Scrambled eggs, variety of melon, sweet rolls and hot tea started our day. Southern Sun Hotel in Abu Dhabi treated us to wonderful breakfast buffets each morning. And we appreciated it. Our suitcases have been collected and loaded on our bus. Driving along the coast toward Dubai, we are reminded that Abu Dhabi planted thousand of palm trees, using hoses and pipes for irrigation. Crossing into Dubai, we notice that Dubai did not plant trees. This is a cool, overcast, windy day in mid February. The wind is fairly strong, creating a small sandstorm.
Entering Dubai. Small sand storm and overcast day. Reflections through bus window.
Visibility is very low; the Persian Gulf is barely visible from our bus. Conditions do not change, unfortunately. Our first glimpse of Dubai, even through haze, sand and light drizzle, still impresses.
Dubai. Impresses even through haze
We head to Palm Jumierah, or Palm Island. This island, made of sand and rock, no concrete or steel, is the largest man made island. This island was completed in 5 years and was a major engineering project. Dubai became rich through oil, but that oil is expected to be gone by 2020. The Sheikh, also the Emir of Dubai, wanted Dubai to be a world tourist mecca and trade center. A major problem for tourism was a limited amount of coastline. Building islands gives Dubai more coastline. Jumierah Island added 75 kilometers of coastline. This island features retail areas, business office space, luxury waterfront residential homes and hotels, including the Atlantis Hotel. Driving to the island, the bridge is the base of the palm trunk. Sadly, the drizzle is becoming heavier now and the visibility even less.
Imagine this on a clear day. Can only imagine.
We head to the Atlantis Mall.
Inside mall
This luxury mall features exclusive shopping and our some of our favorite rest stops, such as Cold Stone Creamery. We enjoy their ice cream creations frequently.
In the mall
Reminding us that we are in the United Arab Emirates, we spot this sign.
Sign in mall
We were given tickets to the aquarium.
Ticket
Seems everyone is enjoying indoor activities on this drizzly day. This is some of what we see inside.
So many fish
Zeb and Chanel admire fish
Not our favorite swimming companion
Cute, but deadly
Interesting
Beautiful colors
To build this island, a large breaker was needed to reduce the damage by the sea. The environment of this area of the Persian Gulf is changing. Divers regularly evaluate these changes. New species of fish are now living in these waters and new reefs are forming. Leaving Palm Island, we imagine the inside of these fabulous buildings.
Palm Island
We hope you visit Palm Jumierah on a sunny day, but even on a drizzly day it is impressive.
Colorado Traveling Ducks 
Great post! Dubai looks so beautiful 😀
It is a beautiful city. Seems to have everything and a feeling of excitement. We really enjoyed our visit. Thanks for reading and commenting.
It’s nice that you found something very interesting to do inside on a rainy day. I wonder how many wet days they have each year.
I don’t believe they get much rain, but I would be looking for indoor activities during sand storms and the 100F temperatures they seem to be having now. February was overcast and drizzly when we were there, but they said normally 80s F and sunny. They have many extravagant indoor venues also. The aquarium and mall we visited here was beautiful, and huge.
Yes, when it’s 40 degrees C and over, you wouldn’t want to be outside.
I like summer and the hot weather, but that is too much for me. On the rare days we get too hot, I can usually find a movie theater that is showing something I like. Or the aquarium.