We admire people with ambition, and if there’s anything less ambitious than billing yourself as the “best” in any given category, we don’t know what it is.
So, when we saw that Surf Club Dubai bills itself as the best beach club in Dubai, it piqued our curiosity. Dubai has a lot of amazing beach clubs; was it possible that we’d found the one beach club to rule them all?
Our team were enthusiastic about visiting Surf Club Dubai, though to be fair, they are always enthusiastic about getting paid for a day lounging by the pool with cocktails and treats filling in a review slip. And this is what they learned about Dubai’s “best” beach club.
Introduction – Getting To Surf Club Dubai
There was a time when getting to the UAE might have been a little challenging, but that time is long gone, and nowadays, Dubai is a major tourist destination.
The airport was originally built with being a regional hub in mind, and it has masses of capacity to allow for flights from all over the world to land there.
Now, of course, millions of people each year opt to stay in the emirate for a taste of the upmarket desert life, and when they do, they often stay in Jumeirah as it’s the main tourist area of the city.
Fortunately, Surf Club Dubai is on the Palm Jumeirah and is thus a fairly short drive from most of the major hotels. Though if you are coming from across town, make sure to keep in mind that rush hour traffic in Dubai can be hardcore.
When you do arrive at the beach club, as with all things in Dubai, there is valet parking for those who drive themselves (don’t forget that drink driving can land you in some serious hot water in Dubai), and you can easily walk through the door if you’re in a cab without being left miles from the entrance.
It is, of course, simply too hot in the emirate to ask people to walk long distances in the sun.
Where Is Surf Club Dubai? West Palm Beach Palm – Jumeirah – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Online: Surf Club
Opening Hours: 12 p.m. – 1 a.m. daily, hours may vary during Ramadan and national holidays
What’s Available At Surf Club Dubai?
There are some comfortable chairs on the beach, a restaurant and dining facility, and a bar facility. There is also a dancefloor at night.
However, we have to point out that there is no pool at this “beach club” and that’s a huge loss, in our opinion. Particularly, given that nearly every other beach club in the emirate has a pool.
And we confess, we find it a little cheeky for them to charge a fee to sit down (between 50 and 100 AED – $15-$30, the rest of the entrance fee is converted into a food and beverage credit) when there’s no pool to use.
Our Detailed Review Of Surf Club Dubai
We consistently utilise a standardised process to review every beach club, ensuring fair evaluation of owners, management, and staff, and delivering reviews in a uniform format that simplifies venue comparisons.
The review process is structured as follows:
- A team is assigned to assess the venue.
- Each member must visit the beach club, with the flexibility to do so independently and on different days.
- During their visit, every reviewer completes a scorecard, rating the club from 1 (least outstanding) to 5 (most outstanding) in designated categories, while also noting their observations.
- After all team members have submitted their scorecards, they convene to discuss their experiences and finalise scores for each category.
- A designated team member then drafts the review, incorporating the team’s discussions and final scores, before it is posted on our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
We are starting to think that there must be some sort of legal requirement to use Seven Rooms for booking systems in Dubai, because, despite being manifestly unsuited to booking seats in beach clubs, that’s what every beach club here uses.
The problem with that system is 1. It’s hard to integrate into the actual beach club website, so nobody does, and you end up switching sites to book 2. Because it’s a restaurant system, not a beach club one, you can pick the area you want to sit in, but not the exact seat, which is an absolute cheek when you’re paying to use the exact seat and 3. Many beach clubs struggle with taking deposits (though Surf Club seems to have managed this).
Is it better than nothing or WhatsApp? Yes, barely. Is it good enough? Not on your nelly and particularly not for beach clubs that cost as much as the ones in Dubai do.
Ambience and Atmosphere
The absence of a pool is keenly felt at Surf Club Dubai, it robs the beach club of a central feature, and when people aren’t brought together like that, they are lined up in little unimaginative rows.
It’s not impossible to make social connections here, but it’s way harder than it would be if it had been built with conviviality in mind.
It’s one of the most disappointing things about Surf Club Dubai. It’s focused on partying but seems to have missed that the best parties are all about bringing people together rather than giving them a couple of people on either side of them.
Location And Accessibility
The Palm Jumeirah is one of the most desirable spots in all of Dubai. It’s one of the few man-made objects that you can see from outer space (unlike The Great Wall of China), and there’s no doubt that most visitors to the emirate will want to spend some time here.
It provides aesthetically pleasing views of the Dubai coastline, and because it’s in Jumeirah, it’s also very easy to get to for the majority of visitors.
