La Cantine is one of Dubai’s lesser-known beach clubs, probably because there are so many to choose from in the Emirate, now.
But does that mean that La Cantine isn’t as good as the other beach clubs, or has it been overlooked in favour of imported big brand names?
Of course, the location on Bluewaters Island means that it probably sees much less passing trade than most beach clubs, so our team decided to go out and investigate the place for themselves, and this is what they learned at La Cantine Beach in Dubai.
Introduction – Getting To La Cantine Beach
La Cantine Beach isn’t that far away from many of the other beach clubs; it’s on Bluewaters Island, just a little bit further towards Jebel Ali than Dubai Marina.
However, this does mean that it’s not the sort of place that you stumble over in Dubai; it’s somewhere that you visit with intent.
Getting to Dubai is, of course, a pretty easy affair with the emirate offering one of the world’s largest airports and transport hubs. And long gone are the days when people passed through Dubai rather than stopping to enjoy the place.
Once you’re here, if you’re staying in Jumeriah or Dubai Marina, it’s a fairly short drive to La Cantine Beach; it’s a longer drive from the other side of the city, mind you, and particularly if you get caught in rush hour traffic.
When you arrive, as with pretty much everywhere in Dubai, you can be dropped off at the door by a taxi or enjoy some valet parking to store your car safely until you return.
Where Is La Cantine Beach? Delano – Bluewaters Island – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Online: Delano
Opening Hours: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m. every day, hours may vary during Ramadan or on public holidays
What’s Available At La Cantine Beach?
La Cantine Beach is a family-friendly beach club that aims to keep you entertained all day long in a very different fashion from the party-oriented beach clubs here.
In addition to festive themed events at certain times of the year, there’s a restaurant, beach and pool access, a fully featured wellness centre and a sports club.
If you want a day out where you aren’t going to be bored as a family, La Cantine is set up to ensure you’re not.
Our Detailed Review Of La Cantine Beach
We adhere to a consistent approach for evaluating each beach club, ensuring equitable treatment for owners, management, and staff, and delivering reviews in a uniform structure that simplifies comparing venues.
The evaluation procedure is as follows:
- A review team is selected to examine the venue.
- All members are required to visit the beach club, though they can do so separately and not on the same day.
- At the venue, each reviewer fills out a scorecard, assigning the club a score from 1 (lowest quality) to 5 (highest quality) across specified categories, while also documenting their impressions.
- Once all scorecards are completed, the team gathers to discuss their findings and agree on final category scores.
- A selected team member then writes the review, reflecting the group’s consensus and scores, before it is uploaded to our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
We are disappointed to report that La Cantine uses the profoundly unsuitable SevenRoom as its booking engine.
This is a restaurant booking platform that doesn’t deliver the kind of interactive maps that allow you to choose your exact seat that we can find at other beach clubs, in much less expensive and prestigious parts of the world.
It does the bare minimum, but that’s about it, and we feel that in Dubai, there ought to be a much higher standard put in place than this. It feels like real laziness, and it’s a poor start to any day out in the emirate.
Ambience and Atmosphere
This is a vibrant family-oriented place, which means if you turn up with a pair of sprogs in tow, you’ll instantly find your place among others like you.
Your children will soon be playing with other kids, and you’ll be certain to strike up conversations with some other parents.
However, if you come as a single person or a child-free couple, you may find things are a little harder to settle into.
You’ll be fine if you just want to enjoy your own company, but socialising without kids in a child-friendly environment is a bit challenging.
Location And Accessibility
Bluewaters Island isn’t a disastrous location, and it’s not that far from the main tourist areas, but it is a bit more out of the way than most of the emirate’s beach clubs.
Of course, you can turn that into a positive, as it offers a truly unique perspective on the skyline of the city.
It might be a bigger pain to get there at rush hour from Deira, though, but you can’t have everything.
On the subject of wheelchair accessibility, parts of this beach club are accessible, and it’s best to contact the management in advance to discuss your needs.
Aesthetic And Design
La Cantine is a very attractive beach club for a family kind of place. No, it’s not going to take your breath away like some of the really high-end properties around the globe, but you’re going to get plenty of great Instagram shots here, all the same.
You can also get one of the best views of Ain Dubai that you can imagine, and it will look superb on your feed when you shoot from here at night.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
This is Dubai, and the joy of this part of the world is that there’s a huge shortage of Emiratis in the workforce, so the Dubai government has one of the most relaxed immigration policies on Earth.
