Visiting the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai
Seeing wild flamingos in Dubai is easily one of the best free things to do in the city. And the best place to see these pink beauties is in their natural habitat at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, which is just minutes from Downtown Dubai!
While Dubai is best known for its manmade architectural marvels, like the Burj Khalifa and Palm Jumeirah, this city is actually home to many natural attractions, and the annual flamingo migration might just be the coolest.
Every winter tens of thousands of birds migrate from West Asia and Africa to the UAE, including thousands of Great Flamingos. Located just 7 kilometers from Downtown Dubai and the Burj Khalifa, many of these birds make their home in the wetlands of the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary for the mild winter months.
These wetlands can attract up to 30,000 of 200+ bird species – from grey herons and great egrets to cormorants, mallards, and raptors. But most visitors come to spot the spectacle that is a “flamboyance” of flamingos, which is what a group of flamingos is appropriately called!
One of the things I personally love about the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary is that it’s highly protected by the Dubai Municipality. So while you can’t just walk freely through the expansive Ras Al Khor wetlands and mangroves (as many other guides report), you can go into one of the “bird hides” and get fairly up close and personal with these majestic creatures in their natural habitat.
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Visiting the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai
Visiting Ras Al Khor is absolutely free and no reservations are required. If you’ve got your own transportation, it’s even free to park (though parking is super limited, so you may have to wait your turn). All you do is pull up to the parking area and take a short stroll down the walled corridor into the hide, which can accommodate roughly 20 people at a time.
Once you get inside, you can take your time to admire the flamingos, take photos, and read some of the educational materials on offer to learn more about the sanctuary and the creatures that call it home.
The bird hides are open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm from October to March (this is the best time to see flamingos in Dubai), and from 6 am to 6 pm between April and September.
The Best Time to Visit Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary
Like I said, the flamingos migrate to Dubai in the winter months, so visiting the sanctuary between October and March is your best bet if you want to see wild flamingos in Dubai.
I also highly recommend visiting during a weekday, if possible. That way you won’t have to contend with as many visitors and you’ll have a more peaceful experience. If you’re driving, you’ll also have a much easier time with the sanctuary’s limited parking spaces.
Getting to Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary
The sanctuary is located right on the outskirts of Downtown Dubai, adjacent to the Dubai Design District. Despite its central location, the sanctuary is not connected to public transportation. Therefore, the easiest way to reach Ras Al Khor is by driving.
You can always book a taxi or an Uber to reach Ras Al Khor. But if you’re coming from further afield (like the Dubai Marina), you can take the Metro to either the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro Station on the Red Line or the Creek Metro Station on the Green Line and take a very short taxi ride to the entrance.
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But if you don’t want to deal with getting there on your own, there are also plenty of city tours that will take you to Ras Al Khor along with a few other top Dubai attractions!
