Today I went to another Ladies Day, this time at Riva Beach Club. https://riva-beach.com/ I’ve been here several times before with Bob when we stayed with Lucy in March 2020. We really liked it. It’s out on the Jumeirah Palm, the manmade island with hotels, apartments and luxury villas on each frond and up the “trunk”. Like yesterday, its a beach club, this time built around a restaurant and it comprises a lovely pool, a private beach, beauty salons, watersports….. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere there, a family atmosphere. You get a lot of young mums with babies.

The Ladies Day deal was that I paid 55 AED (about £11) and I got access to all the facilities, a towel, a beach bed and large umbrella, and a light lunch. It starts at 10am and runs all day. Anyway, I got there at 10 and managed to score a double lounger set under an umbrella right at the water’s edge. I like the fact that at Riva you are literally a step from the water. The pool looked nice but I always prefer the beach, and the pool tends to be more popular with the families.

• 

• 

• 

• 

It was, as usual, broiling, so I mostly kept under the umbrella. In the afternoon a nice breeze sprang up which helped. I spent much more time in the water today though. It wasn’t quite as hot (the water) as it had been at Zero Gravity and I think that’s because out on the Palm, although you are ostensibly on a sandy beach in shallow water etc, in fact you are quite a ways out in the sea and the water thats coming into those shallow coves is from that deeper water. Don’t get me wrong…… it was still balmy, no chill at all.

I had the usual big ice bucket with a litre of fizzy water and then for my lunch I had a really nice plate of fresh crab meat made into a layered cake with smashed avocado. It came with some garlic bread. There was loads of things to choose from but once I see the word “crab” I tend not to read on…. It was yum. Its a great view from Riva, across the bay to the Burg hotel and the Jameirah Hotel behind it and then the city with the Burg Khalifa in the distance.

When we first came here about 20 years ago, there was just the old city and the Jumeirah hotel was more or less alone and a long way out of town, all on its own. We came again about 15 years ago and they were just building the Marina area but it was nothing at all like it is now. Really, most of the building out here is 10 years old or less. Incredible. And it’s still growing! Of course now there is a tram system and a metro to use to get around, quite apart from taxis.

Another lovely day.