Beach clubs here can choose from a global talent pool, and they can afford to bring in the best of the best.
Like most beach clubs in Dubai, La Cantine Beach’s staff are the essence of both friendliness and professionalism.
They know their offerings very well, the menu, the beach club and its facilities and of course, the local area. They’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have or to help support any other needs during your time here.
Service Speed and Efficiency
We felt that the service speed and efficiency at this beach club were both excellent, and it’s pretty much what we expected.
Because most people are involved in activities here, there’s probably a bit less demand on the service staff than in other beach clubs, but they certainly aren’t chilling out and ignoring their customers.
We felt that everything came from the kitchens quickly, and drinks came from the bar swiftly, too.
Food Quality and Variety
It’s not the most varied menu that we’ve seen at a beach club, but the food here is actually very good, and it’s certainly tasty and nutritious enough to support a day of energetic fun.
We wouldn’t come here just for the food, mind you, but it’s a good reason to stay a little longer at the end of a day.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
There’s less emphasis on alcohol at this beach club for fairly obvious reasons and while you can get a drink, we doubt many people come here for that purpose.
The drinks list is decent enough as is the presentation of the drinks, but there’s nothing to write home about, either.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
This is Dubai, and you can take cleanliness and hygiene practices pretty much for granted in high-end establishments like this one.
That talent pool includes cleaners, and this place sparkles where it should; the changing rooms, toilets, etc. They are all kept to a very high standard.
The pool water is also clear and attractive, which is very important to us.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The daybeds here are surprisingly comfortable, given that most people are running about doing stuff and don’t tend to spend as much time lounging around as they might at a different beach club.
We didn’t think that they were quite the best ever, but they are very good, and we’d be happy to spend a day chilling on them if we weren’t running around having fun with everybody else at this beach club, instead.
Music and Entertainment
This beach club has a little background music, but it’s not really a place where you come to dance and party; there are no entertainers either.
That’s because they put their effort into sports and children’s activities, and that’s fine; in fact, we think it’s a positive thing as it creates a different kind of beach club.
But we can’t give any points for that in this category, which is used to compare La Cantine Beach to more standard beach club fare.
Seasonality
This is Dubai, and it’s always hot and sunny. Rain is a rare as a very rare thing and probably only happens two or three times a year.
That means beach clubs in the emirate tend to stay open all year round and offer very similar services throughout the year; there’s no real seasonality to speak of.
However, we have to warn you that Dubai heat is extreme heat, and it’s vital to stay hydrated and stay out of the sun as much as possible and to use lots of sunscreen when it’s not possible.
At this beach club, because of the emphasis on activity, we’d recommend really making sure you’re hydrated all the time. Parents need to help kids manage this, too.
Pricing and Value for Money
This is Dubai, and Dubai’s expensive. We actually think La Cantine Beach is pretty good value for money when compared to other beach clubs in the emirate.
But this is a global site, not just weighing up Dubai and the beach clubs here are far more expensive than the ones in Southeast Asia, for example.
So, we think it represents fair value for money overall, but not exceptional value.
Beach Access and Quality
You get full access to the beach here, and there are several sports held on the beach to enjoy. We’d note that it’s very clean and well-maintained, thanks to the beach club staff.
However, it’s still reclaimed land, and that means the water can be cloudy and poor for swimming in.
It’s also extremely important to ensure you don’t run about on the sand in Dubai without footwear. The Dubai sun superheats the sand, and you can get extreme burns on the soles of your feet, and you really don’t want that.
Sustainability Practices
This beach club pays tribute to the sustainable materials used in its construction, but there’s no other formal commitment to sustainability.
We think they can do better than this; it’s 2025, and the environment and the community you serve should matter more than this.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
While the standard beach club offering is available here, that is a daybed, locker and use of a towel. There are additional perks that include taking part in the games and activities on the beach.
That’s a pretty cool perk and one that we suspect that families will really appreciate. It’s fine that some of the other facilities are available at a cost, but it’s nice to know that you’re getting some real additional benefits when you enjoy a day at La Cantine Beach.
Safety and Security
This is Dubai, and safety and security are always a priority in the emirate. You may be subject to random searches as you enter the premises for La Cantine.
You will also find that they have more than enough security on hand to ensure that any squabbles that break out don’t ruin anybody’s good time for the day.
