the Emirate of Dubai because it poses a danger to the safety of beach goers, except for the beach mentioned and equipped specifically for this purpose,” she said.
“The Umm Suqeim Night Beach is considered the first of its kind in the world due to its smart and environmentally friendly design as it relies only on clean energy generated from wind and sun.
"Two solar and wind-powered smart poles have been installed on the beach to automatically provide high density light, in addition to smart changing rooms that generate electricity using solar and wind power,” said Al Harmoudi.
She added that this initiative is a continuation of Dubai Municipality's efforts to improve the emirate's public beaches and provide smart services that support the Government of Dubai's plan to transform the emirate into a smart city, such as the Smart Palm Initiative, which provides Internet and clean electric power that has been well received by beach goers.
Powered by renewables
“The smart poles were installed at a height of 12 meters, which light the side of the beach up to a width of 120 meters and a depth of 50 meters inside the sea water. Each pole can generate about 1.5 kW of electricity per day from a combination of wind and solar energy.
"The poles are made of weather-resistant reinforced fibers, making them suitable for installation in the coastal environment. In addition, the poles are equipped with sensors that enable them to light the beach automatically after sunset,” added Al Harmoudi.
“The smart poles are equipped with digital screens to display marine warnings in case of sea disturbance. The texts of the marine warnings and the colours of the flags usually flying on the beaches to warn the swimmers will be scrolled on the screens. When the red light shines, it indicates the danger of swimming and its [prohibition],” she said.
The Umm Suqeim Night Beach, which operates daily from sunset until midnight, is located in a prime location in the heart of the city in Umm Suqeim — 1 area, just a kilometer away from the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
