Day 12 (2023) Abu Dhabi: Mangrove Walk, Saadiyat, Meena Fish & Vegetable Market

16th April 2023

Day 12

Visited Highlights: Mangrove Walk, Saadiyat Island, Soul Beach, Meena Market

At 10 am in the morning, we reach the Jubail Mangrove Walk Abu Dhabi, just before Saadiyat Island. I had researched the tides in advance, as the walk only displays its many shades of blue and turquoise at high tide, and during low tide, you walk through mud - not very pleasant.

The entrance fee to the park is about 4€ per person. We decided to take the longest of the three boardwalks, a 2 km circular route through the mangroves.

You can also book canoe tours and other activities in the park. However, we limited ourselves to the Mangrove Walk.

The water of the mangroves shimmers in various shades of turquoise and blue. Just amazing! We can see fish, crabs, and jellyfish in the water along the boardwalk.

There are several stops along the walk where you can dip your feet in the water, walk through the mud, or simply enjoy the surroundings.

We take our time and finish the walk after about 1.5 hours.

According to the plan, we are now supposed to go to Saadiyat Island to the Soul Beach. We want to meet with the family there. Today is the weekend, so it will likely be crowded.

In the past years, we have been to Saadiyat Island several times, once to the Beach Club (not cheap) and to the current 'Kai Beach'. However, this has deteriorated significantly. Unfortunately, the entrance fees have skyrocketed, and for a hefty 25€ per person, you don't even get a sunbed with an umbrella - that costs extra!

Unfortunately, Saadiyat Island is completely privately owned - you can't just go to the beach without being charged everywhere.

In addition to the extremely expensive 5***** hotels that now dominate the beach, there is a new promenade with residential complexes slightly away from the hotel zone. In front of it, on the beach, is the new Soul Beach.

On weekends, you can get a place on a sunbed with an umbrella, showers, toilets, changing facilities, and the best part: you can bring food and drinks to the beach and consume them there! This is very rare, as every beach naturally wants to sell its own stuff. Sounds great, so we want to meet there today.

When we arrive at Soul Beach, however, we only see closed sun umbrellas on the sunbeds. It is windy, but the sun is scorching. When we ask the security, they say that it is too windy to open the umbrellas. What a shame - no beach today. Without umbrellas, we will get the sunburn of the year....

We briefly discuss and then decide to visit the new Meena Fish Market and the fruit & vegetable market, and have lunch there as well.

We meet the family there and stroll through the huge fish hall - of course, it is filled with fish and other seafood. Walking past the small attached fish restaurants becomes a tricky task, as each employee tries to lure us into HIS restaurant with all the tricks. After going back and forth twice, we sit down in one of the restaurants and have lunch. While my son and I, as non-fish eaters, opt for vegetarian dishes, everyone else enjoys a fish dish - and they are delighted. Very delicious, actually reasonably priced, and huge portions. That takes care of dinner tonight - we take the leftovers home.

We continue to the fruit and vegetable market, where we treat ourselves to mangoes, watermelon, dragon fruit, tomatoes, and grapes, among other things. The craziest thing about these huge piles of vegetables and fruits: none of it grows here! Everything arrives by ship.... totally crazy....

After another visit to the flower market, we head home and spend the afternoon at the community pool.

The temperatures are supposedly too low for this time of year. We just had a day when we were at Yas Waterworld (+38 degrees) and it was 'only' 28-31 degrees - and it's almost always windy.

Let's see how the next few days will be. Personally, I think it's great! Finally, not constantly sweating, you can go out and do something comfortably without constantly looking for the cooling air conditioning of the malls. In the past years, we were here in September/October - with average temperatures of +35-40 degrees, it was hardly possible to do anything outside (except in the water park).

Even at the beach or at the pool, it was unbearable because the water also had temperatures above 35 degrees. At least not for me - where is the cooling effect there???

While the rest of the family is 'freezing', I feel comfortable!

Curious to see how the next days will unfold!