Of course, this being Dubai, generally in family settings like this, everyone knows better than to start squabbling in the first place.
Event Hosting Capabilities
There is, as is common at most beach clubs in Dubai, a full private events team happy to help you arrange a day out at the beach club for any kind of occasion.
We think that the ideal groups are going to be those looking to take advantage of the sporting activities here. So, corporate team building, family birthday parties, that kind of thing.
And we’ve no doubt that La Cantine Beach will do an excellent job of facilitating a fabulous event of any kind. The views over the Arabian Gulf are a nice touch too, with a unique position on the Dubai shoreline; it’s something that most people won’t have seen before.
Consistency of Experience
Our review team, the people that they talked to inside La Cantine Beach and online reviews all concur that this beach club offers a very consistent experience.
If you’re looking for a fun-packed family day out, it will deliver exactly that, particularly if you enjoy sports, games and time in the pool.
However, we also felt that this is what defines this beach club, and they’re not really looking to evolve the experience beyond what’s already there.
That’s fine, they’ve got their niche, and they know what they’re about at La Catine Beach.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
We think the amenities and facilities at this beach club are first rate, and while you may not be able to dance the night away on a dance floor, the wellness centre, the sports club, etc., are all over and beyond the usual stuff offered by beach clubs in Dubai.
It’s very rare that we give a perfect score in this category, but we feel that La Cantine merits it. If you want a day out with stuff to do, this is the place to be.
Summary
We would strongly recommend that you bring your kids when you visit La Cantine Beach, as they’re going to have an amazing time at this beach club.
Sure, you can visit as a couple or as an individual, but we’d suggest that there are better beach clubs for that in Dubai.
But we don’t think you can beat this for a family-friendly spot where you can enjoy lots of healthy activities and tasty food crafted with wellness in mind.
It makes a pleasant change from the more party-focused beach clubs here, and we’d be happy to recommend this to anyone seeking some family fun.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At La Cantine Beach?
Yes, La Cantine Beach has a very attractive swimming pool flanked by daybeds, and you can swim in there to your heart’s content.
Because this beach club is in a less-visited location, it doesn’t get as many visitors as many of the other beach clubs do, which in turn means that you can easily swim in the pool here pretty much every day.
There’s unlikely to be a time when the pool fills up with drinkers seeking a break from the Dubai heat, because it’s just not like that. Not least because there’s an emphasis on a more holistic and healthy experience at this beach club.
What Is There To Do At La Cantine Beach?
La Cantine Beach is a fully-featured beach club and in addition to the beach, pool and food and drinks, there is also a wellness facility and a sports club on-site.
That makes it an excellent spot for a more traditional day by the beach, involved in healthy activities that let you unwind without the need for a big party.
They also have organised games such as beach volleyball and pickleball that you can take part in when you visit this club.
Is La Cantine Beach A Child-Friendly Venue?
Yes, La Cantine Beach is very much a family-friendly place. In addition to children being welcome throughout the venue, they have several child-oriented facilities, including:
- A families’ pool – this is great because there is also a separate adults-only pool, so your kids can enjoy time with you, without being resented by those who come child-free to enjoy the other aspects of time at La Cantine Beach.
- The Tropicool Kids Club – if you want to enjoy some time relaxing while your kids play, this kids’ club is an excellent facility that organises pool fun, games, and even dining for the younger ones.
- Organised sports – there are also sports on the beach, where all members of the family are welcome to participate and have fun.
Overall, our team felt that La Cantine was an exceptional facility for families, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend spending a day here with your kids.
Who Is The Owner Of La Cantine Beach?
La Cantine Beach is part of the RIKAS Hospitality Group, which manages a large portfolio of restaurants and other leisure-oriented businesses in the UAE. This group is owned by Rizwan Kassim, who founded it and remains as the managing partner.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of La Cantine Beach
La Cantine is the ideal family day out in Dubai. It’s not a place to go and party with your friends or for loud raucous fun by the pool, but if you want to enjoy the company of your nearest and dearest and do some fun activities, this is the place for it.
It’s nice to have places like this scattered around the beach club scene in the emirate, and we think it’s more in keeping with Dubai’s real image than many of the other beach clubs.
Is it a perfect day out? Probably not, but it is a very good one, and that’s enough for us to recommend this place as a fun time for the family.