One thing that Surf Club Dubai can be proud of is its general wheelchair accessibility, and it’s worth noting that this beach is part of the “wheelchairs for swimming” program, and you may be able to arrange a chair that can get you to the water for free. It’s best to contact the venue in advance to discuss this requirement, as it may not always be available.
Aesthetic And Design
Long straight rows of identical chairs along the beach side. It’s not ugly, but it kind of feels like a 1960s trip to Benidorm, just more upmarket.
The seating looks great in your Instagram photos, but overall, we feel that Surf Club Dubai fails to provide the kind of visual feast that Dubai is able to deliver in spades.
So, it’s definitely not the “best beach club in Dubai” to look at and sadly, that’s not where Surf Club Dubai’s problems end.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
Well, colour us shocked, we’d have said that it was impossible to find bad service on the Dubai beach club scene, but Surf Club Dubai managed with aplomb.
Several of our team found they were treated poorly by the door staff, and when we took a look at online reviews, we discovered that we weren’t alone in this.
Given that Dubai has an extraordinary range of talent that it can draw upon, we can’t believe that so many of the ones that slipped through the cracks ended up here.
In particular, the lady that another reviewer described as “Angelina Jolie from Temu” is extraordinarily unpleasant for what appears to be no discernible reason other than she gets away with it over and over again.
Service Speed and Efficiency
Fortunately, not all the staff have the same issues, and the wait staff are, as always in Dubai, excellent, and when they’re not being friendly and professional, they’re being speedy and efficient.
Orders are taken quickly, and food is brought from the kitchen with what feels like real haste. As for the drinks, the bar staff seem to take real pride in delighting the customers with well-crafted drinks in a jiffy.
This goes some way to offset the poor impression set by the door staff, but we wish that the entire operation were as polished as this side of things.
Food Quality and Variety
The menu at Surf Club is one of the largest beach club menus in Dubai, and while, at first, that sounds enticing, in practice, it can leave you wondering whether anyone is ever going to get through 11 pages of food options?
There’s nothing to break up the visual flow either. Nothing to suggest food, the menu is like a novel rather than a taster of what’s to come.
And that’s a shame because when it does come, the food is excellent, it’s made with fresh ingredients of the highest quality, and it is delicious.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
With just 5 cocktails to choose from, we felt that the Surf Club drinks menu was sadly lacking. Yes, each of these drinks is beautiful and well made but for a long day out, we want more than that.
It’s pretty clear that their real focus is on selling wine by the bottle, and that’s OK if you’re a big wine drinker, but mostly, we’re not.
The beer selection is as paltry as the cocktail list, and even the non-alcoholic drinks list is somewhat meagre.
If you like wine, Surf Club Dubai has you covered. If you prefer other drinks, they need to try harder.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
Surf Club Dubai’s staffing issues don’t seem to have had any impact on the cleaning staff who are not only lovely but very efficient.
Sure, there’s no pool to clean, but the other areas are as clean as you’d expect in an upmarket Dubai establishment.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The seats are more than comfortable enough at Surf Club Dubai but were they the best seats we’ve ever sat upon? No.
In fact, they were just OK and many of the other beach clubs in Dubai have more comfortable seating.
It’s the kind of seating that works for an hour or two, but then you have to get up and wonder around on the beach for a bit before going back to it.
Music and Entertainment
When the DJs are on at Surf Club (and that’s not all of the time, some of the time it’s just piped music), the sounds and entertainment are first-rate.
You will want to get up and dance, and annoyingly, that means booking a table near the dance floor or being told to dance at your seat (seriously) by the security team.
This category is about the music, thoug,h and we’re only docking one point for the lack of all-day long DJs.
Seasonality
In Dubai, it’s nearly always hot and sunny. The emirate is on the edge of the world’s largest sand desert, The Empty Quarter (as explored by Wilfred Thesiger, one of the great travel writers of an earlier age).
That means you don’t get any real seasonality, but for most of the year, it’s just too hot, and you will want to make judicious use of shade for most of the day.
We’d also advise you to rehydrate regularly, too much alcohol and not enough water can be very heavy-hitting in the Dubai heat.
Pricing and Value for Money
We found Surf Club to be quite pricey for what it was, even in an emirate where things are super expensive as a standard.
Our issue is that we don’t mind paying a premium for the best, but we didn’t feel like Surf Club was the best in any given aspect and thus, it felt overpriced.
Beach Access and Quality
The beach is one of the most accessible of any beach club, not least because it’s really what the club is built on. Without a pool, it’s get on the sand.
