One of the ways to make Dubai a little bit more affordable while still enjoying it to the full, is to do what the residents do and take advantage of the many discounted deals in restaurants, clubs and hotels.  There’s always something going on every day of the week, more than one…..  And there are lots of deals for ladies from spa days, beach club days, cocktail evenings etc……

I wanted a day at the beach today so Lucy sent me off to the Barasti Beach Club which is in the Marina area near the base of the trunk of the Palm.  I was one of the first through the door at 10am.  At night the Club is a very lively dancing/drinking/clubbing venue with a big open air dancefloor and lots of lounge seats around the bar, but during the day, it opens for guests to use the pool and the private beach.  There were lots of amazing loungers and umbrellas, mostly the daybed style.  Entry was free for ladies and also you got free drinks from a limited drinks menu and a 50% discount on food.  Bargain.   It was a lot more peaceful than I imagined it would be.  Nowhere near as nice as yesterday but perfectly fine. website

I had a very pleasant day there.  The sea was surprisingly chilly.  I mean, not cold, but not warm either.  I was expecting it to be warmer.  Tropical it definitely wasn’t.  Undeterred I had several dips and bobs in it.  I only had two drinks and a litre or so of water.  The drinks are cocktails which I don’t like a lot finding them too sweet.  But no matter.  Others were enjoying them muchly.  I just enjoyed being by the sea and reading my book and soaking up a lot of sun.

Lucy came and picked me up at about 430 and we went back for quick showers and then headed out for dinner about 6ish.  It gets dark very fast and quite early here.  Not a long sunset.  We drove back to the La Mer area of Jumeirah Beach.  Its quite a new promenade area with lots of really snazzy modern restaurants and some shops.  Lots of people were out and about.  Including for the first time on this visit, some actual Emeratis!  I was beginning to wonder if there were any.

We had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Babel website that specialises in mezze and seafood.  Beautiful place.  We sat up on the roof level.  Started with several plates of mezze dishes – breadcrumbed prawns,  feter kebab, a garlic yoghurt dip with meatballs and pinenuts, salad, breads, olives.  Then we had a big local white fish bbqd over charcoal.  All yum.

Tomorrow I’m going to another free day at a different beach club.  It’s a great way to spend a day in the sun.