Make sure to wear shoes of some kind on the beach, you will burn your feet severely if you walk barefoot on Dubai sun-kissed sand.
It’s a nice beach, though, kept meticulously clean by the staff, and you can swim in the sea if you want to, though we’re not fans of the water in Dubai.
Sustainability Practices
In our research, we found some vaguely expressed sustainability goals in various publications about Surf Club Dubai.
But there’s no formal sustainability commitment, no reporting and no measurable targets that have been set by this beach club.
That’s quite disappointing, and we feel that they could do better.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
You get a towel, a locker and a daybed in exchange for an entrance fee. That’s about standard for Dubai and is neither good nor bad value.
However, as with almost all beach clubs, there’s no higher tier of entry with better inclusions available for an additional fee.
Safety and Security
They take safety and security seriously everywhere in Dubai and Surf Club Dubai is no exception.
However, we did feel that their security team weren’t particularly customer friendly here and that they are a tad aggressive with some patrons.
Event Hosting Capabilities
This is one of the very few beach clubs that doesn’t advertise private event hosting and we think we can see why. It’s not really laid out for anything more than the beach club that it already is.
The only way to host events practically would be to rent out the whole club at once, which is probably why they don’t advertise.
We imagine that you might be able to arrange a buy out for the day if you enquired far enough in advance, but why bother? Other beach clubs in Dubai have a full events team prepped to make your events run perfectly.
Consistency of Experience
Our team, some of the customers we spoke to at Surf Club Dubai and online reviews all agreed that you get a bit of “hit and miss” here.
Sometimes, it’s a great day out, sometimes it’s not and much of that seems to be down to their staff.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
Surf Club Dubai has all the basic amenities and facilities that you can expect from a basic beach club.
If you need anything else, it’s only a short drive to find it somewhere else in Dubai.
Summary
Overall, Surf Club Dubai is OK. You can have a nice day out here, though we strongly recommend you book a table by the dancefloor and a daybed during the day.
The lack of a pool is disappointing, the rudeness of the door staff mind-boggling for Dubai, the drinks list a bit on the short side, but overall? There’s still plenty to like about the place.
However, there are a lot of beach clubs in Dubai, and this is not the best of them, no matter what it claims and if you can only visit one of those beach clubs? We’d pick somewhere else.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At Surf Club Dubai?
Well, no, not really. You can’t swim at Surf Club Dubai because the beach club doesn’t have a pool. It does have access to the ocean, and people do use the sea here to cool off, but it’s not great.
That’s because it’s all reclaimed land, and the area around reclaimed land tends to have cloudy and unpleasant water. You also have some risk of a riptide dragging you out to sea.
So, we’d recommend that you stay in the hotel to use the pool and that you head to Surf Club Dubai when you’re ready to just sit on a lounger in the boiling heat of the Dubai day.
What Is There To Do At Surf Club Dubai?
You can eat, drink and sit on a daybed at Surf Club Dubai, but as we’ve already pointed out, there is no swimming pool at this beach club, and that can be a real downer in the heat of the Dubai day. It’s nice to have a pool to cool off in.
At night, there is a dance floor here where you can dance, but for some reason, only if you have paid to use a table. Otherwise, you are not allowed to use the dance floor.
Is Surf Club Dubai A Child-Friendly Venue?
Sort of. Officially, children are allowed into this venue on certain days and times as long as they are accompanied by an adult. Though no child under the age of 8 is allowed into the venue at any time.
However, this is very much a party-focused place, and we wouldn’t recommend taking kids here. One of the big joys of Dubai is that there are a ton of family-oriented beach clubs where you will have a much better time as a family.
We’d leave Surf Club Dubai to the adults and let them party the night away.
Who Is The Owner Of Surf Club Dubai?
Surf Club Dubai is part of the Tactile Food Group, which is owned by Khaled Habib. He is the strategic manager of the group, and he also creates and refines the group’s managed dining concepts.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of Surf Club Dubai
Is Surf Club Dubai the best beach club in Dubai? No, it’s not even close to be honest. No pool, rude staff and poor value for money, it’s still somewhere that you can have fun, but it’s not likely to be our top pick any time soon.
The emirate has a wealth of beach clubs, and they all work really hard to create an environment of service excellence, which is why the behaviour of this beach club’s team is so shocking.
And if we thought we were the only ones that felt that way, we’d gloss over it here and write it off to a bad day, but other reviews online make it clear this has been going on for quite some time.
Overall, if you want to party and don’t mind booking a table, the music’s good and it’s a great place to dance, but it’s not in the premier league of beach clubs in Dubai.
